Two children, Ploetz and Larella, perform an Italian peasant dance.

Bookmaker struggles with police and is arrested.

Princess Ali, of Barnum and Bailey's circus, performs an Egyptian dance in the Edison Company's studio. As she dances, some musicians perform in the background to provide accompaniment.

Annabelle (Whitford) Moore performs one of her popular dance routines. She uses her dance steps and her long, flowing skirts to create a variety of visual patterns.

This short film, one of the first to use camera tricks, depicts the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots.

"Firemen in working uniform, rubber coats, helmets, and boots. Thrilling rescue from burning building. Smoke effects are fine." - from the Edison Catalog

The 'Little Sure Shot' of the 'Wild West.' Exhibition of Rifle Shooting at Glass Balls, etc. (from the Edison Catalog)

Performing on what looks like a small wooden stage, wearing a dress with a hoop skirt and white high-heeled pumps, Carmencita does a dance with kicks and twirls, a smile always on her face.

Customer gets a lightning-fast shave.

The earliest extant sound film. William K.L. Dickson stands in the background next to a huge sound pickup horn connected to a Thomas Edison phonograph recorder. As he plays a violin, two men dance in the foreground. This film was made to demonstrate a new Thomas Edison machine, the Kinetophone. These machines were Kinetoscope peepshow viewers mated with Thomas Edison wax cylinder phonographs. But the Kinetophone never caught on and this film was never released. The film still exists, but the phonograph soundtrack has been lost.

A dramatizing of Knut Hamsun's famous novel from 1898, Victoria, which is about the tragic and unhappy love affair between Victoria and Johannes. She's a daughter of a rich estate owner, and he is the son of the poor miller. Despite the deep love between them, her father makes Victoria ditch Johannes, and instead marry to the chamber-mans son Otto. Johannes is a writer, and very fond of the nature, but he can never get the girl he loves above all, the wealthy born Victoria. They meet for the first time at age 14, when she is 10. We follow them for years, where we see Johannes making every possible attempt to impress her, and to climb in social rank, at which he does not succeed. They meet up several times, declaring their love for each other, but Victoria is obliged to marry far richer Otto to ensure their parents needed future prosperity.

Always outclassed by fierce opponents such as Cutlass Liz, Peg Leg Hastings, and Black Bellamy, the hopeless, Pirate Captain, decides it's high time he won the prestigious 1837 "Pirate of the Year Award". However, this is easier said than done, as the determined captain embarks on a foolhardy quest along with his ragtag crew of misfits which involves Queen Victoria herself, an extremely rare dodo bird, and a brilliant young scientist named Charles Darwin. Will Pirate Captain manage to pull off a surprise victory?

A governess uses magic to rein in the behavior of seven ne'er-do-well children in her charge.

Nanny McPhee arrives to help a harried young mother who is trying to run the family farm while her husband is away at war, though she uses her magic to teach the woman's children and their two spoiled cousins five new lessons.

The people of a small village in Victorian India stake their future on a game of cricket against their ruthless British rulers.

Society scion Newland Archer is engaged to May Welland, but his well-ordered life is upset when he meets May's unconventional cousin, the Countess Olenska. At first, Newland becomes a defender of the Countess, whose separation from her abusive husband makes her a social outcast in the restrictive high society of late-19th Century New York, but he finds in her a kindred spirit and they fall in love.

Basil, the rodent Sherlock Holmes, investigates the kidnapping of a toy-maker and uncovers its link to his arch-enemy, Professor Ratigan.

In 19th-century rural England, a young bride who has been sold into marriage discovers an unstoppable desire within herself as she enters into an affair with a worker on her estate.

Vampire hunter Van Helsing returns to Transylvania to destroy handsome bloodsucker Baron Meinster, who has designs on beautiful young schoolteacher Marianne.

A young orphaned boy raised by underground cave-dwelling trash collectors tries to save his friends from an evil exterminator.

Weary of her very public life in Paris, an aging courtesan takes her orphaned niece from her convent home and relocates to Monte Carlo to begin a new life. Determined to bury the past, the courtesan Madame Bluet becomes the respectable Countess de Secret, and her niece Mistral, Mademoiselle Phantome. Soon, the secretive Countess and the beautiful Mlle. Phantome are the talk of Monte Carlo. Mistral finds herself surrounded by admirers - some with less than honorable intentions, while her aunt plots a long-awaited revenge. Will Mistral's chance for happiness be destroyed when her aunt's plot and past are revealed?

