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

Dir: Edgar Jones

A mail-order bride arrives at a Maine lumber camp but doesn't like her prospective husband.

Dir: Charles Maigne

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

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: Charles Maigne

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

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

Milt Shanks lives a shamed life, hated by his neighbors for having been a traitor to the North in the American Civil War. But Shanks carries with him a secret, one he promised Abraham Lincoln to tell no one.

Dir: Dallas M. Fitzgerald

Confidence artist Flossie Golden attempts to fleece foolish but wealthy James Venable with a breach-of-promise suit. Venable's shrewd attorney, Richard Harding, outwits Flossie by proposing that she marry Venable and live on an allowance of $3,000 per year. Flossie is determined to get even with Harding for ruining her plans. In an attempt to con him, she poses as Innocence Page, but falls in love and marries him instead. Larry, Flossie's former accomplice, endeavors to blackmail her with her errant past, but Harding is already cognizant of the facts and Larry fails.

Dir: William Parke

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

Bruce Wendell, the son of West Virginia coal mine owner James Wendell, graduates from West Point and prepares to lead a fighting unit to the front during World War I. As his father lies dying, however, he convinces Bruce to remain at home and guard the mine. Bruce's fiancée Ann Blair assumes that he is a coward and breaks off their engagement, but her brother Bobbie remains Bruce's loyal friend. Meyer, a German agent, persuades railroad president Parrish to refuse to transport Wendell's coal, but when Bruce adamantly refuses to close the mine, the spy's men decide to blow it up. While Ann is being abducted by Meyer, Bobbie is buried in an explosion at the mine. Bruce rescues Bobbie and then sends a plea to Lieutenant Parrish to rescue Ann. Meyer and his gang are captured and Ann renews her vow of love to Bruce.

Dir: Maurice Elvey

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

Dir: Bruno Ziener

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

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Wilfred Lucas

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: Edward LeSaint

When famous opera singer Elinore Duane undergoes an operation on her throat, she has a series of ether-induced visions. In one, she is transported to ancient Rome where she appears as a much-admired woman in love with Paul, a young heretic, and at odds with Lutor, the high priest. To save her love, she poisons Lutor with her ring. After several other visions which involve variations on this love triangle, Elinore awakens to discover that Lutor is actually her doctor, Sascha Jaccard, and that Paul is the son of a friend who has come to visit the recovering prima donna.