Editor's Top Picks Following the Footsteps of A Perfect 36: Cult Guide

Dir: Charles Giblyn

"Phantom" Farrell was known as one of the cleverest crooks in the world, with a penchant for jewel robberies. He planned to attend the Bereton ball and steal a famous necklace which he knew the daughter would wear. Chance makes it possible for Farrell to gain admittance to the Bereton mansion before the night of the ball, in the guise of a detective, and it happens that he meets the young woman whom he has planned to rob. Farrell is so attracted by her beauty and winsomeness that he falls in love and decides not to steal the necklace. At the ball the necklace really is stolen and Mr. Bereton, the owner, immediately asks "The Phantom," whom he knows only as a detective to find the thief and locate the jewels. "The Phantom" has observed the intimacy between Bertie Bereton, the son of the household, and one of the guests, a Dr. Ratcliffe. He finally forces Bertie to confess to him that Dr. Ratcliffe is really a noted race track gambler who has forced him to aid in the theft of the necklace in order to square certain gambling debts which he holds against him. Dr. Ratcliffe has already made his escape from the house, but "The Phantom" overtakes him at the railroad station and compels him to return to the house where, with the assistance of his valet, he recovers the valuables. In addition, he forces the gambler to give up all claims on the young man. The arrival of the real detective whom "The Phantom" is impersonating and three others, complicates matters for that worthy, and he would have been caught immediately had not Bertie warned him of their approach. The escape of "The Phantom" and his valet is effected only after a series of stirring adventures, but it is finally accomplished and as the pursuers dash off down the road, "The Phantom" and his faithful valet emerge from behind a hedge and start a long walk back to town. The valet upbraids his master for his weakness in not actually stealing the jewels himself, but "The Phantom" remembers the beautiful girl whom he has made happy by his success in restoring the necklace and he walks along the dusty road perfectly happy with himself.

Dir: Charles Giblyn

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

The pride of his aristocratic Southern family, a young man shatters his family's hopes by marrying a Broadway vamp known as "The Moth." The young man's father then plots to rescue his unwitting son from "The Moth's" clutches, but at great sacrifice.

Dir: Charles Giblyn

In Italy, Sister Beatrice becomes the confidante of the Contessa Angelica de Vecchio, whose brother, Prince Candoni, has placed her in a convent for having an affair with Carlo Parodi, a young radical. Angelica soon dies, and Beatrice, suddenly aware that she needlessly has shut herself off from the real world, leaves the convent and joins a group of revolutionaries. She marries Guido Perli, one of the leaders, and tries to temper his radical fervor with some religious tolerance. Finally, however, he calls on the people to rise against Candoni, and a horrified Beatrice alerts the prince. Candoni sends out his guards, and during the fighting, both Carlo and Guido are killed. Before he dies, however, Guido forgives his wife for betraying him to the prince, after which a remorseful Beatrice returns to the convent.

Dir: Charles Giblyn

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

Theodore Whitney, Sr. commissions his son Theodore, "Ted" Jr., to retrieve a missing stock certificate. On the road, Ted meets and falls in love with Betty Blake, the beautiful but elusive niece of Major Blackburn, whose home was recently robbed. When a detective disguised as British nobleman Lord Roxenham arrives to investigate the case, Ted bribes the officer to let him play the role for one night so that he may be near Betty. As the love struck young man is romancing his sweetheart, Lady Roxenham suddenly arrives, alienating Betty and throwing Ted into a panic. Lady Roxenham agrees to participate in the deception, but later Ted spies her breaking into the major's safe. After he alerts the household, she and the butler are revealed as notorious thieves. Betty, who had been trying to purchase Whitney's stock, accepts Ted's marriage proposal, and the profits are shared between the two.

Dir: Charles Giblyn

Tessa Doyle, an innocent country girl who has come to New York and joined a vaudeville sister act, becomes embroiled in a scheme to earn money at her partner Trixie Dennis' insistence. When millionaire Billy Swayne is jilted by his fiancee, Millicent Lee, he and his friend Rodney Dolson get drunk and decide that Billy must get married that night. Tessa agrees to marry Billy so that Trixie can use the money to obtain a divorce. After the marriage, Trixie tries to blackmail Billy. Tessa becomes angry and leaves without accepting any payment. Later, after she has become the private secretary to a woman who turns out to be Billy's mother, Tessa meets Billy again. They fall in love and get married again.

