The Global Archive Complementing the Tone of Below the Surface: Cul...

Dir: Irvin Willat

Wu Fang rules the Chinese underworld with the aid of crooked politician Jim Murdock, who shields the criminal from the police in exchange for a share of the profits. When Wu Fang kills Sergt. Joe Duncan, however, Patrolman Terence Shannon decides to conduct a raid. Wu Fang, who is expecting to receive a large shipment of opium, kidnaps Chinatown mission worker Patsy O'Connell and threatens to harm her if the police interfere in the drug smuggling operation. Although Terence is attracted to Patsy, he places duty before his own feelings and goes ahead with the raid but is captured by Wu Fang. Patsy and Terence are about to be thrown into a rat-infested pit when Officer Michael O'Shea and his men arrive, and in the ensuing battle, Wu Fang is killed and Murdock arrested. Chinatown having been made safe, Patsy agrees to be the wife of the new police chief, Terence.

Dir: Irvin Willat

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

A mutual attraction develops between Roger Wainright, a wealthy New York idler visiting his Florida estate, and Gale Brenon, daughter of a federal revenue agent. During a raid on a fashionable gambling resort, Mr. Brenon is killed, and suspicion is focused on Roger, who escapes to Gale's home. She helps Roger escape into the swamp but joins the search for him when she learns of her father's death. Gale weakens when she finds Roger, but he decides to surrender. Ultimately, Mildred Van Buren exposes Deputy Brown to be Brenon's murderer.

Dir: Irvin Willat

Nance Pelot is bravely trying to support herself and her father Joe, the town drunk, by playing piano in an unsavory roadside inn owned by Larry Shayne. Chet Todd, the son of a shop owner, is in love with her, but her reputation has been sullied by her profession, so Chet's mother disapproves of her. Nance inherits a small farm from her mother, and when Shayne discovers that the property is valuable, he plots to cheat her out of her inheritance. After a series of misadventures, including a revival meeting and a blinding snowstorm, Joe stops drinking and Chet rescues the farm from Shayne. When Nance sells the property, she gains a respectable income, as well as the respect of the community and her future mother-in-law.

Dir: Irvin Willat

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

A fur smuggler's daughter asks to accompany him on his trip to the US to sell his furs. She falls for Robert, a young man who has recently been dumped by his girlfriend for a rich man. She and Robert fall in love, but her father suddenly takes her back to Canada to avoid tax agents. Robert searcher for her for a year, and when he finally finds her, he must fight both her father and her father's gang for her. Complications ensue.

Dir: Irvin Willat

Alain de Montcalm is the son of a French trading post proprietor. When a murder and kidnapping occur, Alain pursues the abducted girl and her captor across the far northern wasteland of ice.

Dir: Irvin Willat

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

Joel Shore is made captain of the whaling schooner formerly headed by his courageous and admired brother, Mark, who was lost at sea. Accompanied by his bride, who suspects Joel to have a cowardly heart, they set sail for a whale hunt.

Dir: Irvin Willat

A young woman inherits her father's large Texas ranch and plans to begin a cattle drive to Abilene, Kansas, 1000 miles away. The crooked State Treasurer plans to attack the cattle drive and steal all of the stock so he can gain control of her ranch.

Dir: Irvin Willat

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

Peter Kennedy, a pernicious landlord who desires his tenant, Nora McCree, realizes that the only way to possess Nora is to eliminate her husband Patrick. To accomplish this, Kennedy arranges a fight between Patrick and another man, in which the latter is badly wounded. Patrick is told that his opponent has died, and at Kennedy's suggestion, joins the army and goes to Africa to fight the Boers. In his absence, Kennedy, unable to win Nora by fair means, does everything in his power to make her feel the pinch of poverty and thus capitulate to him. Things are at their worst for the McCree family when little Eileen, after listening to fairy tales told to her by the Irishman Flynn, dreams of her father and finds him the next day, unconscious under a large tree after having been waylaid by Kennedy upon his return home. With Patrick's return, Kennedy's plans are dashed, and the McCree family is united once again.

Dir: Irvin Willat

Harold Mark marries Thora after treating her injured grandfather, then migrates to New York City with his young wife to study surgery. While Harold devotes himself to his studies and to social problems, Thora seeks expression with Greenwich Village bohemians and falls prey to the flattery of sculptor Monsieur Duparc, who convinces her that she is neglected by her husband. After the Marks separate, Harold becomes chief surgeon of a state hospital, and Thora spends a year as the guest of Duparc's aunt. On his way to persuade Harold to divorce Thora, Duparc is injured in an automobile accident. Harold unselfishly performs lifesaving surgery on Duparc, while a crazed patient sets fire to the hospital. Afterward, Harold returns to Thora's country home. She follows and they are reconciled.

Dir: Irvin Willat

Pioneer rancher August Naab finds Easterner Jack Hare in the desert and takes him home, where Naab's Spanish-Indian ward Mescal cares for and falls in love with Jack though she is betrothed to Naab's wayward son Snap. To avoid marrying Snap, Mescal flees into the desert and is captured there by desert pirate Mal Holderness, a ruthless man seeking to control the surrounding area's water rights by buying or seizing the local ranches. Because Naab has refused to sell, Holderness begins a feud, taking Mescal prisoner and killing her prospective bridegroom Snap, who has followed her into the desert. As the leader of the law-abiding community, Naab, with a group of sympathetic Indians, burns down the neighboring town serving as a hideout for Holderness and his gang. Mescal is rescued and returned to Jack.