The 20 Best of Frank Lloyd

Jean Valjean, a good and decent man who has committed a minor crime, is imprisoned but escapes. He is pursued thereafter for years by Javert, the cruel and implacable arm of the law.

Alcoholic lawyer Sydney Carton travels to Paris during the Reign of Terror to rescue French aristocrat Charles Darnay, husband of the woman he loves.

Lassiter, a Texas Ranger, goes after the sect which has abducted his sister Millie. During his search, he encounters Jane Withersteen, who owns a rich estate. Lassiter saves a man named Venters from a whipping by men who think Venters is courting Jane. Lassiter takes Venters' place as manager of Jane's ranch, while Venters goes in search of cattle thieves. Venters discovers the thieves are led by a masked rider, and wounds the rider. The rider turns out to be female, and Venters nurses her back to health. Lassiter discovers that Millie is dead, and takes an orphan girl named Fay Larkin under his wing. When Fay is abducted by the same sect that had taken his sister, Lassiter takes his vengeance out on their leader, Dyer, and rescues Fay. As they are fleeing, they meet Venters and the masked rider, whom Lassiter recognizes as his sister's daughter, Bess. Venters and Bess ride east to be married, but Lassiter's escape route is cut off by pursuers, led by Elder Tull. Lassiter, Jane, and Fay find an entrance to a canyon, but it is blocked by a massive rock. Lassiter manages to push the rock down on Tull and his followers, but in the process, he seals himself, Jane, and Fay in the canyon.

Barney Kemper works hard on a farm so his younger brother Dick can go to college. However, Dick squanders Barney's money. Margaret Danford, daughter of the village doctor, loves Barney from afar and tries to educate him. A girlfriend of Margaret's comes for a visit and steals Barney's heart. The young girl turns to Dick, and Barney discovers them together. Embittered, Barney goes west to work in a lumber camp. But Dick reforms, and becomes a minister, and is assigned to the lumber camp. Margaret goes along to start a hospital. Tex Daly, leader of the lumbermen, resent Dick and try to frame him with a saloon girl. When Dick is shot by Tex, Barney appears and helps his wounded brother by taking charge of the church. Dick dies, and Barney kills Tex. Barney and Margaret are united.

U. S. Senator Frank Deering has spent his life trying to alleviate the misery of child labor. Judge Vernon, his closest friend, aids him in this struggle. Unexpected circumstances force Judge Vernon to borrow money from Henry McCarthy, one of the factory owners most responsible for the harsh and inhumane working conditions. Judge Vernon is unable to pay off the loan, and is reduced to accepting a bride from McCarthy. Later, the Judge is stricken with a heart-condition but, on his dying bed, he confesses the shameful act he committed to Deering. To keep his friend's name unsullied, Deering makes a deal with McCarthy and votes against the child-labor-act he sponsored. His colleagues and the world, unaware of his sacrifice, mock and jeer him.

Lassiter, Jane Withersteen, and the young orphan Fay Larkin were imprisoned in a valley years ago, and now live like primitive people. A relative of Lassiter's named John Shefford goes in search of them. Before he can find them, a Mormon elder named Waggoner is able to enter the valley, where he finds the trio. He kidnaps Fay, now a young woman, and brings her to a desolate area where she is kept with other women. When United States marshals raid the Mormon settlement, they bring charges of polygamy against all the women living there. Shefford sees Fay during her trial and falls in love with her. He rescues her and rides away with her, and then attempts to rescue Lassiter and Jane. When Waggoner pursues, he is killed by an Indian. Waggoner's followers continue the pursuit. Shefford, Fay, and the others are saved when marshals, warned by the Indian, arrive.

William Armstrong, an American whose family is from France, inherits an iron mine in France. With his sister Betty, he travels to France to take over the business. In the village near the mine lives Claire, the daughter of a wealthy family, who is engaged to the scheming Duc de Bligny. When Claire's family loses all their money, the Duc dumps her for the daughter of a wealthy manufacturer. Armstrong and his sister find themselves caught up in this intrigue, which becomes more complicated when Armstrong falls for Claire.

