His Back Against the Wall

Laurel & Hardy: Their Lives and Magic(de)

The lives of Stan Laurel (1890-1965) and Oliver Hardy (1892-1957), on the screen and behind the curtain. The joy and the sadness, the success and the failure. The story of one of the best comic duos of all time: a lesson on how to make people laugh.

The Rink(en)

After amusements working in a restaurant, a waiter uses his lunch break to go roller skating.

The Pawnshop(en)

A pawnbroker's assistant deals with his grumpy boss, his annoying co-worker and some eccentric customers as he flirts with the pawnbroker's daughter, until a perfidious crook with bad intentions arrives at the pawnshop.

Merry Christmas Mr. Mo(ko)

Mo Geum-san is a barber living in the rural area, who once aspired to be an actor. He starts to have doubts about his humdrum life after the village health center advises him to be examined at a larger hospital. He comes up with a plan to give a gift to his beloved ones in the coming Christmas. The plan is to invite everyone to the local culture center and to screen his self-made comedy movie based on his own tragic life.

Sugar and Cinnamon(de)

A resourceful landlady rents the same room to two men: the commercial clerk Zimt, who is at work during the day, and the conductor of a café orchestra Zucker, who has to work all night. After all kinds of turbulence, the trick comes to light and the two bitter enemies Zucker and Zimt eventually become good friends.

My Wife, the Movie Star(de)

While making a movie in the Alps, the female star falls in love with a nobleman.

Die Königin von Moulin Rouge(de)

Sergius, a student in Paris, is called upon to ascend the throne of Deliria, and the Duke of Onnandoff comes to announce the fact accompanied by his beautiful young Duchess. The Prince, however, has gone off for a night's merrymaking in Paris, and at a popular cafe he meets and falls in love with a beautiful ex-dancer, who is none other than the Duchess of Onnandoff, who is paying a surreptitious visit to the scene of her former triumphs. A group of conspirators who wish to prevent Sergius ascending the throne, lure him to the house of the Delirian Ambassador where they intend to keep him prisoner. The young Duchess caught in a heavy shower, is given shelter at the house by the Ambassador's footman. Here she learns of the plot against the youth with whom she has spent a charming evening, and it is her wit and ingenuity that upset the plans of the conspirators and enable Sergius to secure his crown.

Sherlock Jr.(en)

A film projectionist longs to be a detective, and puts his meager skills to work when he is framed by a rival for stealing his girlfriend's father's pocketwatch.

The Housing Shortage(de)

The plot of the lost film is divided into two acts. Ossi Oswalda and Victor Janson play two apartment seekers, while Marga Köhler is a landlady. The housing shortage is treated in sketch form and "in a joking manner [...] the real housing calamity", whereby "humorous aspects" are wrested from the "tragedy." Lubitsch and Kräly used a sketch in the film that they had written especially for Ossi Oswalda.

The Impossible Voyage(xx)

Using every known means of transportation, several savants from the Geographic Society undertake a journey through the Alps to the Sun which finishes under the sea.

Modern Times(en)

A bumbling tramp desires to build a home with a young woman, yet is thwarted time and time again by his lack of experience and habit of being in the wrong place at the wrong time..

Resurrection of a Corpse(ja)

One of the two earliest horror films ever made. This film is presumed lost. In this black comedy scene, the bottom falls out of a coffin, the corpse tumble out, and is jolted back to life. Short sequences like this, as well as street scenes and dancing geisha girls were the main subjects of early Nippon cinema, pioneered by Shiro Asano and Shibata Tsunekichi from 1897 onwards. In creating dramatic, scenes, film-makers naturally chose the most striking or bizarre. Another undocumented film, recalled by cameraman Shiro Asano.

Wasterville(en)

A struggling drug addict is plunged into a tortured netherworld, where he must defend his spirit from a ravenous horde of soul-addicted junkies.

The Tramp(en)

The Little Fellow finds the girl of his dreams and work on a family farm. He helps defend the farm against criminals, and all seems well, until he discovers the girl of his dreams already has someone in her life. Unwilling to be a problem in their lives, he takes to the road, though he is seen skipping and swinging his cane as if happy to be back on the road where he knows he belongs.

Jus' Passin' Through(en)

At Thanksgiving, a tramp arrives in a homeless-hostile town.

Soft Pedal(en)

An opportunistic umbrella salesman attempts to save a musician and his daughter from blackmail.

The Outside Woman(en)

Thinking it is a worthless trinket, Dorothy trades her husband’s prized Aztec idol to a street peddler in exchange for a beautiful silk shawl. She soon discovers the idol is actually an extremely valuable artifact. Desperate to retrieve it before her husband notices, she learns that it has already been purchased by their neighbor, an artist named Cambridge. Dorothy enters Cambridge’s apartment to recover the idol secretly. Her efforts lead to a series of comedic misunderstandings and frantic situations as she tries to protect her marriage and her husband's property.

Be Honest(en)

One monkey is stealing eggs from the farmyard. Another monkey, with his dog friend, tries to stop the crook.

