Best Movies of 1925

Struggling stockbroker Jimmie Shannon learns that, if he gets married by 7 p.m. on his 27th birthday -- which is today -- he'll inherit $7 million from an eccentric relative.

A grotesquely disfigured composer known as "The Phantom" haunts Paris' opera house, where he's secretly grooming Christine Daae to be an opera diva. Luring her to his remote underground lair, The Phantom declares his love. But Christine loves Raoul de Chagny and plans to elope with him. When The Phantom learns this, he abducts Christine.

The first film adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's classic novel about a land where prehistoric creatures still roam.

The story of an idle rich boy who joins the US Army's Rainbow Division and is sent to France to fight in World War I, becomes friends with two working class men, experiences the horrors of trench warfare, and finds love with a French girl.

Erstwhile childhood friends, Judah Ben-Hur and Messala meet again as adults, this time with Roman officer Messala as conqueror and Judah as a wealthy, though conquered, Israelite. A slip of a brick during a Roman parade causes Judah to be sent off as a galley slave, his property confiscated and his mother and sister imprisoned. Years later, as a result of his determination to stay alive and his willingness to aid his Roman master, Judah returns to his homeland an exalted and wealthy Roman athlete. Unable to find his mother and sister, and believing them dead, he can think of nothing else than revenge against Messala.

A silent documentary which follows a branch of the Bakhtiari tribe of Persia as they and their herds make their epic seasonal journey to better pastures.

Harold Lamb is so excited about going to college that he has been working to earn spending money, practicing college yells, and learning a special way of introducing himself that he saw in a movie. When he arrives at Tate University, he soon becomes the target of practical jokes and ridicule. With the help of his one real friend Peggy, he resolves to make every possible effort to become popular.

Three sideshow performers form a conspiracy known as "The Unholy Three" - a ventriloquist, midget, and strongman working together to commit a series of robberies.

A society woman believes her husband is having an affair, a misconception which may have dire personal consequences for all involved.

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.

Vladimir Dubrouvsky, a lieutenant in the Russian army, catches the eye of Czarina Catherine II. He spurns her advances and flees, and she puts out a warrant for his arrest, dead or alive. Vladimir learns that his father's lands have been taken by the evil Kyrilla Troekouroff, and his father dies. He dons a black mask, and becomes the outlaw The Black Eagle. He enters the Troekouroff household disguised as a French instructor for Kyrilla's daughter Mascha. He is after vengeance, but instead falls in love with Mascha.

A minister is malevolent and sinister behind his righteous facade. He consorts with, and later extorts from, the owner of a gambling house, and betrays an honest girl, eventually driving them both to ruin.

An eccentric lower class woman struggles to gain respect in high society after marrying a wealthy man, and the problem gets worse when their daughter starts growing up.

A general store clerk and aspiring detective investigates a mysterious disappearance that took place quite close to an empty insane asylum.

"Bilge" Smith (Richard Barthelmess), a tough sailor, meets Connie Martin (Dorothy Mackaill), a seamstress in a small harbor who has never had a boyfriend. Connie is instantly smitten. She invites Smith to dinner, where he dances with her and gives her a kiss. Connie has a hard time letting him go, and makes him promise that he will come back.

Jamison has a very jealous wife. Mrs. Jamison has a very gossipy friend. When the friend spots Jamison on the street talking to an attractive young woman, she reports back to Mrs. Jamison that her husband is obviously having an affair. Mrs. Jamison storms out, and a few minutes later a guest arrives for a visit -- a Professor Brown. Jamison doesn't realize the professor is a woman, and Mrs. Jamison, who has returned, doesn't realize the woman is Professor Brown. She presumes she has caught her husband with his mistress. A dancing butler, a game-playing dog, and a very accommodating burglar complicate the situation.

Jimmie Jump is returning from Europe to the USA. His parents and an old girl-friend, Sally - whom he hasn't seen for years, are expecting him at the dock. But, due to some unfortunate coincidences they are mistaken about the identity of each other, but meet unbeknownst to that fact. Jimmie decides that he has to find that girl. Finally, after having annoyed a policeman, and a great fraction of the female population, he finds her working as a temperance worker. To get her attention, he dresses up in rags to meet her. But his way of introduction causes more confusion.