Based on real events, Mercy Street takes viewers beyond the battlefield and into the lives of Americans on the Civil War home front as they face the unprecedented challenges of one of the most turbulent times in our nation's history.Set in Virginia in the spring of 1862, the series follows the lives of two volunteer nurses on opposite sides of the conflict; Mary Phinney, a staunch New England abolitionist, and Emma Green, a naive young Confederate belle. The two collide at Mansion House, the Green family's luxury hotel that has been taken over and transformed into a Union Army Hospital in Alexandria, a border town between North and South and the longest-occupied Confederate city of the war. Ruled under martial law, Alexandria is now the melting pot of the region, filled with soldiers, civilians, female volunteers, doctors, wounded fighting men from both sides, runaway slaves, prostitutes, speculators and spies.The intersection of North and South within the confines of a small occupied town creates a rich world that is chaotic, conflicted, corrupt, dynamic and even hopeful — a cauldron within which these characters strive, fight, love, laugh, betray, sacrifice and, at times, act like scoundrels. This series is not about battles and glory, it's about the drama and unexpected humor of everyday life behind the front lines. It's a fresh twist on an iconic story, one that resonates with larger themes we still struggle with today.

Middlemarch was a 1994 television adaptation of the 1871 novel of the same name by George Eliot & was produced by the BBC in seven episodes.Dorothea Brooke attempts to satisfy her underdeveloped intellect through marriage to the Reverend Edward Casaubon, a man twice her age. The marriage proves unsatisfying and ends with Casaubon's unexpected death. Dorothea eventually meets Will Ladislaw, an event which leads to further complications.

A duchess' irrational behavior toward the governess of her children triggers tragic events that will change her family's lives forever.

This stunning BBC production, starring Diana Rigg and Denholm Elliott, brings to life one of Dicken's finest works, an unflinching look at the absurdity of the legal profession, whose sole purpose seems to be lining the pockets of lawyers.

A senator's daughter (who can't help singing) follows her boyfriend West in the days of the California gold rush.

A pastor who's suffered a personal loss accepts a position in a town that believes in a Christmas miracle candle, which he strives to abolish.

A young Irish couple flee to the States, but subsequently struggle to obtain land and prosper freely.

A manipulative woman and a roguish man conduct a turbulent romance during the American Civil War and Reconstruction periods.

Based on Mervyn Peake's novel Titus Groan, Gormenghast focuses on life in the eponymous castle, ruled by the Groan family for over 70 generations.

A 19th-century woman, companion to a blue-blooded New England girl, falls for an aristocrat.

A recounting of a New England whaling ship's sinking by a giant whale in 1820, an experience that later inspired the great novel Moby-Dick.

Chronicling the struggles, heartache and conquests of two inspiring families, Into the West captures the hopes and perseverance of both the explorers who risked everything to fulfill their dreams and the land's indigenous people forced to watch their way of life disappear.

Two women. One white. The other black. Society mandated they be enemies. The gospel of Jesus Christ required they be friends. On the eve of the death of Joseph Smith, his widow, Emma, is on the brink of destruction. In order to stand with her friend in her darkest hour, one woman, Jane Manning, will need to hear the voice of God once more. Can she hear His voice again? And if so, can she find the strength to abide it?

After a harsh childhood, orphan Jane Eyre is hired by Edward Rochester, the brooding lord of a mysterious manor house, to care for his young daughter.

Jane Eyre is an orphan cast out as a young girl by her aunt, Mrs. Reed, and sent to be raised in a harsh charity school for girls. There she learns to become a teacher and eventually seeks employment outside the school. Her advertisement is answered by the housekeeper of Thornfield Hall, Mrs. Fairfax.

After placing an ad for employment as a governess, Jane Eyre (Samantha Morton) journeys to Thornfield Hall to inquire about a possible position. She is hired by the housekeeper, Mrs. Fairfax (Gemma Jones), to care for young Adele (Timia Berthome), the daughter of the brooding Mr. Rochester (Ciarán Hinds), who lives at the estate. After much trepidation, Eyre and Rochester begin a romantic relationship, but dark secrets surrounding Rochester threaten to destroy the couple's love.