Unhappy with her shotgun marriage to Southern aristocrat Arthur Heatherway, Valerie Marchmont leaves her new husband and, after giving her infant daughter to a Virginia family, goes to Alaska to work in a dance hall. Years later, the daughter, Adrian Gardiner, wants to marry Richard Carver. Richard's father Robert, refuses them to marry because Adrian cannot provide any information about her parents. Following a hunch, Richard goes to Alaska to find the mother Adrian never knew, but just after locating Valerie, he is shot by saloon owner Jim McNeil. When Adrian and Robert go to Alaska to be with Richard during his recuperation, Robert recognizes Valerie as the wife of his old friend Arthur. As a result, he approves of the marriage, but the celebration accompanying the news is cut short when Valerie and Jim kill each other in a fight.

Gilbert Brockhurst, an Englishman living in America, has an American wife and a six-year-old son named Robert. His wife inherits a ranch in Arizona. A short time later, Brockhurst is informed that his cousin has died, and that he is now the Earl of Somerfield. He deserts his wife and goes to England. When his wife dies on the ranch, Brockhurst remarries and has a son named Stanley, who is regarded as his heir, but he's a spendthrift. When Brockhurst is sent to America on a diplomatic mission, he takes Stanley with him and threatens to leave him in America unless he reforms. Meanwhile, Brockhurst's older son has taken the name Robert McKeever and taken over the ranch. McKeever finds Stanley in a gambling house, pays off his debt, and takes him to his ranch. He then fears that his half-brother is winning the affection of Ruth, the local schoolteacher. McKeever eventually tells Ruth she can go to Stanley, but she tells him that she really loves him. Brockhurst offers to make McKeever his heir, but instead, McKeever sends Stanley, who has reformed, back to England.

Tenement dweller Molly Moore, trying to forget her crooked past and go straight, runs a cheap restaurant in the underworld district in order to educate her younger sister Marion. Jerry Sullivan and Spike Davis, two friends from Molly's past, are released from prison. Jerry has always loved Molly and is determined to find work despite Spike's bad influence. When Spike forces himself on Marion during her visit to Molly, Molly sends her back to her educated friends. Marion then becomes engaged to Ted Pemberton, the brother of her boarding school friend Alice. Spike plans to rob the Pemberton home on the night of the engagement party, and threatens to expose Molly's past if she does not help him. Molly refuses, but when she follows him to the Pemberton home to dissuade him, she is arrested by the police while Spike escapes. Jerry locates Spike, and with the aid of Dave Garrity, a plainclothed policeman, Spike is arrested and Molly freed. Jerry and Molly wed and rebuild their lives.

After her parents separate, young Violet Dale's father takes her to Alaska. Although he tries to protect her from the sordidness of life in a lawless town, Violet must resort to working in a dance hall after he is killed after being caught cheating at cards. Despite her circumstances, Violet remains virtuous and earns the respect and admiration of the dance-hall clientele. Frank Carson, a young man who has come to Alaska to seek his fortune, is attracted to Violet and asks her to marry him. When he shows her a portrait of his mother, Violet sees that it is a duplicate of a portrait she has of her own mother. Now realizing that Frank is her own brother, she refuses his proposal but does not tell him why. Some time later, Frank receives word that his mother is seriously ill and needs an expensive operation that she cannot afford. Desperate to help, Violet holds an auction at the dance hall to offer herself to the highest bidder. Rev. David Cromwell, a kind man who is in love with Violet and knows her predicament, makes the winning bid of $6,000, although he does not have the money. Dance-hall owner Buck, who is jealous of David's influence over the community, decides to lend him the money for three months on the condition that if David does not pay, he will belong to Buck for 10 years. David eventually obtains the money and wins Violet's love.

A Russian peasant girl rises to fame as an operatic diva. She becomes beloved of a Russian prince. When the 1917 revolution overthrows the czar's government, the pair attempts to cross the icy steppes and find their way to America.

A man's life is ruined by the treachery of someone he once thought was a close friend. Enraged, he determines to track the man down and get his revenge. He follows the culprit over two continents and across the ocean, and when the ship sinks he finds himself washed up on a desert island with his nemesis and a beautiful young woman.

