The Tower of Terror (1913)

In Bombay, Count Adolphe elopes with Vasca, although engaged to a lady in Rome. In that city two years later the Roman lady's father hears of Adolphe's wife and child. He sets the Black League to work. As a result, the young wife is met by death. The baby daughter is abandoned. The deed is committed by Michael, a confidential servant of the Roman lady. Adolphe eventually marries the Roman lady and Michael becomes their butler. Twenty years later Adolphe, now the Duke of Torini, for the first time receives news of his daughter. He sends his secretary to Bombay to fetch her. The young couple falls in love. The mind of Michael is unhinged by the sight of the young lady, and in his temporary insanity he tells the Duke where the proofs of his crime are to be found. The Duke finds the papers, sends them to his secretary, Genovo, makes his will in favor of his daughter, Zania, and dies of heart disease. Michael, having no knowledge of what he said or did in his delirium, thinks the proofs have been taken by Zania. The father of the duchess is compromised by the missing papers, so Michael confides in her. They seek the help of the Black League. Zania cannot give up the papers she has not got. She is kidnapped and taken to the Tower of Terror. Then next morning Genovo, her lover, sets out to rescue her. He discovers where she is and has a terrific fight with her jailer. In the struggle a lantern is upset, and the place set on fire, and the jailer meets his death. Genovo reaches his sweetheart, but escape is cut off by the fire. They get free by climbing down a tower over 200 feet high, the most sensational feat ever shown in a film. The Duchess and Michael arrive at the Tower of Terror just as the fire reaches some powder barrels, and the guilty couple are blown to bits.