Underground Favorites Mirroring the Impact of Beach of Dreams: Cult...

Dir: William Parke

To her aunt's dismay, Prudence isn't interested in society life. She'd rather listen to the butler's tall tales of being a pirate. Nixed from a boat trip, she rents a schooner, recruits a crew and raises the jolly roger.

Dir: William Parke

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

Mary's supposed father, Syd, trains her to believe theft is justifiable. Caught robbing a man's house, Mary escapes and Syd is jailed. Mary begins working as a locksmith. When she meets the man again, will he believe she's changed?

Dir: Perry N. Vekroff

While in New York seeking work, Cynthia, a young English girl, meets Bruce Crittenden and George Rhode who introduce her to Madame Savarin, a wealthy woman seeking a companion for a sea voyage. She hires Cynthia, and while at sea, Cynthia discovers that Bruce is the ship's purser. Cynthia's father was a famous wireless expert who taught her how to read code, which enables her to overhear a plot to sink the ship and steal Mrs. Savarin's jewels. Soon after, the crew mutinies, and while Rhode and Bruce fight the crew, Cynthia sounds the alarm. As he is attempting to foil the jewel thieves, Bruce falls overboard, and Cynthia swims to his rescue with the jewels strapped to her back. They are rescued by a government patrol boat and taken back to New York where Cynthia and Bruce are married.

Dir: William Parke

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Cynthia of the Minute 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: William Parke

Beam opens a boarding house and many interesting characters are introduced. She spreads her optimism to their lives. Also to her blind father by telling him army stories about her brother when in actuality, he's deserted.

Dir: William Parke

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

As the S. S. Huron returns from her summer trip to Europe laden with many passengers, a mysterious lady in room 7 is never seen, and the whole boat starts to gossip about her. In the meantime, a puzzling telegram arrives for Peter Hale, the passenger in the room across hers, about a sign of the Double Cross and his father's will.

Dir: William Parke

Amos Winthrop, owner of the Winthrop newspaper syndicate of "yellow" journals, delights in posing as the patron of ambitious youth, and he appoints Allan Stone as business manager of the "Daily Pioneer" at Columbia. The Rev. Timothy Neal, compelled to resign his pastorate because of advancing years, arrives with his granddaughter Esther in Columbia, where the minister hopes to make a living selling books. The one failure in Amos Winthrop's life is his pampered son Roy; he sends him to Columbia to work as a reporter on the "Daily Pioneer" staff. Rev. Neal takes many and varied lessons in the gentle art of book-agenting but success does not come to him and Esther is at her wits' end trying to instruct her grandfather how to approach strangers. Their little store of savings dwindles. Jim Barnes is editor of the "Daily Pioneer" and he delights in applying big-city methods to a small-town paper. He prints sensational stories and is supported in his methods by young Winthrop. Stone, on the other hand, asserts that scandal about people kills advertising prospects. The owner of Columbia's largest department store is Henry Lawlor, and the Daily Pioneer advertising staff longs to secure Lawlor to an advertising contract. Pneumonia attacks Rev. Neal and he passes away, leaving Esther alone in the world. She has met both Allan Stone and Roy Winthrop. The time comes when the only hope of the "Daily Pioneer" is the Lawlor advertising contract. There is an agreement that if the paper fails to make a stipulated showing before a specified date, Allan Stone and Jim Barnes shall forfeit all claim to their respective shares of stock in said paper. Young Winthrop antagonizes Lawlor and it seems that the contract is lost. He prepares a story dealing with the purported elopement of Lawlor's daughter and the same is set in type. Esther, considering it a "spite story," burns the entire edition of the "Daily Pioneer," thus preventing the story from being read; she thus earns the gratitude of Lawlor, who gives the paper the advertising patronage. Amos Winthrop, summoned to Columbia, appreciates his son's foolishness and orders him to leave Columbia and return home where the father can keep an eye on the boy. Stone wins an allotment of stock in the "Daily Pioneer" and wins Esther for his bride.

Dir: Maurice Elvey

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

A Royalist and his unknown son seek vengeance on his murdered wife's brothers.

Dir: William Parke

Sculptress Madge Graham sacrifices her art career to nurture violinist Robert Knight whom she marries and with whom she has two children. Gradually Knight becomes infatuated with Mrs. Alden, the wife of a wealthy man. Madge discovers her husband's treachery at the Alden home when she encounters the two embracing. In their surprise, a lamp is overturned and the house catches fire. Knight attempts to stop the blaze, but his hands are badly burned and he is taken to the hospital for treatment. When it becomes apparent that he will require skin grafting to save his hands, Mrs. Alden refuses, but Madge bravely sacrifices her skin, finally forcing Knight to realize the deep love of his wife.

Dir: William Parke

Convict 993 Roslyn Ayre, breaks out of prison, leaving her envious cellmate, Neva Stokes, behind. Roslyn settles into an affluent new life and is wooed by the wealthy Rodney Travers. After Neva is released from prison, she and gang leader Dan Mallory blackmail Roslyn into robbing the guests attending a reception at her home. Roslyn steals the jewels and then makes a deal with Mallory to double-cross the gang and escape together. The gang learns of this, and when they demand their share, Roslyn reveals that she has been a Secret Service agent from the first and turns the gang over to the law.