Masterpiece Selection Resonating with the Themes of A Broadway Cowb...

Dir: Joseph Franz

Larry Lang has carried the memory of his father's killing by Claude Dutton since his youth and is determined to avenge the crime. The townspeople of the small western border town believe Larry is "plumb locoed" because he employs a rowdy gang of cow punchers for only a few head of cattle. Dutton is ensconced in Bottle Canyon, the neck of which is constantly guarded by his men. When Dutton's henchman Two-Gun Dan fails to capture Larry, Dutton attempts the job himself. Meanwhile, Larry's cousin Dora Lawrence arrives to make her home with Larry who is to be her guardian. Larry's men are absent, and while Mexican bandit Pedro holds Dora, Dutton searches for a large sum of money hidden in Larry's bed. Larry returns and kills Dutton, then a romance develops between Larry and Dora.

Dir: Harry F. Millarde

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of The White Moll perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Desperate because a wealthy man has reduced her father to thievery, Rhoda agrees to rob the poor box of the church, although she finds the act abhorrent. During the robbery, Rhoda's father is shot and dies in the priests's arms, seeking absolution, while the man who ruined him looks on. Penitent, the man appoints Rhoda as his representative to return the ill-gotten gains to those he has robbed. Rhoda enters the underworld as an angel of mercy, gaining the sobriquet of "The White Moll." After many thrilling escapades, she brings The Dangler, the leader of a gang of crooks, to justice, saves others from death and finally wins The Pug, the man of her choice.

Dir: Maurice Campbell

Carver Endicott, a young sophisticate, is rejected by his fiancée for being too foppish and dull. When she feigns an interest in his father, Carver attempts to disgrace his family name by working as a farmhand and later as a busboy in a hotel. However, the newspapers only praise him for his self-sacrificing principles; and finding that he cannot bring shame to the family through menial labor, he takes up with a notorious actress. But when this maneuver also fails, he returns to his former fiancée, who has no further complaint about his being an inexperienced dullard.

Dir: Jerome Storm

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of An Amateur Devil perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Ne'er-do-well Homer Cavender ventures to the city from Mainsville in an effort to find fame and fortune. Both elude him, and after clerking for two years, Homer returns home for a vacation. Impressed by his flashy clothes, the townspeople assume that Homer has achieved success. Attempting to win Rachel Prouty from his rival, Arthur Machim, Homer continues the deception by announcing that his employer, Kort and Bailly, has dispatched him to enroll stockholders for a proposed new plant to be built in Mainsville. Machim discovers the sham and denounces Homer as a crook. Meanwhile, Homer returns to New York, convinces his employers of the merits of his plan and comes home triumphant, with a proposal for both the new plant and for Rachel's hand in marriage.

Dir: Victor Heerman

In the gold fields of the Canadian Northwest, a man is falsely accused of a crime and determines that a lookalike is responsible.

Dir: Charley Chase

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Homer Comes Home perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

A young married couple volunteer to take charge of several orphans after the asylum has burned down. Of course they find their hands full with their troublesome charges.

Dir: Raoul Walsh

Dave Henderson, an orphan who has become the beneficiary of a rich man's will, falls in with race-track crooks Martin Tydeman and Bokky Sharvan who bilk him out of his $100,000 inheritance. In retaliation, Dave steals the money from Tydeman's safe, but is caught and sentenced to five years in jail. In prison, Dave becomes friendly with Millman, who is about to be released, and reveals the money's hiding place to him, arranging to rendezvous at the end of Dave's term. Once released, Dave is hounded by members of Tydeman's gang as well as the police, who are waiting for him to retrieve his bounty. While taking refuge at the house of Capriano, an old bomb maker, Dave falls in love with the old man's daughter Teresa. However, Capriano sets a trap for Dave, who awakens in a drugged state to find the $100,000 missing. With the help of Millman and Teresa, Dave recovers the money, turns it over to the police and resolves to go straight.

Dir: Joseph Franz

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of The River's End perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

The uncle of "Bare-Fisted Gallagher" dies and leaves the Eagle Mine in the San Rafael Valley. When he arrives to take possession of it, he meets and falls for pretty Jem Mason, a woman who dresses like a cowboy and, to show she's a good shot, shoots off his hat. Gallagher doesn't know that Aliso Pete, the owner of the general store, is also interested in Jem. He also doesn't know that Aliso Pete has another secret, one that could cost Gallagher his life.

Dir: J. Gordon Edwards

William Farnum is Drag Harlan, a tough cowboy vigilante. After learning about a gold mine from a dying man, he seeks his daughter (Jackie Saunders) as well as the gold. He falls in love with her, but the same gang that shot the old man is after the gold.

Dir: Harris Gordon

A man named Chandler, claiming to be a novelist in search of local color, arrives at a town near the Mexican border, where he makes advances toward Jo, a girl living a solitary life on a desert ranch. Manning, a cowboy, suspects Chandler's motives, and his suspicions are strengthened when Chandler is caught cheating at cards. Following a gang of Mexicans to their mountain retreat, Manning learns that Chandler and the Mexicans are smuggling opium across the border. Two gang members are killed in the ensuing fight, but Chandler, wounded by Manning after a chase on the cliffs, escapes to Jo's home, where he denounces Manning as a smuggler. Manning arrives and dispels Jo's misgivings about him by revealing that he is a Texas Ranger, sworn to secrecy. Chandler is allowed to escape, and Manning and Joe are united.