The Sensation Seekers (Silent)

"Egypt" Hagen is a hedonistic party girl whose main concern is the pursuit of her own pleasure. While engaging in her daily sunbathing ritual, she meets Norman Lodge, a man of the cloth unimpressed by her daring swimming attire. Entranced by his sanctity, Egypt falls for the noble reverend, despite his pending engagement. Declaring herself a new woman, she faithfully attends Norman's sermons in hopes of catching his eye. But old habits are hard to break, and a casual visit to a speakeasy lands Egypt in jail. Now the foolhardy girl must redeem herself to Norman before he embarks on his marriage, dashing all her dreams and hopes...

The Sensation Seekers is one of the few surviving works of the innovative and ahead-of-her-time Lois Weber (1879-1939), who was considered by some to be the equal of D.W. Griffith. In 1914 Weber became the first American woman to direct a feature-length film with her adaptation of Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice. In her over 100 pictures, she pioneered the use of split-screen technique in Suspense (1913) tackled abortion and birth control in Where Are My Children? (1916) and even provided the silver screen with its first instance of female full-frontal nudity in Hypocrites (1915). As a screenwriter, she penned the first big-screen version of Tarzan of the Apes (1918) with Elmo Lincoln. She also discovered and served as mentor to several acclaimed actresses, including The Sensation Seekers' star, Billie Dove. A Ziegfeld girl who came to Hollywood in search of fame and fortune, the former Bertha Bohny became a household name when Weber cast her in The Marriage Clause (1925). Roles in The Black Pirate (1926) and The American Beauty (1927; the title of which subsequently became Dove's nickname) followed. She was so popular that singer Eleanora Fagan took inspiration from the starlet when she rechristened herself Billie Holiday. Based on a novel by Ernest Pascal, The Sensation Seekers was a hit at the box office upon its release on March 20, 1927. Surprisingly considering the technical deftness of the production, Weber had time during filming to assist Harry A. Pollard with his adaptation of Uncle Tom's Cabin (1927).

Bonus: The Wolf Of Cajon (BW, 1928, Silent): Very little information is available about this rare short film about a young couple being menaced by a wolf. It may be excerpted from the lost serial The House of Terror (1928), which features the same cast and crew, or it may be a a short subject shot at the same time. Whichever the case, leading man Pat O'Brien is definitely not the same actor who became a star during the sound era. Years later, director Roland Reed produced television shows such as My Little Margie (1953) and Rocky Jones, Space Ranger (1954).