The Girl on the Stairs

The Bar-C Mystery is a 1926 American silent Western 10 film serial directed by Robert F. Hill. Chapters: 1. A Heritage of Danger; 2. Perilous Paths; 3. The Midnight Raid; 4. Wheels of Doom; 5. Thundering Hoofs; 6. Against Desperate Odds; 7. Back from the Missing; 8. Fight for a Fortune; 9. The Wolf's Cunning; 10. A Six-Gun Wedding.

When Harlan Carr inherited his Uncle Ebenezer's "Jack-O Lantern" house and too his bride there to live, he found himself the unwilling host of a score of hungry relatives within a week. Soon, strange things began to happen. A black cat made the house his headquarters, unexplained sounds could be heard and a shadowy figure floated through the halls at night.

Young London realtor Leonard Tavernake becomes involved with two sisters, one good and one evil, which leads to much melodrama but things work out in the end.

Business partners Bradley and Collier both love Mary. Bradley leads Collier to believe he is engaged to her so Collier prepares to head West when Lola, the young girl Bradley had seduced and abandoned, appears at the office and begs Bradley for help. He spurns her slipping out of the office and making it appear that Collier is the lout. Mary with that perception marries Bradley only to discover by Lola’s deathbed confession that she has been deceived. Tony, Lola's father, crazed by his daughter's death, comes to Bradley's office and the next day Bradley is found dead. When Tony is arrested Collier steps forward to say he confronted Bradley and as they struggled the revolver Bradley drew went off, killing him. Tony is freed and Collier and Mary marry.

Guido, an artist, is obsessed with the desire for the death of Clavering, a rich man who has entered into a forced marriage with Margaret, the girl whom Guido loves. The thought accompanies him in his work, his sleep and fills his every moment. One night, he awakens from a dream in which he has murdered Clavering. The next morning, Clavering is found murdered and Guido labors under the uncanny feeling that he is the murderer. Hoping to relieve Guido's fears, Margaret induces him to paint the picture of his dream. Clavering's butler sees the painting of his dead master, and is so horror stricken that he confesses to murdering Clavering for his money.

While touring India, noted English criminologist Richard Duvall saves the life of a Buddhist priest who rewards him with the presentation of a wonderful crystal globe. By gazing in it the priest demonstrates that Duvall can fall into a cataleptic state and his astral body is released and is free to roam at will. Shortly afterward he uses the orbs powers to help his lady love Grace Ellicott solve the murder of her aunt and restore her fortune.

A young American man arrives in London to claim an estate he has inherited. One of the conditions is that he signs a paper stating he will never sell the estate. When he arrives at the estate he now owns, he runs into a ring of American gangsters there and discovers that the estate is the site of some buried pirate treasure.

Wife of wealthy ladies' man Challis Wrandall, Sara, is called to a roadhouse to identify her husband's body and told that he was murdered by an unidentified woman. On her way home, Sara rescues a young woman who is about to drown herself. Believing the woman, Hetty Castleton, to be the murderer, Sara offers her employment in the Wrandall home as her companion. Because her husband and his family treated her so coldly during her married life, Sara seeks revenge by arranging a romance between her brother-in-law Leslie and Hetty, but the latter has fallen in love with artist Brandon Booth and refuses to marry young Wrandall. Sara threatens to expose the girl, but just then a detective appears and accuses Sara of the crime. Hetty confesses, explaining to the family that Challis had lured her to the inn and attacked her. The Wrandalls forgive her, and she leaves her home in Booth's company.

Wealthy spinster, Rachel Innes rents a country house with her niece and nephew for the summer, only for a series of strange occurrences and a murder at the house's circular staircase to lead to shocking revelations about the home's owner and the family secrets within the house.

Millionaire Joshua Barker insists that his daughter, Faith, must marry Phil Langhorne, a man that neither likes, and Faith is in love with and eager to marry her childhood sweetheart, John Temple.