A tribe of Navajo live on a reservation overseen by an Indian-hating agent.

Little orphan Harry is separated from his childhood sweetheart. Years later, he finds she's a bearded lady in a circus.

Charley Chase is a hapless inventor with a better mouse trap in this silent comedy from 1925.

A fire in the mountains drive a wolf pack into the nearby desert where they terrorize the local residents. The leader of the wolf pack is Lobo, actually a halfbreed (Rin Tin Tin). When the pack is discovered hunting a herd of cows, a posse gives chase. Lobo leaves his pack to lead the posse away. He is injured and found by a local prospector, Dave Weston (Charles Farrell). The prospector nurses Lobo back to health and the two become close friends. Meanwhile, Weston has made a Borax find in the area. His girl friend May Barstowe (June Marlowe), daughter of a wealthy rancher, is pleased. However the local chemist, Borax Horton (Pat Hartigan), actually a claim jumper, plans to steal the claim.

A feisty little girl, the daughter of a beat cop, faces the challenges of growing up in a tough city neighborhood.

A few moments before Charley is going to marry, a friend, gives him an anonymous note, stating that the bride has a wooden leg.

Don Cesar De Vega crosses swords with a vicious member of the Queen's Guard, and steals the affection of a young heiress. When the officer frames the young upstart for murder, Don Cesar fakes his own death and retreats to the crumbling ruins of the family castle he plots his vengeance.

A couple makes dolls modeled on neighborhood kids. A gardener at a mansion buys four of them for Mary, the girl of the house. He's her only friend: her parents neglect her for work and card games and her governess is humorless. Mary loves the dolls and dreams of them during her nap. While Mary sleeps, the governess throws the dolls in the dust bin. Mary wakes and goes searching - outside she runs into the very same four kids who were the dolls' models, and she thinks she's still dreaming...

Charley's battle-axe mother-in-law breaks up his marriage and tries to separate him from his son. Charlie abducts the boy for a father-son outing to the beach. The mother-in-law pursues and comedy ensues.

Steve Tuttle, the titular lazybones, takes on the responsibility of raising a fatherless girl, causing a scandal in his small town. Many years later, having returned from World War I, he discovers that he loves the grown-up girl.

Wealthy racing driver Tom Hayden (Reginald Denny) loses his inheritance and his fiance due to a wacky mishap on his wedding day.

Blake, the crooked foreman of a cattle ranch, murders a sheep rancher. Then after framing ranch hand Jack for the murder, he urges the ranch hands to hang him. But Jack's dog Wolfheart finds evidence implicating Blake in the murder. The ranch owner then stops the hanging and Jack and Wolfheart head out after Blake. Written by Maurice VanAuken

A Scottish immigrant on board ship becomes a pawn in a jewel heist aboard the S.S. Cognac, a three-star liner. Blackie Dawson, the uncrowned king of jewel thieves, and his accomplice Pearl Blackstone, have stolen a huge ruby. A detective is searching every cabin, so Blackie forces our young Scot to swallow the gem and, under threat of being shot, to stay mum. The detective is assisted by Flora Danube, a blue-eyed Bulgarian daisy who keeps those eyes open. To escape death, the young Scot disguises himself as a woman, but that draws a lot of attention; when his disguise is discovered, he must climb for his life. Is a European union in the offing?

Felix is hungry, but his owner won't feed him until he's finished his crossword puzzle! Only one word left -- a 7-letter "chiefly found in Russia." Felix goes all the way to Russia to find the answer, but he's immediately accused of spying and has to run for his life.

A successful businesswoman falls in love with one of her (much younger) factory workers. She doesn't know that he is in love with her younger sister.

The King of Illyris marries a neighboring princess, who finds out he has a mistress, Sephora. Revolted, she turns to Prince Alexei for friendship. Turmoil increases as a revolution demands the abdication of the King and the Queen opposes this decision.

Bill Dana, a New York City playboy, can't resist the flaming flappers and red-hot mamas along the Great White Way, so he decides to head out west to his uncle's ranch in Wind River, Texas. But the gold-diggers and their relatives follow him.

