
The Dawn of Understanding is a lost 1918 American silent Western comedy film produced by The Vitagraph Company of America and directed by David Smith. It stars Bessie Love in the first film of her nine-film contract with Vitagraph.
Parson Davies

The Dawn of Understanding is a lost 1918 American silent Western comedy film produced by The Vitagraph Company of America and directed by David Smith. It stars Bessie Love in the first film of her nine-film contract with Vitagraph.
1918-12-02
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Hafed, a Turkish prince, imprisons an American girl and her father. The girl sends for Jim, who attempts a rescue. Jim is captured, but Hafed's jealous wife helps them escape. When the initial escape fails, Jim returns in disguise as a dancing girl. He dances for Hafed, luring him into a private encounter where Jim's identity is revealed. A fight leads Jim to take refuge in a tree. Surrounded by guards, Jim summons a warship. A shell from the warship blows up the tree, landing Jim safely on the battleship's deck and securing his escape.
Short comedy set against the backstage lives of a group of performers.
Slapstick comedy short about a quarreling couple and a nosy mother-in-law.
Two blowhard amateur bowlers boast about their prowess only to be shown up for the Big Bluffs they are.
Pa Glitters and his daughter are beset upon by Slippery Ike who is intent on separating them from their jewels until Bunco Charley comes to their rescue in fine comic fashion.
2.0No prints of the film have been preserved so the film can be considered a lost film. The original screenplay has also been lost. However, some plot descriptions are still known based on contemporary newspaper advertisements of the film. As the name would indicate, the film tells about two local men who are making moonshine in the woods. A customer comes to them, and while sampling the product they start a game of cards, which eventually leads to a fight. While the fight is going on, the local police shows up and arrests the makers while the customer manages to escape.(Wikipedia)
0.0Minnie, the homeliest girl in town, is devoted to her father, a discouraged inventor who has been working on a wireless device. Subject to the sneers of her neighbors, Minnie "invents" a lover and sends herself letters and flowers. Her stepsister suspects the truth and threatens to expose her. Desperate, she claims an unidentified body at the morgue and tells a reporter that this is her lover, unaware that the body is that of a Chinese man. The absent-minded reporter sees her heart and forgets about the big story. After further disappointments in the invention, Minnie's stepmother decides to leave her father. Her father then has a success and becomes rich. At a celebration, the stepsister and townspeople are surprised when a new couple appear, which turn out to be the former reporter and his lovely wife Minnie.
0.0A hard-core socialite turns over a new leaf after spending time with a less fortunate family.
Slim appears as a police court judge and Bobby as one of the jurors who is later given a job as bailiff. The reel deals with three or four different cases that come up, one a female bootlegger, the other a diminutive man charged with beating his big wife; another raises the question of whether a mule is gentle, and Bobby is called on to ride him. The last charge is against a wild man who escapes, taking Bobby along as he is chained to him. A train runs over the chain and the two drop from the trestle into the police auto.
Two cowboys are in love with a single lass. A hypnotist shows up one as a sheik which turns her affections to the other. Morrison as the "sheik" desires to regain her interest. He studies hypnotism. His powers of putting his fellow ranchmen, who are wise to the situation, asleep, works to perfection. But his competitor does not fall but fells him instead. This reawakens the girl's interests and she forgets about the sheik qualities of the other cowboy as played by Morrison.
0.0Plot concerns happy-go-lucky rancher who decides to spruce up in order to win the affection of a girl. Enemies seeking to have him put out of the way, plan to rob a stagecoach with one man dressed in Bill's clothes. He hears of plot and in vigorous fight with gang he whips them and brings them to justice.
0.0A cowboy sets out to help a pretty young girl who is about to lose her ranch when crooks plan to foreclose on it because she doesn't have enough money to make her mortgage payment. He puts together a cattle drive in order to sell the herd to raise the money to pay off the note, but when the crooks hear about this, they make plans to stampede the herd along the way.
Evil Red Sampson and his band of rustlers shoot up Mineral Point, the ranch of William Conway, owner of a gold mine. Shot and dying, Conway reveals the location of his mine at Boulder Creek in a note.
0.0While romancing the millinery store owner, Custer finds himself falsely accused of murdering his boss and is soon fleeing from a vicious lynch mob.
When a bank is robbed, the cashier is killed and suspicion for the murder unjustly falls on Jim Marden. He gives himself up, and his brother, Wally, promises to run down the killer. Wally, who suspects Mike Wesson, the foreman of the Flying X Ranch, of the crime, goes to the ranch and talks to him. While at the ranch Mike meets June Mathews, owner of the ranch, and he falls in love with her. When Wally and June are out riding, they are ambushed by Wesson, and Wally is wounded. One of Wesson's confederates later exposes Wesson's perfidy, and Wally brings the homicidal foreman to justice. Wally then weds June.
Ruth Burroughs the daughter of a beleaguered rancher whose valuable property is threatened by a greedy railroad company
0.0A timid bank clerk has to toughen up during the search for a gang of bank robbers.
0.0An outlaw with a Heart of Gold sacrificing his own life for the happiness of two young people in love.
A hunted bandit cleverly outwits the sheriff after a thrilling chase over rocks and sandhills. Reaching the Point Loma Lighthouse, he introduces himself as a revenue man to the lighthouse keeper and his daughter.