The Global Archive Complementing the Tone of Ambition: Cult Guide

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A novelist blackmails his now married ex-girlfriend into having an affair with him.

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Mary, the daughter of Tom Boland, a cracksman, who is in love with his pal, Dave Karns, decides to give up her old life because she does not want her brother, Jimmie, to submit to the criminal influence surrounding him. After leaving the house, she wanders in the park. Here she meets Mrs. Wentworth, a woman of wealth and refinement, and the two become friends. Mrs. Wentworth finally engages her as a maid. Tom Boland and Dave learn of the girl's luck in obtaining a fine position in Mrs. Wentworth's household, and try to secure her aid in robbing the home of her employer. She refuses, but they carry out their plans alone, and Tom is shot. An investigation of the affair is made by the police. Mary is followed from one place to another when Mrs. Wentworth discharges her. After many weeks of hardship, she is reunited with Dave, who was reformed.

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

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Hoping to have Helen Sterling for himself, unscrupulous stockbroker George Howard, with the help of Rita Lawson, makes up a story of having an affair with her and convinces her husband Robert to believe it, thereby prompting him to file for divorce. (Rita's motivation is that she is Robert's former sweetheart and wants to get revenge on him for throwing her over for Helen.) After the court grants Robert the divorce and custody of their little girl, George is still unable to make Helen love him, so he kidnaps her daughter and informs Helen that he will give her back only if she consents to sleep with him. Helen agrees to give in, but then, after her daughter is returned, she finds a revolver in George's apartment and, during a struggle, shoots him. With all the evidence pointing to suicide, Helen is cleared of a murder charge. She tells the real story of her trauma only to Robert, who then realizes the mistake he made in divorcing her. As a result, he asks her to marry him once again, and Helen accepts his proposal.

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One of the warriors decides that he wants the king's favorite, and is about to carry her off by force when flames burst forth from the sacred volcano, and according to the custom, the king is forced to accept the challenge for his supremacy. The favorite throws herself on the beach in despair, and is seized by white traders who hasten from the island. Betty Mason, whose only regret is that she is not a boy, is excited on learning that her cousin, Reginald, is to visit her father; but when she finds he is sissified, her feelings change. Reginald, however, falls in love, and although her father is pleased at the idea of Betty settling down, she runs away, leaving a note that she has gone west, wearing her brother's clothes, and if Reginald can catch her she will marry him. In a city club three young men are discussing women's rights. Jack Calvert declares he can start without a cent and reach Constantinople by November 6, but that no woman can do it. A bystander calls his bluff, bets $5,000 and Jack, fearing the jeers of his friends, starts out. Betty, who is traveling the "box-car route," hears groans and discovers Jack, and they soon become friends. A brakeman puts them off the train, and they join a gang of tramps. Jack says he must be in Constantinople by the sixth, and Betty says she will go with him. Reginald, speeding across the country, gets a flashing glimpse of Betty, but the conductor will not allow him to get off the moving train. Betty and Jack reach the coast and smuggle aboard a boat about to sail for Constantinople. In foraging for food Betty runs into Reginald, so she and Jack make a dive for a fishing launch lying at anchor nearby. They are hauled aboard by the traders and the king's favorite. Betty's disguise is detected by one of the traders ; but Jack innocently comes to her rescue, and a fight ensues in which the ruffians are thrown overboard and orders the favorite to steer for Constantinople. Suddenly a squall hits the launch and they are shipwrecked on the Cannibal Island. The king recognizes his favorite, and all are taken to his palace. Jack and Betty learn they are to constitute the principal dish at a feast to be held next day; and the favorite comes to their rescue by suggesting that Jack challenge the king. The sacred volcano again belches forth, and during the fight Jack hurls the king into the crater. A launch approaches the shore, and as Betty recognizes Reginald, she and Jack descend by another route, and secure the launch. They reach Constantinople in time, and find the boys. At a banquet Mr. Mason introduces his daughter Betty, Jack is overcome with surprise, and is glad to change his views regarding womankind in general, and one woman in particular, who promises to tramp by his side forever.

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

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Twin sisters Anne and Katherine are separated as children when their parents decide to go their separate ways. Under her mother's influence, Anne develops into a respectable young woman, while Katherine, under her father's tutelage, becomes a callous adventuress. Anne falls in love with Dunsmore, a gubernatorial candidate running as a child labor reformer, while Katherine allies herself with his opponent, Huxley, a corrupt manufacturer. After losing the race, Huxley decides to eliminate his rival permanently. Using Katherine to lure Dunsmore to his apartment, Huxley enters and draws a gun on his rival. As he aims, Katherine pulls a gun and kills Huxley. Dunsmore, mistaking her for Anne, lets Katherine escape and is arrested for murder. At the trial, Dunsmore withholds the name of the mysterious woman, and Anne gives herself up as the murderess. Katherine, driven half mad by visions of Huxley, finally confesses all. Upon seeing the resemblance between the two sisters, Dunsmore realizes that Anne was offering her life for his and rushes to embrace her. They leave the courtroom together as Katherine is led to a cell.

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Princess Sylvia refuses to marry the Emperor Maximilian of Rhaetia because his proposal has been offered for diplomatic rather than romantic reasons. Learning that Maximilian is traveling to a hunting lodge in a small village, Sylvia follows him, disguised as an untitled English girl, and the emperor immediately falls in love with her. Later, when she saves his life from an assassin at the palace, Maximilian offers to marry her. This disturbs the Prime Minister, who becomes alarmed at the thought of his emperor marrying a commoner, and he sends for Sylvia's brother, who agrees to unmask the supposed adventuress. The unmasking only reveals the Princess Sylvia, however, who then accepts Maximilian's proposal because it is offered from his heart.

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

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Roma Winnet, the author of Jealousy, loves and marries Bob Lawson, but worries that her own difficulties with that emotion will destroy their relationship. When Dave Blake enlists in the secret service, he entrusts Ethel Clarke, his girlfriend and Roma's best friend, to Bob's care, an arrangement that immediately causes Roma to fret. While on furlough, Dave goes to see Ethel at Bob's home, but the visit is cut short when Bob suspects that Dave is being followed by spies. The sight of Bob and Ethel together rouses Roma's jealousy, a state exacerbated by secret rendezvouses between Ethel, Bob and Dave. Convinced that her husband is having an affair, Roma threatens him with divorce. That night, Bob receives a frantic note, supposedly from Dave, but when he arrives at Dave's hide-out, he discovers that the note was a set-up. After a fierce battle with the spies, Dave and Bob escape unharmed. Once misunderstandings are cleared up, the wrath of love is quelled and Roma reunites with Bob.

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Ellinor, who was unofficially adopted as an orphan by 'Old Peter,' who maintained a lighthouse on a virtually deserted beach, has grown up wild and nearly silent. As she blossoms into full womanhood, she longs to know more about the world. One day a mutinous sailor swims to shore and declares that they are married, after tossing a pair of rings into the sea. He soon flees, but promises to return for her. Wealthy widower George Hudson, the richest man in the nearby port village, also falls for the fascinating, attractive young woman. He convinces her to go to a finishing school for a year and then marry him. They both find that the sea still holds a powerful pull on the soul. Which is stronger: love or the sea's magic spell?

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

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A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

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The daughter of a Mexican aristocrat endures the travails of the Mexican revolution.