The gang play inside a railroad box car which suddenly closes, trapping them inside. The next morning they find themselves in New York City. After seeing some of the sites on foot, they steal a 5th Avenue Bus, and are caught by the police.

A European countess, after being betrayed by her lover, goes to live in small town Middle America with her cousins and causes havoc among the rather puritanical community members.

The two-reel silent film comedy The Caretaker's Daughter was distributed by Pathe in 1925. Produced by the prolific Hal Roach, the film stars the great Charley Chase in a case of multiple incarnations!

Adults have the Pike and Coney Island amusement parks, so the rascals put up their own rides in a large vacant lot. Mickey's got big plans for expansion when surveyors show up to begin work on a factory. The gang travels by donkey cart to the office of Henry Mills, President of Pan American Export Company, to protest. Henry, in his 60s, is still a boy at heart: he has his chauffeur stop the car so he can join a sandlot game. He bails on a meeting with his board of directors, going with the kids to the factory site where he stops the workers and helps our gang add more rides. The directors follow him, and they get put to work. Will they ever have their meeting?

Chester Winfield tries to make it as a lumberjack, but he's foiled by his lack of strength and the jealous foreman, Big Bill Reardon, after Chester catches the eye of Hazel Wood, Big Bill's favorite and the camp's waitress. Bill tries to eliminate Chester, so he and Hazel head down the mountain for other work. She waits tables and gets him a job as a dishwasher. He spills kerosene in the soup and then must serve it to an angry customer. Hazel tells a couple of tall tales about Chester, and soon all the customers, the owner, and the cook, think he's a desperado. They make him the saloon bouncer. Some trick shooting seals his reputation. Then Big Bill arrives for a showdown.

When she goes to tell her husband Hubert that she is expecting a child, Caroline Knollys finds him in the arms of another woman. Caroline leaves him and, not telling him of her pregnancy, runs off to Europe where she has her child and becomes the toast of European society. Then she returns to settle with her husband once and for all.

A comedic deja vu story of runaway young love.

Despite his faithfulness, Melvin is always under suspicion by wife Mame. Complications erupt when a woman from a party across the hall passes out in Melvin's bedroom just before Mame returns.

Daydreaming waitress Jennie Hagen fantasizes about becoming a famous actress, while in reality she and her cook boyfriend, Orme Wilson, hope to one day own their own diner. Although Orme loves Jennie, he also has a weakness for stage stars -- so when a riverboat theatrical crew comes to their town, he is smitten by lead actress Lillian Lyons. Desperate to keep Orme, Jennie insists on going onstage to best Lillian, but is soon out of her depth.

A teenager with permissive parents gets too caught up in wild parties and the fast life.

A little girl watches the craftsman at work while inter-titles explain the particulars of pottery-making.

In this two-reeler, Jimmy Jump wants to please both of his parents, but they disagree about everything. His father wants him to act more manly, although Jimmy gets his sensitivity from his mother. He wants to wed his girlfriend, and so accepts a job at his father's iron foundry, but does not excel there. Next, Jimmy goes to a tough dance-hall to impress his girl. A highlight is his parody of an Isadora Duncan dance.

The story of two baby girls, born near in proximity, but worlds apart in life: Molly Helmer, the daughter of a thief, and Florence Banning, the daughter of the judge who would send Molly's father to prison. The girls' lives come together as young women at eighteen as Florence leaves the security of the exclusive Girls Select School, and Molly, now orphaned, begins her life free from reform school.

Many of the "Our Gang" kids are in their secret clubhouse - so secret that some wannabe members have troubles trying to find the tunnel entrance - planning their next game, which will be a Wild West shootout. They run into some obstacles in playing the game, including objections from parents, and as such they decide to postpone it until the wee hours of the next morning and play it in the streets of the neighborhood. As it begins to rain during the middle of their shootout that morning, they decide to take refuge in a neighborhood house. What they are unaware of is that the house belongs to inventor W.R. Jones, who rigged it to be a "magnetic house", a demonstration for a possible amusement park attraction. Not knowing about the house's rigged contraptions leads to a lot of misadventures for the gang not related to shooting Indians as they try to figure out what's happening around them.

A tour of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studio in 1925 shows the people who make the movies there, and gives viewers a glimpse at how movies are made.