Ghosts (Silent)

Captain Alving, chamberlain to the king, seeks a union with wealthy debutante Helen Nordje for financial reasons. Despite rumors that the notorious philanderer has syphilis, Helen's society-obsessed parents insist she go through with the marriage. At the same time that the couple's son Oswald is born, Alving is having an affair with their next-door neighbor. This affair produces a daughter, Regina, but her parentage is kept secret by the delivering doctor. Oswald and Regina grow up together as friends, not realizing they share the same father. The boy becomes a successful artist, but begins showing signs of madness that prove he has inherited syphilis as feared. Hoping she will be a stabilizing influence, his mother encourages him to marry Regina. Before the marriage can take place, the physician who delivered Regina reveals the truth about her parentage. Shocked by this revelation, Oswald goes completely mad, the sins of his father having now been truly visited upon him…

Still as shocking today as when it was written, Ghosts is the first filmed adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's controversial 1881 play. It is produced by the legendary D.W. Griffith and directed by George Nichols, better known for his comedy work at Keystone Studios. Star Henry B. Walthall is best remembered for playing the "Little Colonel" in Griffith's Birth of a Nation (1915). Erich von Stroheim acted as wardrobe assistant to Nichols and has a brief role as a clerk in the film.

BONUS: The Message of the Violin (1910): A poor violinist must prove himself worthy to his girlfriend after she inherits money in this rare Biograph short directed by Griffith.