In this story the hero is haunted by a beautiful young woman who tries to stab him to death with a knife. This fantasy recurs on each of his birthdays, becoming more and more real as the years go on. He leaves home to secure a place as groom, but arrives at his destination too late. Forced to retrace his steps, he seeks shelter in a little inn, forgetting that the hour of his birth is approaching. In the middle of the night he awakens, terrified with fright… Based on Wilkie Collins' novel “The Dream Woman”.

Young Edyth Vail, believes her fiancé Allen Morris may have committed a murder, asking Ashton Kirk to investigate the crime. The fiancé admits he went to the David Hume's home to retrieve plans for a submarine, invented by his scientist father and stolen by the murdered man, but Allen claims he left the home before retrieving the plans. Kirk uses a train conductor's punch ticket to discover the identity of the murderers, one of whom is mute, and sets a trap to apprehend the suspects.

Ashton Kirk is a wealthy and scholarly young man who solves mysteries that have the police puzzled. Stella Morse asks Kirk to find out who is threatening her uncle, Dr. Morse. Morse has a copy of a secret treaty between Russia and the United States that was made during the Russo-Japanese War. When the Doctor is murdered Kirk takes on the case. Japanese spies have been trying to purloin the treaty to ruin relations between its country and America. Kirk manages to get the treaty himself and prevents a war from breaking out.

Pursued by two suitors, James Brunton and Bob Standing, Grace chooses James followed by a sumptuous wedding at his family home. Suddenly a shot rings out and James’s father is fatally wounded. Just before dying Mr. Brunton makes James promise not to apprehend the murderer. Later trouble arises when Grace suspects James of an involvement the young Helen. Crushed, Grace leaves home settling in another town. Shortly after James has a car accident and is taken to Grace's nearby house. When Helen and Bob arrive, it is revealed that Helen is James’s sister. Mr. Brunton had abandoned Helen's mother Alice years before and it was Alice who fired the fatal shot. James and Grace are reconciled.

In Dijon, Inspector Hanaud investigates Betty Harlowe after her uncle, Boris Waberski, accuses her of poisoning her wealthy aunt for an inheritance. While an initial autopsy finds nothing, Hanaud discovers the use of Strophanthus Hispidus—a rare, undetectable poison applied via an antique arrow. Amidst a flurry of "poison pen" letters and deception, Hanaud proves the murder occurred despite the lack of conventional medical evidence.

Having been rejected by Phyllis Leigh in favor of wealthier suitor Peter Lester, Hugh prevents Elinor Ashe from drowning herself. Hugh recklessly marries Elinor, but they occupy different wings of his house. Lester and Phyllis arrive as guests, and a new manservant favored by Elinor is hired. When Lester is murdered, the servant is charged with the crime, and Elinor admits to Hugh that he is indeed her father, recently released from prison. While in the company of Marcia Marshall, Hugh discovers her husband Harley dying in a Chinese opium den. He confesses that, victimized by Lester, he killed him. Elinor's father is released, and she reconciles with Hugh.

The Everlasting Conflict Between Law and Order and the Underworld.

A murderer strikes at a secret gathering of top law enforcement agents, brought together by a millionaire seeking their endorsement of his candidate for governor.

After old Trowbridge is mysteriously murdered, his nephew, Kane Langdon, is accused of the crime. Trowbridge's adopted daughter Alice makes every effort to prove Kane's innocence, but to no avail. When Kane escapes from the clutches of the law, Alice works with him to investigate the crime. They soon discover that Judge Hoyt, a great friend of Trowbridge and an ardent admirer of Alice, killed Trowbridge after forging the old man's will to read that Alice would only inherit his fortune if she married the judge. The judge, confronted with the accusation, becomes so unnerved that he confesses to the crime, and all ends happily with Alice in Kane's arms.

After a popular singer dies in a mysterious auto accident, her fiancee assembles all those who were to attend there wedding, hoping to find her killer.