When John Langdon suspects--wrongly, as it turns out--that his wife Claire is having an affair he divorces her, and gets custody of their daughter Florence. Later Florence marries the city's District Attorney. Meanwhile Claire, in dire financial straits, gets involved with an infamous gambling resort in the city. A political rival of Florence's husband discovers Claire's secret and tries blackmailing Florence by threatening to expose her mother's "secret life".

Returning home to find that his sister has died after being abducted and violated by an unscrupulous man, sailor Larry Smith ships out as mate with Captain Sutton. After an altercation with the captain, Larry leaves the ship at a South Sea port where he meets and falls in love with Violet North, a woman of questionable reputation who is the mistress of millionaire Lewis. Larry proposes, but Violet sails with Lewis anyway. Sutton also sets sail, leaving behind inveterate drunk Logan, who informs Larry that Sutton was the man responsible for his sister's death. Sometime later, Lewis' yacht is wrecked and Violet is cast upon an island. Sutton picks her up and tries to sell her to the natives as punishment for resisting his advances, but Larry rescues her and kills Sutton. His sister thus avenged, Larry marries Violet and settles down.

Robert Wayne is a prominent businessman, whose sister Edith is married to his friend Herbert Osborne. Osborne's business under attack by a rival, Howard Stratton. Osborne gives his stock proxy to Wayne and tells him to vote the shares a certain way at the upcoming stockholders meeting. Stratton takes Osborne's wife for a drive, and then calls Wayne to say the two have eloped. To protect his sister from scandal, Wayne goes to rescue his sister and misses the stockholders meeting. In a struggle, Stratton is accidentally shot with his own gun and Wayne is convicted of the shooting. Wayne is paroled on the condition that he fight for his country. Before going to France, he meets Mary Fenton and falls in love. During the war, Wayne rescues a comrade and wins a commendation. But he is wounded and sent home. At the ball held at Mary's home celebrating the end of the war, Edith tells the truth about the shooting that sent her brother to prison.

To obtain an increase in his income from his wealthy uncle, Charles Shackleton must stop his wild bachelor ways and marry. Charles proposes to Lucy Norton, but her father refuses his permission. Undaunted, Charles tells his uncle he has married and receives his increased allowance. A year later the uncle announces an upcoming visit, and Charles begins a frantic search for a temporary wife, offering Jane, the maid, five hundred dollars to play the part of Mrs. Shackleton. Secretly married to William, the butler, Jane undertakes the role without her husband's knowledge, causing him much confusion and jealousy. When the uncle demands to see "the baby," Jane snatches one from an unsuspecting washerwoman, who later catches the uncle with her child and calls the police on him. Further complications lead to Charles' pleading proposal to Lucy and then finally to the truth, which leaves everyone satisfied.

Nell, a beautiful mountain girl, is a member of the Serviss family, rivals of the neighboring Rutherford family. Nell is engaged to Jim Serviss, who is the head of their clan, but when, by accident, she meets a stranger who has come to stay with the Rutherfords, they become infatuated. The stranger spends much of his time examining and chipping away at rocks, causing an intense curiosity among the mountaineers, who suspect that he is a "revenuer." When Nell learns that the stranger is searching for radium, she shows him a deposit rich in ore located near the Serviss still. On the night of a big dance, the Serviss still is burned by revenue officers and the mountain people are convinced that the stranger is to blame. Nell rushes to the Rutherford cabin to warn the stranger who is revealed to be Rolf Rutherford. When Jim arrives, Nell saves Rolf's life by telling Jim that she will marry the stranger. Soon after Jim leaves, however, Nell goes after him and admits that it is only he who she loves and that she lied to save him from committing murder.

Realizing that his mayoral campaign is in serious trouble, reform candidate Frank Grandell sends his people out to dig up some dirt on Art Hoke, the boss of the city's political machine. Their investigation leads them to Hoke's flunky, nicknamed "Looney Jim". Jim implies that he has some damaging information about Hoke's daughter, but he dies before he can reveal it. Grandell eventually finds out what the "secret" is, however, and must decide whether to use it in his campaign to defeat Hoke's candidate.