After living a miserable life with her aunt, orphaned Jane Eyre is sent to Lowood, a residential school for children of limited means. Jane takes the advice of her friend and over many years takes her studies seriously, eventually advertising for a position as a governess. She obtains a position in the home of Edward Rochester, where his ward, Adele, has recently come to live. She soon realizes that there is something odd in the house and she regularly sees shadowy figures in windows or hears voices. No one will admit to their being anyone else in the house, however. As she and her new employers develop a deep affection for one another, the secret of the Rochester household threatens to keep them apart.

A woman asks her ex-lover for help in order to save her outlaw husband from a gang out to kill him.

Tarzan, having acclimated to life in London, is called back to his former home in the jungle to investigate the activities at a mining encampment.

When the fabulous Moonstone diamond is stolen, all the suspects appear to have alibis. Even the young girl who owns the diamond won't say whom she saw took it. A dear family friend calls in the famous Sergeant Cuff to solve the case, but they'll have to untangle a skein of lies and retrieve lost memories before they'll find the path to the diamond.

A human child raised by wolves must face off against a menacing tiger named Shere Khan, as well as his own origins.

A musical based on the New York City newsboy strike of 1899. When young newspaper sellers are exploited beyond reason by their bosses they set out to enact change and are met by the ruthlessness of big business.

Filmed live on stage at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood, CA, this is a not-to-be-missed high energy show starring Original Broadway cast members.

In Victorian England, the young and beautiful Alice tells a tale of a strange new land that exists on the other side of a rabbit hole. An invisible cat, a hookah smoking caterpillar and playing-cards that talk are just some of the fantastic things she's seen during this impossible adventure. Surely this troubled girl must be insane, and her doctors aim to cure her with a treatment that will make her forget everything. Alice seems ready to put it all behind her, especially the painful memory of the genie she fell in love with and lost forever -- the handsome and mysterious Cyrus . But deep down Alice knows this world is real, and just in the nick of time the sardonic Knave of Hearts and the irrepressible White Rabbit arrive to save her from a doomed fate. Together the trio will take a tumble down the rabbit hole to this Wonderland where nothing is impossible.

Some of literature's most terrifying characters, including Dr. Frankenstein and his monster, Dorian Gray, and iconic figures from the novel Dracula are lurking in the darkest corners of Victorian London. They are joined by a core of original characters in a complex, frightening new narrative. Penny Dreadful is a psychological thriller filled with dark mystery and suspense, where personal demons from the past can be stronger than vampires, evil spirits and immortal beasts.

The story of American poet Emily Dickinson from her early days as a young schoolgirl to her later years as a reclusive, unrecognized artist.

A 13-year-old girl (played by The Golden Compass' Dakota Blue Richards) discovers that she is the only hope for banishing an ancient curse from a magical kingdom in director Gabor Csupo's adaptation of author Elizabeth Goudge's 1946 children's book The Little White Horse.

In 1850 Oregon, when a backwoodsman brings a wife home to his farm, his six brothers decide that they want to get married too.

In a countryside town bordering on a magical land, a young man makes a promise to his beloved that he'll retrieve a fallen star by venturing into the magical realm.

An Oxford graduate takes up a job in a mental asylum, only to discover that the "revolutionary" new treatments are inhumane, and that there is more going on than meets the eye.

The film tells the story of Russian emigree, and the only survivor from ship crash Yanko Goorall, and servant Amy Foster in the end of nineteenth century. When Yanko enters a farm, sick and hungry after the shipwreck, everyone is afraid of him, except for Amy, who is very kind and helps him. Soon he becomes like a son for Dr. James Kennedy and romance between Yanko and Amy follows.

In 1880's China, young Lalu is sold into marriage by her impoverished father. Rather than becoming a bride, Lalu ends up in an Idaho gold-mining town, the property of a saloon owner who renames her China Polly and plans to sell her as entertainment for the locals. Refusing to become a whore, Lalu ultimately finds her own way in this strange country filled with white demons.

A newspaper reporter and the daughter of an immigrant maintenance man help expose political corruption in New York City.

Classic drama series charting the fortunes of a Liverpool shipping family headed by the ambitious James Onedin.James Onedin marries Anne Webster in order to get his hands on a ship. However the marriage turns out to be one of true love. James is ruthless in his attempt to get a shipping line started in Liverpool of the 1860s.

Another live-action musical version of the play, with all-new songs, rather than the ones used in the famous Mary Martin production.