Dir: Charles Giblyn

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

After an idyllic mountain life in Russia, Berna goes to live with her uncle in the Jewish section of Kiev, arriving just as Cossacks massacre most of the Jews in the city. Berna escapes to New York and works at a sweatshop controlled by Boss Jim McManus, but he seduces her, then throws her out on the street, and she becomes a prostitute. Berna later marries Nicolay Turgenev, a young musician, and they soon have a child, but McManus' daughter Ellen falls in love with Nicolay after seeing him perform and convinces him to leave Berna. To make the separation legal, McManus, now a judge, grants Nicolay a divorce and also gives him custody of the child. Almost insane, Berna goes to McManus, denounces him at gunpoint and then kills him.

Dir: Charles Giblyn

Peggy, a rambunctious young American girl, goes to Scotland to visit her uncle. Her American ways both shock and eventually delight the people of the old village--especially the handsome young minister.

Dir: Charles Giblyn

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

A young woman's sweetheart fights for the Union, while her brother fights for the Confederates, in the pivotal 1863 battle of the U.S. Civil War.

Dir: Charles Giblyn

Irresponsible young heiress Beatrix Vanderdyke creates a scandal with her indiscreet visits to artist Sutherland Yorke. To extricate herself, Beatrix claims that she was actually visiting Pelham Franklyn, who has an apartment in the same building and to whom, she states, she is secretly married. Pelham, an old friend, is dumbfounded by the news but continues the ruse for Beatrix's sake. That night, he accompanies his new bride to her bedroom, but after alarming her, announces that she is quite safe and retreats. After the marriage announcement is published in the paper, the couple is compelled to continue their deception, finally taking an enforced honeymoon cruise on Pelham's yacht. Meanwhile, Yorke has been sending anonymous letters to the family which cast doubt upon the marriage. Upon returning from his honeymoon, Pelham, who has fallen in love with his bride, discovers this and goes to Yorke's apartment, arriving just as the scoundrel has been shot by a jealous husband. Before dying, Yorke writes an apology to Beatrix. Pelham then kidnaps Beatrix, and the two are married at sea.

Dir: Charles Giblyn

At the death of John Gower, his widow and daughter, Mildred, find themselves with only a few thousand dollars, as the family lived almost up to the limit of Cower's income. Mildred's mother tells her it is necessary that she marry money. Mildred is fond of Stanley Baird, but her hopes in this direction are shattered by the announcement of his engagement to another woman. Mrs. Gower marries Presbury, an elderly man who thinks she is wealthy, and when he learns the truth he begins taunting Mildred until she is willing to do anything to escape from her humiliating position. Presbury arranges a marriage between Mildred and a multimillionaire, General Siddall. The bride soon discovers that while her husband will buy anything for her she wants, so that he can make an impression upon the world with her beauty, he will not give her any money. This forces her to realize that she is barely more than a piece of furniture in the General's establishment. She leaves him, and meeting Baird learns that he and his wife have separated. He undertakes to furnish her with funds for the cultivation of her voice for an operatic career, with the hope that one day they will be free to marry. Mildred makes slow progress. Her voice is good but uncertain. She meets a young lawyer, Donald Keith, who tells her that she will never succeed because she is too fond of luxury and ease. Meanwhile she discovers through Keith's investigation that she was not legally married to General Siddall, as his first wife was still living, confined in an insane asylum. The General has made many attempts to get her to come back to him, but she refuses. Finally she declines to take any more money from Baird, and by economy, self-denial and hard work succeeds in her musical ambition. Having achieved her independence she is now free to choose between Stanley Baird and Donald Keith, to both of whom she owes a debt of gratitude. Her choice is a happy one, and leaves the story of the life of this typical American girl perfectly rounded out.