Fair Warning(en)

Gussle Rivals Jonah(en)

Gussle Rivals Jonah is a silent comedy

Go West(en)

Embezzler, shill, all around confidence man S. Quentin Quale is heading west to find his fortune; he meets the crafty but simple brothers Joseph and Rusty Panello in a train station, where they steal all his money. They're heading west, too, because they've heard you can just pick the gold off the ground. Once there, they befriend an old miner named Dan Wilson whose property, Dead Man's Gulch, has no gold. They loan him their last ten dollars so he can go start life anew, and for collateral, he gives them the deed to the Gulch. Unbeknownst to Wilson, the son of his longtime rival, Terry Turner (who's also in love with his daughter, Eva), has contacted the railroad to arrange for them to build through the land, making the old man rich and hopefully resolving the feud. But the evil Red Baxter, owner of a saloon, tricks the boys out of the deed, and it's up to them - as well as Quale, who naturally finds his way out west anyway - to save the day.

Go West(en)

With little luck at keeping a job in the city a New Yorker tries work in the country and eventually finds his way leading a herd of cattle to the West Coast.

Man in the Shadow(en)

In a modern cow town, the powerful ranch owner’s henchmen kill a ranch hand, prompting the sheriff to investigate despite facing strong opposition. He finds an unlikely ally in the rancher's overprotected daughter, but their quest for justice puts them both in danger.

Ramrod(en)

A cattle-vs.-sheepman feud loses Connie Dickason her fiance, but gains her his ranch, which she determines to run alone in opposition to Frank Ivey, "boss" of the valley, whom her father Ben wanted her to marry. She hires recovering alcoholic Dave Nash as foreman and a crew of Ivey's enemies. Ivey fights back with violence and destruction, but Dave is determined to counter him legally... a feeling not shared by his associates. Connie's boast that, as a woman, she doesn't need guns proves justified, but plenty of gunplay results.

Support Your Local Gunfighter(en)

A con artist arrives in a mining town controlled by two competing companies. Both companies think he's a famous gunfighter and try to hire him to drive the other out of town.

Gunless(en)

American gunslinger Sean Rafferty—aka The Montana Kid—is unable to find someone to duel in a Canadian town where no one understands the brutal code of the American Wild West.

Forty Guns(en)

An authoritarian rancher rules an Arizona county with her private posse of hired guns. When a new Marshall arrives to set things straight, the cattle queen finds herself falling for the avowedly non-violent lawman. Both have itchy-fingered brothers, a female gunman enters the picture, and things go desperately wrong.

Rancho Notorious(en)

A man in search of revenge infiltrates a ranch, hidden in an inhospitable region, where its owner, Altar Keane, gives shelter to outlaws fleeing from the law in exchange for a price.

No Name on the Bullet(en)

When hired killer John Gant rides into Lordsburg, the town's folk become paranoid as each leading citizen has enemies capable of using the services of a professional killer for personal revenge.

My Wife's Relations(en)

Buster and a woman are mistakenly married and her initially unfriendly family begins to treat him nicely when they come to believe he has a large inheritance awaiting him.

Out West(en)

The story involves Arbuckle coming to the western town of Mad Dog Gulch after being thrown off a train and chased by Indians. He teams up with gambler/saloon owner Bill Bullhum, in trying to keep the evil Wild Bill Hickup away from Salvation Army girl, Salvation Sue. Fatty and Buster have a series of adventures trying to beat St. John, until they discover his one weakness: his ticklishness.

Big Business(en)

Stan and Ollie play door-to-door Christmas tree salesmen in California. They end up getting into an escalating feud with grumpy would-be customer James Finlayson, with his home and their car being destroyed in the melee.

Never Weaken(en)

A young man schemes to drum up business for his girlfriend's employer but after seeing her being intimate with another man, he attempts to commit suicide.

Union Pacific(en)

One of the last bills signed by President Lincoln authorizes pushing the Union Pacific Railroad across the wilderness to California. But financial opportunist Asa Barrows hopes to profit from obstructing it. Chief troubleshooter Jeff Butler has his hands full fighting Barrows' agent, gambler Sid Campeau; Campeau's partner Dick Allen is Jeff's war buddy and rival suitor for engineer's daughter Molly Monahan. Who will survive the effort to push the railroad through at any cost?

Why Worry?(en)

A hypochondriac vacations in the tropics for the fresh air - and finds himself in the middle of a revolution instead.

Dough and Dynamite(en)

Pierre and Jacques are working as waiters at a restaurant where the cooks go on strike. When the two are forced to work as bakers, the striking cooks put dynamite in the dough, with explosive results.

A Night in the Show(en)

Mr. Pest tries several theatre seats before winding up in front in a fight with the conductor. He is thrown out. In the lobby he pushes a fat lady into a fountain and returns to sit down by Edna. Mr. Rowdy, in the gallery, pours beer down on Mr. Pest and Edna. He attacks patrons, a harem dancer, the singers Dot and Dash, and a fire-eater.

Back Stage(en)

Roscoe and Buster give a bullying Strongman the what-for, but after the performance troupe quits it's up to Fatty and Buster to keep the show going.

Perfect Day(en)

Two families embark on a pleasant Sunday picnic but manage to run into a variety of issues with their temperamental automobile. Each incident requires repeated exits and reboardings by Laurel, Hardy, their wives and grouchy, gout-ridden Uncle Edgar.

The Paleface(en)

Bob Hope stars in this laugh-packed wild west spoof co-starring Jane Russell as a sexy Calamity Jane, Hope is a meek frontier dentist, "Painless" Peter Potter, who finds himself gunslinging alongside the fearless Calamity as she fights off outlaws and Indians.