My Best Girl was a 1927 film starring Mary Pickford who played Merrill Department store stockgirl, Maggie Johnson. When she has to attend to the sales counter, she meets a man who calls himself Joe Grant, and who pretends to be interested in buying toys. Joe Grant is actually the son of the owner and is working as a stockboy to prove he is ready to be engaged. When the shift manager gives him his timecard, revealing that he is the new stockboy, Maggie takes him to the stockroom to make him get to work. Because he is inept, she calls him “The Dumbest Stockboy in the World,” but the romance between them develops and eventually Joe wants to take her out to dinner. When she refuses because of her clothing, he convinces her that they should eat at the Merrill mansion because the company’s motto is “We’re all a family.” Once they are in the mansion, Joe gets the butler to say “a Merrill employee eats here almost every night!” Meanwhile, Joe’s mother had planned a surprise engagement party, and they return home and find Joe and Maggie who are hiding under the table. He admits to Maggie that he is Joseph Merrill but can’t explain any further before his fiancée shows up and kisses him. Maggie witnesses this and leaves, heartbroken. When Joe catches up to her, she is in the courtroom after pleading for her sister Liz who has been arrested because of her association with her boyfriend. When the boyfriend makes comments about Maggie “taking up with the Merrill boy,” a fight, followed by a scandal ensues after Joe punches the boyfriend. Joe’s father plans to buy Maggie off and send Joe to Hawaii while the scandal blows over, but Joe wants to take Maggie. When Joe arrives to see Maggie, the two argue, and eventually, she tells him she can’t go because her family relies on her. However, her father hears this and insists that she go with Joe.

The Eagle is a 1925 silent film starring Rudolph Valentino, Vilma Bánky, and Louise Dresser. Valentino plays Vladimir Dubrovsky, a Lieutenant in the Imperial Guard of the Russian Army. He rescues Mascha and her aunt, the Czarina, who are trapped in a runaway stagecoach. The Czarina tries to seduce him, and when he flees, the Czarina puts a price on his head. When he finds out that the evil nobleman Kyrilla Troekouroff is terrorizing the countryside, he returns home. He vows to avenge his father’s death and help the peasantry, so, donning a black mask, he becomes the Black Eagle. He finds out that Kyrilla is Mascha’s father and pretends to be a tutor so he can work his way into Kyrilla’s household. He falls more in love with Mascha and becomes reluctant to seek revenge against her father. Mascha and Vladimir flee and eventually leave Russia for Paris.

Frank Borzage directed 7th Heaven, which was released in 1929. It was one of the first three films to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. Janet Gaynor won the Academy Award for Best Actress, Borzage won for Best Director, and Benjamin Glazer won the Award for Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay). In the film, Chico, who works in the sewers of Paris, dreams of becoming a street sweeper. He lights candles in the church to pray for his dreams and asks a woman to be his partner; when his prayers are not answered, he becomes bitter. Chico then saves a prostitute, Diane, from her sister. When Diane is arrested, Chico once again saves her as he pretends to be her husband, but they have to continue the façade. When Chico is called up to fight in the war, Diane receives news that he has died, but he returns home, blind and wounded.

John Barrymore and Camilla Horn starred in Eternal Love (1929) which is set in 1806 in Pontresina, Switzerland. Barrymore plays Marcus, who is in love with Ciglia, played by Horn. During a masked dance to celebrate the end of the French Army occupation, Ciglia, who had earlier professed her love for Marcus asks to be taken home when she becomes frightened of the drunken Marcus. Pia (Mona Rico), who is jealous and vindictive, then attempts to seduce Marcus, who rejects her. Pia and her mother demand that Marcus marry Pia, while Ciglia overhears them. Lorenz, who had been rejected by Ciglia, marries Ciglia. After a snowstorm and an exchange of gunfire, Marcus shoots Lorenz, who accuses Marcus, and the villagers turn against Marcus. Eventually, the villagers become a mob and pursue both Marcus and Ciglia, who have been falsely accused by Pia. The film ends with Marcus and Ciglia walking hand in hand into the path of an avalanche.

In this 1925 film directed by Erich von Stroheim, Sally O’Hara is on tour with the follies. She meets Prince Danilo and Crown Prince Mirko of Monteblanco. The two princes try to win her, but she prefers Danilo, so she goes to dinner with him. Mirko finds the two of them in a compromising situation. When Danilo declares his plans to marry her, the king and queen stop the marriage from happening. Sally thinks Danilo has jilted her and marries the richest man in Monteblanco, Baron Sadoja. The Baron, overwhelmed by the wedding night excitement, dies. Sally then leaves for Paris, where she becomes known as “The Merry Widow.” Mirko, who wants the money she has inherited goes there as well. Danilo, who still loves Sally, hits Mirko, and they end up in a duel in which Danilo is wounded when he is shot. Once the king dies, Mirko is assassinated, and Danilo becomes king, marrying Sally.