The Film Detective

King Louis XIII of France is thrilled to have born to him a son - an heir to the throne. But when the queen delivers a twin, Cardinal Richelieu sees the second son as a potential for revolution, and has him sent off to Spain to be raised in secret to ensure a peaceful future for France.

A wanted Russian lieutenant becomes a masked vigilante seeking vengeance upon the man who stole his family's land, only to fall for his charming daughter.

Screen legend Mary Pickford stars as Amy Burke, a spoiled young rich girl who finds herself fighting for survival in the slums of New York. Oscar nominee Sidney Franklin (The Good Earth, The Barretts of Wimpole Street) directs a stellar cast of silent screen favorites, including Ralph Lewis (Birth of a Nation), Kenneth Harlan (San Francisco), and Aggie Herring (Oliver Twist). Pickford had started her own film company by this time; The Hoodlum was the second feature with Pickford as her own...

The story of a poor young woman, separated by prejudice from her husband and baby, is interwoven with tales of intolerance from throughout history.

The life and career of famed American composer Stephen Foster.

A classic example of the Blaxploitation genre typical of the 1970s "Brotherhood of Death" is an in-your-face, ass-kicking tale of three African American men who return from Vietnam in the 1960s to their small southern hometown. Hell bent on upholding racial justice, the boys soon find themselves employing their newfound army tactics to conduct an all-out war with members of the local Klu Klux Klan. With a cast comprised largely of Washington Redskins players, this low-budget film was a huge...

This controversial and still widely discussed produced, written and directed by prolific black filmmaker Oscar Micheaux ("Body and Soul") centers on a young, light-skinned African American woman who struggles to find her place in both the black and white worlds. Groundbreaking for its time, and often cited as one of the most important movies about race of all time, it's little wonder why Time's Richard Corliss calls Micheaux "the D.W. Griffith of race cinema.

Screen legend Mary Pickford stars in this touching wartime drama. Written and directed by two time Oscar winner Francis Marion (The Champ, The Big House), this tale involves a young woman who learns that her beloved is a German spy. The film was produced by Pickford's company at the height of its fame, and also stars Evelyn Dumo, Raymond Bloomer, and Fred Thomson. It's an emotional story about a woman whose loyalties are put to the test.

Mary Pickford gives another of her unforgettable performances as Melissa 'M'liss' Smith, a feisty mining camp girl who fall in love with a school teacher. When he's wrongly implicated in a murder, the two join together to prove his innocence. With a cast that includes Theodore Roberts, Thomas Meighan, and Monte Blue, this dramatic feature from noted MGM director Marshall Neilan (The Lemon Drop Kid, Sweethearts on Parade) brings us back to the greatness of the silent era!

Spider-women lure men to their death in this thriller from the golden era of Drive-in schlock!- This story of a mad scientist (Jackie Coogan) is regarded as one of the worst movies ever made.- Still, dig the crazy guitar and piano score which was purloined by Ed Wood Jr. for- Jail Bait, and notice a couple of Wood regulars (Dolores Fuller and Lyle Talbot) in the credits. What you have here is a sort of cousin to- the films of Ed Wood,- but one that can stand on its own as being truly awful....

This campy yet compelling horror classic stars none other than the legendary Bela Lugosi as Dr. James Brewster who embarks on an ill-fated endeavor to find an antidote after he turns himself into a hairy, stooped-over ape-man. When Dr. Brewster discovers that the key ingredient of the antidote is recently drawn human spinal fluid, he is abandoned by his assistant and must rely on the help of his captive gorilla to aid him in his search for an appropriate donor.

This Pre- Code comedy stars Betty Compson as a young woman hired to distract a London playboy from marrying a gold digger. Problems arise when the playboy's father, who hired June (Compson) in the first place, starts to fall for her! Starring John Darrow, Gilbert Emery, and Margaret Livingston, this forgotten jewel from RKO Radio Pictures was directed by George Archainbaud (The Lost Squadron, Murder on the Blackboard) and puts yet another spin on the complexities of love...