The Essential Watchlist that Capture the Essence of A Cumberland Ro...

Dir: Charles Maigne

Jimmy Ordway is amazed by his wife Charlotte's unending energy, he is an exhausted wreck after a honeymoon filled with golfing, riding, boating, swimming, polo, mountain climbing, and dancing in the evenings. At the house party Charlotte throws the evening they return, Jimmy plots with his male friends to have them entertain Charlotte non-stop in shifts until she drops. After he convinces his old friend Brandy, a professional athlete, to participate, Brandy, on finding the only woman he has met who could keep up with him, tries to steal Charlotte away. When Brandy tells her of Jimmy's infatuation with Julia Cleves, whose consolatory attentions have taken his mind off his troubles, Charlotte sees them blowing smoke kisses and upbraids Jimmy. To win her back, Jimmy, taking the cue from Petruchio, a character in The Taming of the Shrew by Shakespeare, sets out to tame Charlotte by abducting her and binding her in a boathouse. Charlotte secretly enjoys it, and when Brandy arrives to rescue her and attempts an undesired intimacy, she throws him into the water. Jimmy happily embraces Charlotte, who then prepares dinner for their thirty friends.

Dir: Maurice Elvey

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

A lady marries a horse trainer but withholds herself until her crippled brother is cured.

Dir: Charles Horan

While working as a flower girl in Devlin Maddox's nightclub, Nellie Vaughan meets wealthy young Pelton Van Teel and falls in love. Maddox, desirous of using Nellie to blackmail Van Teel, spreads a rumor that she is his mistress. This makes Nellie uncomfortable, and she demands that Van Teel marry her immediately, to which he agrees. Meanwhile, Van Teel has been losing money gambling to Maddox, who threatens to break up the marriage by producing a worthless check that the young husband has written. Venturing to Maddox's apartment for a showdown, Nellie pulls a gun and demands the check, accidentally shooting Maddox when he throws a lamp at her. Maddox plans to charge Nellie with assault, but when the police arrive, his butler, actually a detective employed by the elder Van Teel, exposes Maddox, who is then arrested, clearing the path for the couple's happiness.

Dir: Wilfred Lucas

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

Brian O'Farrell (Snowy Baker), is an English 'new chum' who takes a job at an Australian cattle station. He is teased by station hands because of his appearance (including spats and a monocle) but he soon impresses them with his skills at riding and boxing. The station manager, John MacDonald (Wilfred Lucas), takes O'Farrell to Sydney to meet his daughter Edith (Kathleen Key) who is working in the slums. Edith is kidnapped by criminals after witnessing a crime but O'Farrell rescues her. It is later revealed he is the owner of the station.

Dir: Eduardo Notari

A crime drama in the Gennariello-series. The police detective in Naples that is confronted with modern gangsters and crime events.

Dir: Bruno Ziener

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

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Charles Maigne

Rich Matthew Thurlow, spends nearly every night at cabarets, admires Dazie, a leading dancer whom he calls "Redhead." Dazie loves Matthew, but she is dismayed that he wastes his life in clubs. After Matthew, while intoxicated, marries Dazie to win a bet, Dazie insists that they remain married. When Matthew's uncle cuts off his allowance and ends his "soft" bank job, Dazie decides to make a man out of Matthew, but he scorns her. She rents a small apartment, while he gets work in an auto factory. Although Matthew is genial when Dazie's parents visit, he remains cold to her. When Matthew's uncle offers Dazie money for a divorce, she refuses, but says that she will agree to a divorce if Matthew really wants one. Matthew develops a new interest in life and realizes he loves Dazie when he becomes jealous through a misunderstanding. After his uncle, seeing Dazie's effect on Matthew, threatens to disinherit him for good if he does divorce her, Matthew confesses his love.

Dir: Charles Maigne

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

Lola Gray working in a New York department store as a clerk, loves Charles Cox, a millionaire's son who is described by his friends as "Broadway's million-dollar kid." One evening at a lavish party, Charlie, quite intoxicated, proposes to Lola, but because of his irresponsible habits, she refuses him. Heartbroken, Charlie decides to drown himself in the hotel fountain and urges his friends and the proprietor to join him. When Lola learns from her sister, Ida Bell Gray, that Cox, Sr., having read about Charlie's antics in the newspaper, plans to disown his son, she phones Charlie immediately to accept his proposal. Although startled by the news of his disinheritance, Charlie is comforted by Lola's assertion that she prefers a man of character to one of wealth, and the two begin their married life on a farm in the Midwest.

Dir: Charles Maigne

Seductress Leila Templeton flirts with Harleth Crossey at his wife Marcia's dinner party. After the intoxicated Harleth takes a midnight drive with Leila, his next-day apologies fail to assuage Marcia's humiliation. Later, Harleth's secretary calls Marcia to say that he will not be home for dinner. When the maid warns Marcia that the chauffeur is crazily threatening to shoot her unless she marries him, Marcia tries to contact Harleth, but is told by a lying switchboard operator that he is with Leila. Harleth's subsequent tirade expressing a need for "personal liberty" drives Marcia to seek a divorce. Two years later, Harleth marries Leila. After she responds to his complaints about her flirting by asserting her "personal liberty," Otis Vale, whom Leila has driven nearly insane with her teasing, abducts her. His frenzied condition causes their automobile to tumble over a cliff, killing them both. When Harleth learns that "Mrs. Crossey" has died, he imagines it to be Marcia, and rushes to her. The relief he shows convinces her that their "invisible bond" is intact, and they reconcile.

Dir: Robert N. Bradbury

A simple country girl, brutally mistreated by her stepfather, awakens first the sympathy, then the love, of The Boy. The Spider, who lusts after The Girl, makes a bargain with the stepfather and takes her to the city where, kept prisoner, she is soon broken in health and spirit. Cast out and near death, she is taken in by The Boy. Following the demise of The Spider, The Boy takes her to church, where he prays, and after many hours she is restored to health.