Movies Similar to Wasted Lives

Women They Talk About(1928)

Women They Talk About is a part-talkie Vitaphone film, with talking, music and sound effects sequences, starring Irene Rich, directed by Lloyd Bacon and produced and distributed by Warner Bros. It is considered to be a lost film.

No. 5 John Street(1921)

A soap factory heir poses as a worker to reform conditions, and is saved from an anarchist by a flower girl.

The Beautiful Mrs. Reynolds(1918)

During the American Revolution, Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr are both courting beautiful Margaret Moncrieffe. Fast-forward several years and they again find themselves on opposite sides, this time about compensation for the properties of Tories--colonists who sided with the British--during the war. Hamilton falls for Maria Reynolds, who it turns out is secretly the wife of prominent pawnbroker Jacob Clingman, a friend of Burr's. The pair conspire to destroy Hamilton, who is now Secretary of the Treasury and married to the daughter of a prominent army general, by making public several love letters Hamilton had written to Mrs. Reynolds.

The Burglar(1917)

William Lewis accidentally shoots a policeman while breaking into a house as a prank with his friends. His friend Sid falsely accuses him of the shooting, and Will escapes, eventually meeting and marrying Alice. Later, Sid blackmails Will into helping him rob a bank, leading to a chain of events that ultimately results in Will's imprisonment and eventual tragic death.

Just a Song at Twilight(1916)

Wealthy Lucy Winter falls in love itinerant gardener George Turner much to her father's chagrin. In flashback we find there is a deep seated reason for his truculence, one that caused great sorrow to all. In time things are resolved after much soul searching.

The Melting Pot(1915)

The wide-ranging storyline of The Melting Pot takes its characters from the Jewish ghettoes of Russia to the Lower East Side of New York.

The Lady Clare(1919)

A Lord weds a Lady despite discovering that she is a substituted village child. Based on the poem Lady Clare by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

Sweet and Low(1914)

A lonely, unhappy old man strives to reconnect with his family. Based on the poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

Evening Clothes(1927)

Attracted by his wealth, avaricious Germaine marries D'Artois, then leaves him for a more sophisticated man. D'Artois retaliates by moving to the city and learning the proper social graces. His new life style proves to be too expensive for him, and at the end he is left with nothing but one suit of evening clothes and his now contrite wife.

The Express Messenger(1915)

During the illness of her father, Toni Carter, Milly takes his place as station agent. Both Dave Snowden, a freight engineer, and Bill Mailey love her. Bill, a land express courier, who distrusts and dislikes Dave sees that both the girl and her father favor his rival and decides to disgrace the station agent and his daughter.

After Twenty Years(1915)

Tom Evans lives happily with his wife and child in their little place in Arizona until he is gripped with “Gold Fever”! He heads to Cripple Creek, strikes it rich, then abandoning his family makes his way to Chicago. Twenty years pass and he longs for his old home. Returning Tom is told by his son, now a man, there is no place for him before onlookers. Later, when Tom is found lying unconscious at the bottom of the arroyo, the son is accused and arrested. But Tom has only been stunned by his fall. He testifies that it was an accident, and reconciliation is affected between him and his long-lost family.

The Terror of the Mountains(1915)

Dan Melton is in love with Daisy Dale, who, being of a coquettish disposition, permits herself to become infatuated with Soapy Smith, gentleman gambler. Sheriff Melton is greatly worried by the continual holdups committed by Black Jack, a desperado, who has become the terror of the mountains. His excursions in quest of the bandit compel him to neglect Daisy somewhat. One day Daisy meets with an accident while riding and applies for assistance at a lonely shack in the hills. To her astonishment Soapy Smith opens the door. She accepts his invitation to enter. Once she is inside, however, Soapy betrays his real character and attacks her. Daisy's screams are heard by Morristette, a Mexican, who rushes in and intervenes. Smarting under the blow Soapy deals him, he gallops to town and informs the sheriff. On arriving at the shack to rescue his sweetheart Melton finds that Soapy Smith and the long-sought desperado. Black Jack, are one and the same.

Pogrom(1919)

Die Kwannon von Okadera(1920)

Harlander, a media mogul and war profiteer, has been told that he has six months before his sanity will leave him completely. He hires a young nurse, and decides to spend all his money before his six months are up.

Love's Influence(1922)

A village vicar's daughter a wayward heir from a city siren.

The Boy in Blue(1919)

A man searches for a cursed emerald belonging to his ancestor. Lost film, minor fragments survive

Fifth Avenue(1926)

When her cotton crop is burned, Barbara Pelham, a beautiful southern girl, comes to New York to find work as a fashion designer, staying with Mrs. Kemp, a woman she meets on the northbound train. In Mrs. Kemp's house, Barbara encounters Peter Heffner, a wealthy stockbroker, and discovers from him that she has taken up residence in a whorehouse. There is a police raid, but Barbara escapes arrest and returns home. Heffner's son, Neil, goes south to inspect some family property and there meets Barbara, with whom he falls in love. They decide to be married, and she accompanies him to New York, where she meets the elder Heffner for a second time. He denounces her as a whore, but Barbara goes to Mrs. Kemp, who explains the misunderstanding to everyone's satisfaction.

With the Eyes of the Blind(1913)

Ruthless stockbroker John McLane has ruined James Horton through reckless money management. McLane is extremely hard in business matters. When Horton’s son, Walter, confronts McLane they have a stormy altercation in which McLane is accidentally killed with a paper knife. McLane’s blind daughter Nora has been upstairs during the incident but runs down to find Horton sitting in a chair feigning sleep. Nora touches him lightly on the face thus impressing his features in her mind and when she turns to her father he flees. In time Nora’s blindness is cured and at a house party she meets Walter Horton. He recognizes her but she does not know him, and they fall in love but when she touches his face, she realizes the truth.

The Great Cheque Fraud(1915)

A detective saves his boy assistant from a bank swindler after escaping a fire by overhead cable.

My Own United States(1918)

When his son is reluctant to fight for democracy Philip Nolan II shares with him the secret he has long held, the treason of the first Philip Nolan "The Man Without a Country." He explains how the elder Nolan played into the hands of Aaron Burr; how Thomas Jefferson was elected president over Burr; how Alexander Hamilton prevented the conscienceless Burr becoming governor of New York; the duel between Hamilton and Burr; how Philip Nolan was later arrested on his wedding night for aiding Burr, who had conspired to start a rival government in the south to wage war against the United States, and how he was later banished from the United States for saying "Damn the United States! I wish I might never hear its name again," and how Philip Nolan died kissing the flag of the country he had execrated. Understanding how important freedom is the younger Nolan rushes to enlist.