Rare Cinematic Gems Exploring the Legacy of A Woman's Awakening: Cu...

Dir: Chester Withey

A down-on-her luck streetwalker is ultimately redeemed by the love of a decent man.

Dir: Chester Withey

A young couple gets married in secret because her family objects to the match. To escape the family, the couple goes into hiding.

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

Dir: Chester Withey

Senator John Coburn's son Steve, who associates more with gamblers, criminals and drug addicts than with his father's congressional cronies, impulsively murders his mistress' new lover. The senator tries to use his influence to have Steve acquitted, but all of the evidence firmly and correctly implicates him, and so the jury prepares to find Steve guilty without much deliberation. Before the verdict can be announced, however, Steve's mother rises in court to make an impassioned plea for her son. As a result, moved by the mother's grief, the jurors choose to ignore all of the evidence, and declare that Steve is not guilty.

Dir: Chester Withey

A German-American father, loyal to his new U.S. home, finds himself on opposite sides with his son in the wartime conflict between Germany and America. The son becomes involved with German agents plotting against U.S., and the father must decide between his son and his adopted homeland.

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

Dir: Chester Withey

When Marie Callender is left a fortune by a wealthy old admirer on the condition that she marry the man she loves, Marie targets Ernest Lismore but is too shy to ask him to marry her. Instead, Marie disguises herself as an elderly woman of considerable wealth and offers to bail Ernest out of his impending bankruptcy in exchange for marriage, with the understanding that if Ernest ever falls in love with another woman she will grant him a divorce. Then Marie disguises herself as June Dayne in order to make her husband fall in love with her. She succeeds, and when Ernest confesses his love for another woman, Marie discards her disguise and Ernest discovers that the woman with whom he is in love is his own wife.

Dir: Chester Withey

When anarchist bombs disrupt the engagement ball of Princess Marie Pavlovna, her fiancé, Prince Michail Koloyar, helps her to escape in a carriage. Then Theo Kameneff, secretly in the pay of a foreign government, becomes dictator and, desiring the princess, issues an edict that all women between the ages of seventeen and thirty-two must register and become state property. Outraged, Marie, disguised as a shopkeeper, organizes women to refuse the order. After she is discovered by Orel Kosloff, Kameneff's henchman, Marie declines Kameneff's offer to repeal the edict if she will live with him. Kosloff then initiates mass brutality, killing women who do not register, including to Kameneff's dismay, his beloved sister, whom he tried to save. Meanwhile, Michail, who has infiltrated the Bolshevik ranks, is found out and narrowly escapes a firing squad. After he stops Kameneff's attack on Marie, Kameneff is shot by a potter, revenging his daughter's ravishment. Marie and Michail finally escape across the border.

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

Dir: Chester Withey

Jim is the leader of the "Slouchy Seven," a gang of small town boys. He takes the gang for a swim in the reservoir, and is reported to his father, who, as a punishment, locks him in his room. Jim, however, escapes and goes to the assistance of Clarence, a "nice" boy, who is vainly trying to secure an apple for his sweetheart, Mary. Mary is won by the prowess of Jim, but he is indifferent to girls. Clarence and Mary go for a walk and Tom, the blacksmith's boy, pushes Clarence aside and takes his place beside Mary. Jim goes to find the gang at the railroad station he meets a girl, who asks him the direction to Mr. Morton's, who, she says, is her uncle. Jim offers to take her bags and show her the house. The boys see him and have fun at his expense. He leaves the girl, whose name is Ruth, at the gate and goes to meet the gang. They have lost a member who moved away, and initiate Clarence, who proves to be a good sport. Unaware of the interest he has aroused in Mary's heart, Jim fights Tom, when he again interferes with Clarence and Mary, and is accused by Ruth of being "stuck" on Mary. This he stoutly denies. He calls on Ruth and her uncle tells her to dismiss him, that he is a bad boy. Jim then joins the gang in a prank on the schoolmaster, and as a punishment his father orders him to chop a pile of wood. Jim is rebellious and, taking his dog, leaves the house. He meets Mary and tells her he is going to the city. His dog deserts him and he falls in with a band of tramps. His mother places an ad in a local paper asking him to come home and Mary takes care of his dog. Later he comes back and is induced by the tramps to assist in robbing the bank, of which his father is vice-president. He dresses up and goes to secure the combination. Mary is impressed by his prosperous appearance, and when he hears his mother talking he almost gives up the idea of aiding the tramps, but his father's gruff remarks determine him to keep on. On going back to the tramps he sees his mother's ad in an old newspaper and refuses to help the hobos, but they take the paper with the combination away from him and bind him in a freight car. He escapes and hurries back to the town and tells the gang. They go to the bank, but are not in time to prevent the robbery, and the tramps escape with the loot. The loss ruins the bank, and although Jim is hailed as a hero his conscience troubles him. Finally he tells his father and is forgiven. The money is discovered in a woodpile, and the next day Jim carries Mary's books to school.

Dir: Chester Withey

Polly, a young woman on the run from three unwanted suitors, checks into a hotel using an assumed name. This subterfuge leads a Secret Service agent to mistake her for a German spy, which in turn leads her to become unwittingly involved with real German spies.

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of She Loves and Lies perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Dir: Chester Withey

Betty Griffon delays her wedding to Harry Lindsey, because her brother Dick is late for the ceremony. Upon learning that her dear brother has been injured in an accident, Betty refuses to leave on her honeymoon until he has recovered. When Harry objects, Betty proclaims that he is insensitive and demands a divorce. To oblige his wife, Harry hires his friend Tom Robinson to testify as corespondent in a divorce case, and a separation is granted. Betty and Harry realize that they really love each other too late and decide to remarry, but are prevented from doing so by the divorce papers which forbids Harry from marrying again. They finally decide to circumvent the New York law by becoming really married in New Jersey, and all ends happily.

Dir: Chester Withey

Society girl Octavia rejects her fiancé, Teddy Westlake, and marries the elderly Colonel Beaupree, a wealthy rancher. When the colonel dies, Octavia discovers that he has left her only the ranch out West. When she goes to Texas to claim her inheritance, she discovers that Westlake has become manager of the ranch. Unknown to Octavia, even the ranch does not belong to her, but Westlake keeps this, and the fact that he still loves her, secret until Jose' Alvarez, the cruel overseer, tries to take advantage of her. In the end, Octavia realizes her love for Teddy and chases after him until he admits his feelings for her.