In stifling Edwardian London, Wendy Darling mesmerizes her brothers every night with bedtime tales of swordplay, swashbuckling, and the fearsome Captain Hook. But the children become the heroes of an even greater story, when Peter Pan flies into their nursery one night and leads them over moonlit rooftops through a galaxy of stars and to the lush jungles of Neverland. Wendy and her brothers join Peter and the Lost Boys in an exhilarating life--free of grown-up rules--while also facing the inevitable showdown with Hook and his bloodthirsty pirates.

Based on the novel of the same name by Edith Wharton, it is about a husband and wife (Ethan and Zeena), who need an extra hand around the house due to Zeena's debilitated body and constant illness. The young woman who joins them is a beautiful, spirited person. She and Ethan fall in love much to the dismay of Zeena.

Based on the Australian classic by Marcus Clarke, the story of convict Rufus Dawe was based on fact and reflects that of many convicts of Australia's early days. Rufus Dawe has been wrongfully accused of a crime he did not commit, and sent to the harsh penal colony of Van Diemen's Land, Australia - for the term of his natural life. In his attempts to escape the colony forever, he falls in love with a warden's daughter, Sylvia, confronts his sinister lookalike John Rex, and the evil convict Gabbet. American director Norman Dawn's movie adaptation strays from the original book but retains a strong visual style, especially in climactic crowd scenes. It is notorious as the movie that was meant to launch Australia into the world movie market, but instead cost investors thousands after the coming of sound stymied its potential for overseas success.

The sole survivor of a lost whaling ship relates the tale of his captain's self-destructive obsession to hunt the white whale, Moby Dick.

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson investigate after an heir claims his estate is plagued by a ghostly dog.

When the latest heir to the Baskerville estate seems to be threatened by a family curse, only the master detective, Sherlock Holmes, can find out the truth.

A 1982 dramatisation of the novel The Hound of the Baskervilles.

When a man selects a mail order bride, he is surprised to see the beauty who appears before him. She alleges that she sent false photos to him to assure that he would love her for what she is and not for her beauty. However, what she is is a con artist, prostitute, and actress, who teams with a fellow actor to steal money from men. What she does not expect is that she falls in love with her new husband and ultimately must decide between him and her sadistic former lover. Contains explicit sex including sadistic acts as Thomas Jane cuts Jolie's back with a knife as part of their lovemaking.

A daughter of the powerful Duke must show her courage and inventiveness to be with the man she loves.

Missie's surprise pregnancy sets her on a new course that is both thrilling and terrifying. After all the planning and dreaming, she and her husband, Willie, have headed west in a covered wagon, leaving behind the prairie home of Missie's parents. Now, caught between the excitement of the new adventure and the pain of not knowing when she'll see her family again, Missie copes with the challenges, and cherishes the rewards, of her new homestead.

A television remake of William Gibson's classic play about Annie Sullivan's efforts to draw Helen Keller from her world of darkness, blindness, deafness and silence.

In 1839, the revolt of Mende captives aboard a Spanish owned ship causes a major controversy in the United States when the ship is captured off the coast of Long Island. The courts must decide whether the Mende are slaves or legally free.

The story of a married silkworm merchant-turned-smuggler in 19th century France traveling to Japan for his town's supply of silkworms after a disease wipes out their African supply. During his stay in Japan, he becomes obsessed with the concubine of a local baron.

In the Victorian period, two teenagers, David and Sarah, travel with a caravan from Baghdad to Damascus. At an oasis, the white slave agent known as the Jackal raids them, mainly to add the beautiful young Sarah to his harem. Only David and Sarah narrowly escape, and all the others are slayed in the massacre. Their flight leads them to a beautiful oasis - their paradise - where they discover love and sex. However, the Jackal has not given up on Sarah yet, and David must lure him to his death, or be killed by him.

The true story of a Hawaiian princess' attempts to maintain the independence of the island against the threat of American colonization.

The film recounts the last years of the life of the Austrian Crown Prince Rudolf of Hapsburg until his tragic death in Mayerling. They are highlighted the difficult relationship with his father, the Emperor Franz Joseph, and the affectionate bond with his mother, the Empress Sissi; the failed marriage to Stephanie of Belgium; and his romantic relationships with the prostitute Mizzi Kaspar and the young Baroness Mary Vetsera, together with whom he will die in Mayerling. The film endorses the reconstruction according to which the Archduke apparently committed suicide, overwhelmed not only by a role that weighed and imprisoned, but also from the disappointment due to the low esteem that his father would usually express.

