The Phantom In The House (DVD)

Brilliant inventor Boyd Milburn comes home to find his wife in hysterics, standing over the still warm body of the man she killed in self-defense. To protect his wife, Boyd takes the rap for the crime and goes to prison. Paroled after 15 years, he returns to find that his invention patents have earned a fortune which his wife is busy spending. His own daughter, now grown and ready to marry, doesn't even know him. Introduced to daughter Peggy as a "family friend," Boyd becomes a guest in his own home, tacitly agreeing to keep the Milburn family secret hidden from everyone. But dark secrets breed trouble when the judge who sent Boyd to prison is murdered. In a cruel twist of fate, the inventor finds himself once again facing prison in a bid to protect the ones he loves.

The Phantom in the House is a first-rate early talkie featuring bold camera-work, a clever script full of unexpected twists, and a compelling performance by the great silent screen veteran, Henry B. Walthall as the self-sacrificing inventor, Boyd Milburn. Born in 1878, Walthall appeared as a woodsman in his first film, Rescued from an Eagle's Nest, at the age of thirty. By the time he played Col. Ben Cameron in D.W. Griffith's legendary masterpiece, Birth of a Nation, in 1915, he had already made almost 200 screen appearances. Walthall was at the center of the sound revolution, with roles in such early classics as Wings in 1927 and The Jazz Singer in 1929. He continued his busy 300-plus film career right up until his death in 1936.

• drama