A Desert Dilemma (1917)
Stuck in the desert ZaSu pratfalls her way out.
Stuck in the desert ZaSu pratfalls her way out.
Zasu Pitts
Milburn MoranteKalora is the "slim princess of Morevana," a land in which fat is prized. This distresses her family, who must marry off Kalora, before her rotund younger sister Papova may wed. To remedy this situation, Kalora's father, the governor general, throws a garden party and disguises his slim daughter in an inflated rubber suit. All goes well until the suit ruptures, deflating Kalora to her normal size....
In Jedda, Persia, American consul George Gage, known as a woman hater, is shocked when his newly arrived assistant, "Billie Baxter," whom he assumes will be a man, turns out to be an attractive woman. Despite his formerly anti-female leanings, George finds himself falling in love with Billie and is jealous when his womanizing friend, Brad Wilson, arrives in Jedda and makes a play for her. At the same time, when the ruling Pasha, Abdul Mustapha, meets Billie, he also becomes smitten and tries to have her brought to his harem. Despite their rivalry, George and Brad join forces and save Billie from the Pasha, after which she decides that George is the man she loves and wants to marry. Considered a lost film.

Auto racer Speed Carr enters a marathon race across the United States, from New York to Los Angeles. He encounters numerous obstacles not related to the race and must switch identities and vehicles before he can finish.

Playboy Teddy Ward wants to marry Jeannie King, an artist, but his father wants him to marry Loris Lane, but tells Teddy he can marry whom he pleases if he will make the Mountain Inn a profitable operation. Teddy agrees, and with the support of his friends arranges an ice-boat race with a $10,000 prize to the winner. A problem arises when his father refuses to pay such an amount. Teddy thinks one of his friends will win the race and refuse the prize, but champion racer "Duke" Slade shows up and Teddy knows he will take the money. Some movie stars show up and, while using their own names, are definitely not playing "Self" in this fictional film.
War hero Captain November Jones tries to sneak into his hometown of Gold City, Nevada undetected but when he rescues a child from being run over by a train he’s recognized and obliged to receive the town's congratulations. Meanwhile, unscrupulous stockbroker Samuel Barnes and adventuress Teddy Craig are trying to get control of the Bluebird Lode from New Yorker Jackson J. Joseph, who is coming West to meet his daughter Nedra. Teddy tries to ensnare November to help fight Joseph, claiming he's trying to take her mine, but he refuses. Teddy's accusation of Jones's cowardice does not bother him until he falls in love with Nedra, who shuns him, believing Teddy's rumor. When Mr. Joseph is kidnapped and Jones saves him Nedra learns the truth and agrees to marry him.

The statue of Niobe comes to life through the dream of a hen-pecked old man.
On the eve of the marriage of her daughter, Alita, Mrs. Allen, unhappily married for 25 years, advocates writer Fannie Hurst's widely publicized mode of living with her husband: only two breakfasts a week together and complete freedom otherwise.
Business failure Ernest Todd is advised by his friend, Billy Breese, to enlist his wife's charms as a means of winning customers.

Wealthy American widow Elizabeth Carter plans to marry the Earl of Dettminster when lawyer Augustus Tucker informs her of a codicil in her late husband's will. The Carter fortune will go to nephew Pitney Carter, who is in love with Elizabeth, if her second husband is not an American. Elizabeth therefore pays penniless playwright Jasper Mallory $50,000 to marry her and schemes with actress Mme. Albani to provide grounds for divorce so that she may then make the earl her third husband.

David Holmes, a misogynist and recluse, becomes the guardian of ten-year-old Sylvia after her father's death. He initially sends her to live in the country, but she returns as a young woman, and David is captivated by her beauty. He finds himself falling in love with her as he accompanies her to social events, and they are united by their mutual love.
Upon learning that the parents of "Little Red" have died, the cowboys of Colonel Ferdinand Aliso's ranch adopt the boy. Parson Jones and his church committee protest that the child should be brought up in more refined surroundings, but the cowboys, particularly Duck Sing, Aliso's Chinese cook, are so enamored of Little Red that they donate their poker money to the church to placate the congregation. After Little Red catches pneumonia and nearly dies, however, Dr. Kirk insists that the boy either live with the minister or acquire a mother through the marriage of one of the cowboys. While Little Red is recuperating at the parson's home, ranch hand Tom Gilroy courts the only marriageable women in town -- a widow and two spinsters -- but much to his relief, they all turn him down. In the end, Duck Sing and the colonel join forces and legally adopt him.

Silent Comedy of the battle of the sexes for dominance within the home.
The Hottentot is a lost 1929 American pre-Code film directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring Edward Everett Horton and Patsy Ruth Miller. It is based on a 1920 Broadway play, The Hottentot, by William Collier, Sr. and Victor Mapes.
Disowned son of a millionaire, Paul Bunyon and his pal, Philo Brown, get jobs (under assumed names) in a lumber yard owned by Paul’s father. Paul falls in love with Patricia Jennings, the manager's daughter. Philo, boasting that Paul is fighter "Mile a Minute Morgan," get him a match with a professional. Paul intends to skip out, but Patricia persuades him to stay. When Kenneth Winster steals the purse money and abducts Patricia, Paul knocks out his opponent, chases Winster, recovers the money, saves Patricia, and wins his father's respect.
Purity League father can't restrain his adventurous daughter from parading around in scanty bathing suits. Willy must learn how to fight in order to win her heart.
Having been in show biz since infancy, Broadway chorus girl Beatrice regrets her lack of formal education, so when she unexpectedly falls heir to a huge sum of money, Beatrice decides to make up for lost time.
Richard Chester, a bachelor who has lost everything in a poker game, blunders into the apartment of Nora Ellis, who has just inherited a fortune under the stipulation that she marry immediately. Assuming the name Chester Dick, Richard marries Nora and leaves. Unaware of this marriage of convenience, Charles Renalls, Nora's suitor, later assumes that her wealth is the only impediment to their union and conspires to ruin her on the market. Upon learning of his scheme, Richard ruins Charles. Nora falls in love with Richard, not recognizing her benefactor as her husband of an evening. Hoping to spoil Richard's chances with Nora, Charles tells her that Richard is already married and that he carries his wife's picture in his pocket. To her surprise and delight, Nora discovers that the incriminating picture is her own photograph and that Richard is already her husband.
A clever, out-of-work man through a series of misunderstandings and bold maneuvers, manages to pass himself off as a wealthy and influential figure. He uses this false persona to navigate high society and outwit various characters he encounters. The comedy centers on his efforts to maintain the facade while dealing with the romantic and financial complications that arise.
A married couple, each in love with another, attempts to unentangle themselves from their marriage in order to be with the one each truly loves. But the more they untangle one knot, the faster more confusing knots appear.
Disguised as a prince a bandit attempts to steal a princess's heart and jewels, but his plan backfires when the princess is captivated by his true bandit self leading to a comedic chase and capture.