A dramatic retelling of the life of Ludwig II, King of Bavaria, one of the most fascinating monarchs of modern times. From his accession to the throne at the age of 18 to his passionate support of Richard Wagner and his music. From his ingenuous political commitment to his obsessive construction of extravagant palaces and to his gradual withdrawal into a lonely dream world, an epic narrative of breathtaking grandeur.

In the first of a trilogy of movies about Elisabeth "Sissi" of Austria, the vibrant young princess catches the eye of her sister's fiancé, Emperor Franz Josef.

It's the late nineteenth century Austria. The Emperor Franz-Joseph and his son, the Crown Prince, Archduke Rudolf, have never seen eye to eye. While the Emperor retains the traditions of the empire in the rapidly changing world keeping it a police state, Rudolf is liberal, wanting to see the people have a say in what happens in their lives. Rudolf even rejected the Emperor's choice of a Spanish wife for him, he instead choosing Belgian Stephanie as his wife, that marriage which he himself never saw and will never see as anything more than a political alliance, Stephanie who he considers a shrew. While Rudolf has almost an unhealthy infatuation with his mother, the Empress Elizabeth, she has largely been an absent figure from Vienna and thus his life. As Franz-Joseph has had his steady mistress in Elizabeth's frequent absences, he has allowed Rudolf to have the same in the form of actress Mitzi Kaspar as the Emperor knows she could never be more than a dalliance and as she retains a certain balance within the royal house. Things change when Rudolf meets twenty year old Baroness Maria Vetsera. Their attraction begins as a clandestine affair which then grows into love which Rudolf increasingly flaunts in public in wanting always to be with her. This does not sit well with Franz-Joseph, his secret police who do whatever they need to retain the Emperor's natural order. As such, Rudolf tries to find options to make Maria his wife, one, with the help of his good friend, Edward, the Prince of Wales, to live as commoners in England, or two, to support the imminent and secret uprising in Hungary, they who want Rudolf as their King, which in realistic terms means an act of treason on Rudolf's part against his father.

Three hour mini-series tells the intimate history of a most illustrious brotherhood of Impressionist artists - Monet, Degas, Renoir, Cézanne and Manet. Entirely based on documentary evidence, special effects transport the viewer inside some of the world's best-loved paintings, The Impressionists will recreate the illuminated landscapes, and haunting portraits of late 19th-century France.

In 1895, women were not expected to work - or even know about - medicine. Women were expected to work as house-wives, mothers, teachers and nurses. One woman was determined to change that. Eleanor Bramwell works under Sir Herbert Hamilton's supervision. She isn't happy. After he stupidly loses a perfectly healthy young mother, Eleanor decides it is time to make her mark in medical history. Mocked by fellow medical students and questioned by her father, Doctor Robert Bramwell, Eleanor is soon given a renovated building - by donation of the kind Lady Cora Peters - and begins her own infirmary - The Thrift. But with all odds against her, will she survive? Will she make her dream come true? Will her colleagues trust her?

Orphaned after a shipwreck off the Victorian coast of Australia, the beautiful and spirited Philadelphia Gordon finds both love and adventure aboard a paddle-steamer on the Murray River.

Based on Banjo Paterson's poem "Man From Snowy River", this series takes place in Paterson's Ridge, a small town set in the mountains near Melbourne, during the late 19th century, it follows the adventures of Matt McGregor, a successful squatter, and his family.

Jim Ryan and Kate Conroy love each other, but John Conroy stands in the way of their happiness until Jim Ryan recaptures a prized colt.

In the 1840s, Lübeck is a dominating commercial town on the Baltic coast, and the Buddenbrooks are among the town's first families. Consul Jean Buddenbrook has two sons, Thomas and Christian, and one daughter, Antonia, called Tony. Even though he dearly loves them, he expects his children to sacrifice personal happiness for the sake of the company if necessary. The first to learn this is Tony, who is married off to Hamburgian businessman Bendix Grünlich. Her brothers have meanwhile learned the trade in Amsterdam and London respectively. Crushed by Tony's marriage disaster and several unlucky transactions, Jean Buddenbrook makes over the business to his eldest, Thomas. Thomas marries the dutch heiress Gerda, who is a passionate violin player. But Thomas never forgets his first love, a flower girl. After having spent time in Valparaiso, Christian returns to Lübeck, too. Thomas soon learns that his brother is much more interested in the theatre and actress Aline than in the company, which causes a rift between the brothers. Seeing that she can't heal it, their mother admonishes them to at least conceal it from the public.