After a spectacular college football career, John Harkless leaves the university to pursue a place in Indiana politics. He buys the failing Plattville Herald and, using the newspaper to expose various illegal activities, sets out to rid the county of all mobsters and corrupt officials. When a traveling circus comes to town, he uncovers a crooked gambling ring and drives away the fleecers. That night, returning from his sweetheart's house, he is badly beaten and left for dead by a gang of men. Believing that John has been murdered, vigilantes gather to avenge his death, but the identity of the perpetrators is in question. The evidence finally points to the White Caps, a band of thugs allied with Rodney McCune, a notorious local politician opposing John in an upcoming Congressional race. Before the angry mob clashes with the White Caps, John is located in a hospital emergency room. While he recovers, his girlfriend, Helen Sherwood, takes over the newspaper and cleverly concocts a way for John to win the election.

The story concerns the love of two firemen, Duffy and Mack, for Nora Donovan. Duffy is the accepted suitor. Mack, a moral weakling, nurses a bitter hatred for his successful rival and takes the opportunity to comprise him in the eyes of the girl. Mack's scheme works so well that Nora throws Duffy over and accepts for the time being, Mack's attentions. Later, Mack marries Nora and shortly after that he is discharged for drunkenness. Hopeless and without funds, Nora goes to work in a factory. Of an afternoon Duffy and Mack meet and Duffy learns that Nora is at work. He upbraids Mack for allowing it and Mack, sufficiently drunk to be affected, resolves to make Nora quit. He enters the factory and has trouble with the superintendent. Mack is ejected from the room in which Nora is working and Nora is sent into the stockroom. In the course of putting the drunken man out of the building. Mack pulls down some electric wires, causing a short circuit at the fuse and a fire. While the superintendent is gone for the police, Mack goes to sleep in his office. The fire alarm is given and all, except Nora, rush out of the building. In the excitement she is locked in the stockroom. When the fire department arrives smoke is pouring from all the windows. Nora opens the stockroom window and calls for help, then falls unconscious upon the window sill. Duffy is upon the roof. His companions lower him over the edge of the building by the heels. He takes the girl and throws her into the life net held below, then jumps himself. The superintendent now remembers that Mack is in his office. The entire building is aflame, but Duffy fights his way through the burning corridors and carries the unconscious Mack from the place. Mack regains consciousness but is mortally burned. With his dying breath he cries, "Duffy, I lied to her. She loved you always."

The woman who was married for her money is sadly contemplating the life of her own choosing. Below a dinner party is in progress, presided over by the husband who married alone for wealth. He is surrounded by his friends. He notices that his wife is not present and, against her wishes, she is led into the company. At the height of the revelry, a wandering musician passes the house playing upon his violin. He is called in and marks the fine woman out of her sphere. From the depths of his soul he plays to the disappointed wife. He plays music which but she and himself can understand. The husband chafes under the yoke of his wife's dignity, and the restraint placed upon himself. He takes unto himself a paramour, a woman of his own type. The estrangement between husband and wife grows until the husband sees an opportunity to forever rid himself of her. He purchases an unmanageable horse, a man-killer, and telling his wife that it is quite gentle, he presents it to her. That his evil plans may not miscarry, he places a thorn under the saddle a moment before the wife mounts for her first ride. The horse runs wild in a lonesome spot in the woods; the wife is thrown to the ground and rendered unconscious. She is found by the wandering musician. He takes her in his arms and carries her home. She is not dead, but crippled so that she will never walk again. His plans thus defeated, the husband goes from bad to worse with his paramour. The crippled woman has now become the saint, the divinity of the wandering musician. Every evening he comes outside her window and plays the music which but they can understand. Finally he is even allowed to touch her hand with his lips. When the riderless horse returned to the stable, the groom found the thorn under the saddle, and this, together with a note stolen from the wife's apartment by the maid, the groom is enlightened as to the manner of the accident. The groom then turns vampire and uses this information to bleed the guilty husband. He ceases to be the groom. He becomes the evil genius of the husband. He follows the husband and the paramour from place to place, and finally succeeds in replacing the husband in the paramour's affections. One evening the musician comes to the accustomed spot outside the wife's window and plays his song of worship. He then takes a rose, his daily tribute, and places it in the hand resting upon the sill. The hand is cold, and the rose falls to the ground. The wife is dead. The minstrel enters a monastery where on his former pilgrimages he had taught the gentle monks to play the violin, and the doors of the solemn structure receive him. Again, years afterward, the groom and the husband meet. The groom has become the keeper of a low dive. The husband, now with crime and brutal excess written upon his face, staggers into this dive and dies, an instant before he is recognized by the groom. And then each year the musician, monk now, climbs to a lofty mountain peak and there surrounded by the clouds, plays to his lost divinity.

