Masterpiece Selection that Capture the Essence of Solid Concrete: C...

Dir: Larry Semon

The story follows Larry as he attempts to help his sweetheart escape an unwanted wedding to a wealthy but unattractive suitor. The film concludes with a high-speed chase involving a car and a bed.

Dir: Larry Semon

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of The Star Boarder perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Larry's absurdly plush life of ease as a convict comes to an end when his sentence is up. Tossed out, he tries several ways, including a stickup to get back in the comfortable jail. Exchanging clothes with a lookalike escaped prisoner, he goes back, only to find he's to be hung. Now desperate to leave again, he joins other cons in a jailbreak.

Dir: Larry Semon

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Maurice Campbell

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Traps and Tangles perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Carver Endicott, a young sophisticate, is rejected by his fiancée for being too foppish and dull. When she feigns an interest in his father, Carver attempts to disgrace his family name by working as a farmhand and later as a busboy in a hotel. However, the newspapers only praise him for his self-sacrificing principles; and finding that he cannot bring shame to the family through menial labor, he takes up with a notorious actress. But when this maneuver also fails, he returns to his former fiancée, who has no further complaint about his being an inexperienced dullard.

Dir: Larry Semon

Such plot as there may be concerns the endeavors of the local, sheriff and his merry men to arrest the elusive Larry for speeding. The sheriff is the devil and Larry's farmer employer is the deep sea. between the two, poor Larry has a rough time, but he finishes, as he deserves, in the arms of the farmer's lovely daughter, to whom he is married amidst the debris of a shattered motor-car, in which the entire wedding party have just leaped over a cliff.

Dir: Larry Semon

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of An Amateur Devil perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Semon's character, working behind the scenes, creates mayhem during a vaudeville performance.

Dir: Lloyd Ingraham

While walking along the street one day, Arthur P. Hampton, an impoverished young doctor, and his chums, Stub Masters and Johnny Stokes, are persuaded to part with their last remaining funds by tag day solicitor Mary Jane Smith, with whom the doctor promptly falls in love. Doc's friends then hit upon a get-rich-quick scheme. Knowing that his Uncle George has promised a large sum of money upon his nephew's marriage, they persuade Doc to send out fake wedding invitations naming Mary Jane as the blushing bride. Uncle George, elated at the good news, writes to Mary Jane's aunt, Angelica Burns, an old sweetheart, to invite Mary Jane and Angelica to be his guests on an ocean voyage. Meanwhile, Mary Jane pays a visit to the doctor's office and, upon seeing the wedding invitations, becomes so flustered that she trips and sprains her ankle. Doc comes to her rescue and then begs her to pose as his wife. She agrees, but at ship-side, Stub and Johnnie confess all to Uncle George, who flies into a rage until Doc announces that he and Mary Jane have chosen a wedding at sea.

Dir: Larry Semon

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of The Simple Life perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

A bumbling detective lands alongside the crooks even the police are afraid of. He makes his escape through the window to a woman's apartment, where the misadventures continue.

Dir: Edgar Jones

A mail-order bride arrives at a Maine lumber camp but doesn't like her prospective husband.

Dir: Unknown Director

The Judge needs a present for his wife's birthday, so Harry suggests a new corset. They go to the shop, but he's so embarrassed to ask the saleslady he hides in a phone booth.Harry goes in, but finds a GUY wearing one, and runs out.They both dress as women to get back in, but Mrs. Rummy gets there and chases him out.