When British Lieutenant Faversham resigns his commission rather than fight in the 1882 Sudan war, his army pals present him with the four white feathers of cowardice.

In Majorca, in 1823, a French general, Armand de Montriveau, overhears a cloistered nun singing in a chapel; he insists on speaking to her. She is Antoinette, for five years he has searched for her. Flash back to their meeting in Paris, he recently returned from Africa, she married and part of the highest society. She flirts with him, and soon he's captivated. His behavior is possessive, insistent. Then, it is her turn to become obsessed. Letters, balls, scandal, a kidnapping, and an ultimatum bring her to the cloister and him to melancholy. Whose steel proved sharper? Is it tragic or grotesque?

This romantic story, based on a novel by H.E. Bates and set in late 19th century England, rests on sibling rivalry for the affections of a woman who comes to live with their family by happenstance. In time, she decides to accept the marriage proposal of the youngest of the three sons, to the surprise of all. However, a man whom she had once loved and who had abandoned her (after making false promises) comes back into her life. The appearance of this scoundrel sets into motion a tragic series of events that eventually engulfs everyone.

Sharpshooter Matt Quigley is hired from Wyoming by an Australian rancher paying a very high price. But when Quigley arrives Down Under, all is not as it seems.

In 1875 London, young Wheeler (who lives by scavenging) finds a cameo of Queen Victoria which he thinks so beautiful he risks his life to save it. Possessed of a desire to see the Queen, he slips past the Beefeaters and wanders about Windsor Castle, just when a state dinner is in preparation. Meanwhile, prime minister Disraeli is struggling hard to persuade the Queen to end her long seclusion

Complex family relationships, as well as a combat experience, form the personality of the future world-known politician.

Vampire Count Orlok expresses interest in a new residence and real estate agent Hutter's wife.

The mesmerizing story of a young girl's romance with God. Her faith, trials, and sacrifices reveal a way of life based on love and simplicity. A contemplative film based on the true story of Saint Therese of Lisieux, the most popular saint of modern times.

The life of little St. Therese of Lisieux, depicted in minimalist vignettes. Therese and her sisters are all nuns in a Carmelite convent. Her devotion to Jesus and her concept of "the little way" to God are shown clearly, using plain modern language. A sense of angelic simplicity comes across without fancy lights, choirs, or showy miracles.

Six-part series set in Northumberland and based on the novel by Catherine Cookson. GB. A Festival Film and Television/Tyne Tees TV production. Roddy Greenbank was brought by his father to the remote Northumberland community of Langley in the autumn of 1807. Within hours of their arrival, however, the father had met a violent death, and the boy was left with all memory gone of his past life. Adopted and raised by old Kate Makepeace, Roddy found his closest companions in Hal Roystan and Mary Ellen Lee. These three stand at the heart of a richly eventful narrative that spans the first half of the nineteenth century, their lives lastingly intertwined by the inexorable demands of a strange and somewhat cruel destiny.

Classic 1970s drama serial. A spectre is haunting the old monarchies of Europe - the spectre of revolution. Will Franz Josef's bride, the independent young Empress Elizabeth, succeed in averting the threatened doom of the Habsburg autocrats?

At the turn of the century, Lodz, Poland was a quick-paced manufacturing center for textiles, replete with cutthroat industrialists and unsafe working conditions. Three young friends, a Pole, a Jew and a German, pool their money together to build a factory. The movie follows their ruthless pursuit of fortune.

A drunken Sherlock Holmes is really just a cover for the real detective, Dr. Watson.

Dariya the maid getting a boy to touch her large breast is just one incident that occurs when Yohan and Victor infiltrate two families, forcing young Liza and blind Ekaterina to appear in porn, but they are not so innocent themselves.

This film is based on true events that happened on Achill Island off the West coast of Ireland, in The Valley House.

Thomas Gradgrind, a wealthy, retired merchant in the industrial city of Coketown, England, devotes his life to a philosophy of rationalism, self-interest, and fact. He raises his oldest children, Louisa and Tom, according to this philosophy and never allows them to engage in fanciful or imaginative pursuits.

Paris, 1830: Vidocq is killed by a mirror masked man. A thief turned investigator, he was working on a case of men killed by lightning. His biographer tries to solve the case.

In 1848 NYC, a Frenchwoman visits exiled former French Marshal Thevenet to ask for his financial help in behalf of his French grandson but Thevenet's house staff schemes to kill him and take his fortune.