This allegorical drama set in the early 1800s follows the fate of a man facing expulsion from the United States after his conviction in a conspiracy trial. Placed aboard a ship destined to always remain at sea, manned by a crew under strict orders never to refer to America, the prisoner undergoes a traumatizing conversion. Based on an Edward Everett Hale story; Holmes Herbert, Florence La Badie star. 66 min. Standard; Soundtrack: music score. Silent with music score.

Directed by Alice Guy-Blache, one of cinema's earliest female filmmakers, "The Ocean Waif" follows the romantic entanglement between a young woman and a well-known author. The girl's past as a victim of abuse adds a fascinating, complex layer to their courtship. Carlyle Blackwell, Doris Kenyon star. Next, "'49-'17" helmed by Ruth Ann Baldwin, tells the satiric western tale of a rich man who yearns to relive his youth by paying an acting troupe to re-create the world of the Old West. William Dyer, Jean Hersholt star. 102 min. total. Standard; Soundtrack: music score. Silent with music score.

Once-revered female director Lois Weber directed this challenging silent drama which concerns the efforts of a minister trying to lead his congregation to "truth." A series of symbolic, allegorical vignettes follows, with each instructive tale linked by the ghostly appearance of a nude woman signifying moral clarity. Courtenay Foote, Myrtle Stedman star. 50 min. Standard; Soundtrack: music score; bonus short "Eleanor's Catch" (1916). Silent with music score.

Astounding silent adventure incorporates two Jules Verne novels, "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" and "The Mysterious Island," to tell the story of the demented Captain Nemo and his submarine, the Nautilus. Amazing underwater footage shot in the Bahamas and tinted sequences are a highlight. Matt Moore, Allen Holubar, June Gail star. 105 min. Standard; Soundtrack: mono score; scene access.

A fisherman decides to retire and start a family, but soon the onset of the Napoleonic Wars jeopardizes his new brood's survival in a coastal village. Director Victor Sjostrom (who also stars in the leading role) fully exploits Sweden's lush landscapes in the silent melodrama "A Man There Was," based on a poem by Ibsen. Edith Erastoff, August Falck co-star. Next, a widowed young mother fights to keep her children at her side, in Sjostrom's early masterwork "Ingeborg Holm." Aron Lindgren, Erik Lindholm co-star. 125 min. total. Standard; Soundtrack: music score. Silent with music score.

A stunning silent drama that marked the true beginning of the Swedish cinema, "The Outlaw and His Wife" follows a farmer and his wife into the wilderness when they are hunted by the police for a minor crime. This haunting film from director Victor Sjostrom (who also plays the leading role) features tinted sequences and a full orchestral score; Edith Erastoff, John Ekman co-star. Next, the insightful documentary "Victor Sjostrom" profiles the life and work of the influential director, and includes commentary from admirer Ingmar Bergman. 135 min. total. Soundtrack: Swedish; Subtitles: English. Silent with music score/In Swedish with English subtitles.

A rare find, this early gangster drama was the first directorial effort by Raoul Walsh after he left D.W. Griffith's company and features great location shots of New York's infamous Bowery. Rockliffe Fellows, John McCann star. 60 min. Standard; Soundtrack: Dolby Digital stereo music score. Also includes the bonus feature "Young Romance" (1915). Silent with music score.

Gloria Swanson dresses as a man in order to foil a romantic rival's intentions, in her early short "The Danger Girl" (1916). Bobby Vernon co-stars. The two-reeler "Teddy at the Throttle" (1917) finds Vernon and Swanson up against the evil Wallace Beery, but the titular canine soon comes to the rescue in this slapstick silent classic. Swanson and Vernon voyage to India, in the fun Keystone short "The Sultan's Wife" (1917). Teddy the Dog co-stars. Five-disc set also includes the Chaplin short "His New Job" and the features "Don't Change Your Husband," "Why Change Your Wife?," "Male and Female," "The Affairs of Anatol," "Sadie Thompson," "Indiscreet" (1931), the retrospective documentary "Hollywood Remembers Gloria Swanson," plus newsreel footage and interviews. 11 1/4 hrs. total. Standard; Soundtrack: English.

This Gloria Swanson double bill opens with "Shifting Sands," a "tenement melodrama" with Swanson as a struggling artist who rebuffs a weaselly rent collector's advances and is sent to jail by him on trumped-up prostitution charges. With Joe King. Next, New York shop girl Gloria copes with life in the big city and gets a chance to mix with high society in the comedy "Manhandled," with Tom Moore, Ian Keith, and Frank Morgan. 120 min. total. Standard; Soundtrack: music score. Silent with music score.

Gloria Swanson's challenge to Hays Office censorship is the first version of Somerset Maugham's humid classic about a South Seas sinner who causes the downfall of Bible-thumping preacher Lionel Barrymore. 97 min. Standard; Soundtrack: music score; lost ending; photo gallery. Silent with music score.

First, "The Italian" (1915) is an emotionally charged drama starring George Beban as an impoverished Venetian gondolier in love with a beautiful woman being pressured to marry a wealthy merchant by her father. In hopes of appeasing the father, the boatman goes to New York to win a home for his love. Produced and co-written by Thomas Ince. And, "Traffic in Souls" (1913) is a landmark look at white slavery and prostitution that features an unflinching look at life in a brothel and the police force's attempts to bust the place. Matt Moore, Jane Gail and Howard Crampton star in an early example of "sex selling on the screen." 4 hrs. total on two discs. Standard; Soundtrack: music score; bonus shorts "Police Force, New York City" (1910), "The Call of the City" (1912), "McQuade of the Traffic Squad" (1915). Silent with music score.