Grace, a She Wolf, a wrecker of men's hearts and reputations, tires of the bright lights and marries a miner. She wearies of the monotony and when her husband, Ford, is injured by a premature explosion and blinded she bears the burden with ill-concealed impatience. An immigrant train passes on the way to some diggings. One of the immigrants, Molter, sees Grace and she uses her wiles and he is quickly fascinated. She and he flirt while Ford, wanting a light uses the lamp and burning his fingers, leaves the globe off and sets the lamp near the curtain. He wanders out in search of Grace and the cabin takes fire. Ford overhears Grace and Molter and getting away he stumbles over an embankment and loses consciousness. The immigrants discover the burning cabin and Grace, thinking her husband dead, joyfully takes the occasion to go with Molter. In the meantime Ford is found wandering about in a futile manner. His rescuer, a miner named Kellar, takes the almost demented man along with him on his way to the newly heralded mining camp. The gambler and Grace join the gold rush to the new diggings. After arriving Kellar takes Ford to a doctor, who works over his eyes. Kellar meets Grace and she is fascinated with him for a while, sets to work to ruin him also. He is finally persuaded to play cards with her and detects the gambler giving her signals. Kellar runs the latter off by pulling his gun and pointing it at him and Grace swears to get even with him. Kellar has words with a miner and they fight and are separated. Ford eventually recovers the sight of one eye and swears to revenge himself upon the She Wolf who deserted him.

The story, in brief, relates to that famous character of history, Captain Kidd, from the time he became a pirate until his fall. According to history he was sent out to subdue piracy by King William III of England, who had heard of this captain's ability in combating these wolves of the marine commerce. Kidd starts out with good impulses. A misunderstanding with his sweetheart, whom he was about to marry, changed the tenure of his life, from a law-abiding citizen he suddenly was transformed into a fiend. He embarked with embittered thoughts that soon answered the summons of rancor. He fell for the temptation to reap an easy fortune through piracy. Ever actuated by the gnawings of a self-imposed broken heart, Kidd ruled with unpitying hand. A poor wretch, one of his own crew, whom he had ordered thrown overboard for no reason whatever nearly caused Kidd's downfall. In the meantime Peggy, his sweetheart, had pined through sorrow. The American shores invited. It was thought a change would do her good and she embarked with her father. Through a strange act of fate this ship fell a prey to the ever watchful eye of Kidd's crew. Battle and carnage reigned. Peggy recognized her old sweetheart directing the killing. When he finds her she has been mortally wounded. Gathering her in his strong arms he totters with unseeing eyes to the forward deck, where she dies. The man whose life had been seared through his own jealous nature becomes again as a child with a grief that was simple and sincere.

The present story concerns Henry Morgan, the famous buccaneer who afterwards became Governor of Jamaica. We are first taken on board his ship, when Morgan is gaining the enmity of Jack Teach, his mate, by winning all his savings through gambling. Following is an attack on Captain Mardo's ship. All hands are murdered, except the Captain's little son Juan, who is saved by the Padre. Teach takes a hand in the boy's defense. Morgan gouges out his eye. The Padre and the boy later escape to land safely. Years pass and Morgan becomes the Governor of Jamaica. His identity is discovered and a trap is laid for his arrest. He escapes to the "Undertow," an old ship converted into a tavern and owned by Jack Teach, Teach recognizes Morgan and plots revenge. The latter rallies his men and with Teach they take to sea to renew their old trade. Incidents full of excitement pursue them. In one a city is completely destroyed by fire when the pirates raid it for plunder. Juan and his sweetheart are captured, Teach offers to bring about his escape on condition that when Morgan is captured he will be turned over to him to deal with as he sees fit. This is done and in the end Morgan is placed in irons. He is turned over to Teach, who chains him to a rock in the sea and leaves him to die.