Movies by Clarissa Selwynne

Smashing Through

Smashing Through

Claim jumper Dave Marco and his boss Earl Foster, a crooked investment broker, hire chemist Ralph Brandon to falsify papers that a certain worthless mine is valuable then convince Ralph's mother to invest all her money in the mine. Ralph’s sister Holly meets Jack Mason, whose mine is actually valuable though not yet profitable, and they fall for each other. Once Mrs. Brandon finds out she has been duped, though forced into silence by the threat of having Ralph’s malfeasance exposed, and Marco attempts to jump Jack’s claim events come to a he...

Home

Home

A young woman of humble origins hides her family's lack of wealth and prestige from her boarding school friends.

Cynara

Cynara

A London barrister's marriage is under strain after his affair with a shopgirl who is out to have him. The story is told in flashback.

Infatuation

Infatuation

Infatuation is based on Caesar's Wife, a story by Somerset Maugham. Dazzlingly British socialite Viola Morgan falls madly in love with professional soldier Sir Arthur Little at a dinner party. The two marry, and before long Viola has relocated to Egypt with her husband. Soon bored by her hothouse existence, Viola succumbs to the attentions of young British attache Ronald Perry.

Slightly Married

Slightly Married

Mary Smith is picked up by the police and is about to be sentenced, in night court, to jail for prostitution. But a stranger, Jimmie Martin, stands up and tells the judge that Mary was waiting for him and they were going to be married.

A Weaver of Dreams

A Weaver of Dreams

Unrequited love rules the day as both wealthy Judith Sylvester and her invalid aunt pine for men who got away, but happiness lays ahead for one while hopeful dreams sustain the other.

The Brass Bottle

The Brass Bottle

Horace Ventimore, a young London architect, stumbles across an old brass bottle. When he picks it up a genie suddenly appears and promises Horace that he will grant every wish Horace wants in exchange for his freedom. Horace accepts the genie's offer but finds out that things aren't working out quite as well as he thought they would.

High Steppers

High Steppers

Perryam is going through a round of bad luck; he is thrown out of school and loses at love. In search of a change, he heads for London, where he meets Audrey Nye, a former jazz baby who has gotten a responsible job on a newspaper. She helps Perryam get hired as a reporter.

Gloriana

Gloriana

A newly adopted girl is doted on by her adopted father but faces indifference from her adopted mother.

The Cup of Fury

The Cup of Fury

Sir Joseph and Lady Webbing are the foster parents of Marie-Louise. The couple are also in league with Verrinder, a German spy. When their work against England is discovered, they commit suicide. Marie-Louise, who has been an unwitting part of their schemes, is allowed to go to the U.S. if she promises to keep everything a secret.

Mother, I Need You

Mother, I Need You

A young woman who became pregnant from an assault faces legal trouble and scandal after having an abortion.

Jazz Mad

Jazz Mad

A composer and his daughter emigrate to America in the hope that he can sell his symphony. But he meets with little success and begins to give up hope. His daughter and her friends, however, never give up hope.

Mademoiselle Midnight

Mademoiselle Midnight

Renée (Mae Murray) is the heiress of a Mexican ranch, granddaughter of a woman known for her recklessness and frivolity at night. This first "Mademoiselle Midnight" is banished in the opening scene by Napoleon III at Empress Eugenie's insistence to Mexico. Renee is kept locked at the hacienda at night by her father to prevent her following in her grandmother's wayward footsteps. She falls in love with a visiting American (Monte Blue) but is also pursued by the craven outlaw Manuel Corrales. Miss Murray gets to do some of her trademark dancin...

The Talk of the Town

The Talk of the Town

Her strict upbringing is driving Genevra French (Dorothy Phillips) crazy, so when she gets her hand on a book called "How to Attract the Opposite Sex," she takes its advice to heart. She uses her newly found wiles on Lawrence Tabor (William Stowell) and gets him to marry her. Only after the wedding does she tell him she married him just to get away from her family, and that she intends to do exactly as she pleases.

The Dangerous Flirt

The Dangerous Flirt

The naïve Sheila Fairfax (Brent) plays with men’s emotions without fully comprehending the risks leading to several dangerous situations from which she and the man she loves to barely escape with their lives.

The Crystal Cup

The Crystal Cup

A beautiful young girl has been raised by her bitter mother to hate all men, but her beauty means that men are constantly after her. She rejects them all, leading some to believe that she may be a lesbian. To stop those rumors, she begins a platonic relationship with a young writer, but things don't work out exactly as planned.

The Double Standard

The Double Standard

Newly elected police court judge John Fairbrother is impassioned when it comes to the laws affecting the dives and cabarets of the city, and promises equal justice for all.

Naughty But Nice

Naughty But Nice

Naughty But Nice was based on The Bigamists, a story by Lewis Alen Brown. Gawky country girl Berenice Summers (Colleen Moore) is catapulted head-first into High Society when her Uncle Seth (Burr McIntosh) strikes oil. Shipped off to a fancy boarding school, Berenice suffers at the hands of her snooty classmates, but the last straw comes when she's publicly humiliated by local wise-guy Paul Carroll (Donald Reed).

Face Value

Face Value

A runaway becomes a thief and is sentenced to a reformatory.

Resurrection

Resurrection

Katusha, a country girl, is seduced and abandoned by Prince Nekludov. Nekludov finds himself, years later, on a jury trying the same Katusha for a crime he now realizes his actions drove her to. He follows her to imprisonment in Siberia, intent on redeeming her and himself as well.