Curated Recommendations Seeking the Same Brilliance as Between Men:...

Dir: William S. Hart

Yukon Ed has asked saloon owner Ruby McGraw to marry him several times, and has been turned down each time. She falls for Jack Sturgess, a no-account who has seduced and abandoned a poor young girl and is escaping from his father's anger. She takes up with Jack to Ed's dismay, and soon the thing that Ed feared would happen does happen.

Dir: William S. Hart

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

Tom "Wolf" Lowry, the owner of the Bar Z ranch, tolerates no intruders into his life. When he hears that settlers have entered his valley, he goes to confront them but has a change of heart when he sees Mary Davis, a young woman who has come West to find her missing sweetheart, Owen Thorpe. Mary nurses Lowry back to health after he is wounded by Buck Fanning, the real estate agent who sold Mary her claim, when Lowry prevents Banning from raping Mary. Lowry soon falls in love with Mary and she agrees to become his wife, having lost all hope of finding her former sweetheart. By coincidence, Lowry finds Owen, but when Owen and Mary meet and plan to run away together, Lowry insists that she honor her agreement to wed him. On the day of the wedding, however, Lowry has a change of heart and takes Owen and Mary to the minister and tells him to marry the two lovers instead. Lowry then leaves Mary a note saying that he is going to Alaska. Five years later, Mary and Owen are the parents of a young son, named Tom, and the recipients of a letter from Lowry who now lives in isolation in Alaska.

Dir: William S. Hart

Gambler "On-the-Level" Leigh gives up his profession for his little sister, Alice, whose precarious health demands that she move to the mountains. There, the gambler meets the fiery dance hall girl Coralie whose advances he rejects. His funds exhausted from the expense of the move, Level unwillingly returns to his old profession, but Coralie induces the dealer to "cold deck" Level, and he loses every cent. Out of desperation, Level decides to hold up the passengers of the stagecoach while unknown to him, Black Jack shoots and kills the driver for the express box. Learning of the driver's death, Level surrenders himself to the law and is jailed. Escaping from his cell, Level discovers Black Jack uncovering the express box and arrests him. Level returns to town with the real murderer, is cleared of all charges and is reunited with his sweetheart, Rose Larkin.

Dir: William S. Hart

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

Prospector Jim Alton stumbles upon a dying woman, while traveling across the desert, she implores him to care for her little boy Joey. Jim takes the boy to town, where he encounters Joey's brutal father, Razor Joe, and falls in love with Jennie, a young girl whose father is dying. After running Joe out of town, Jim settles down to make a home for Joey. Jim rides to the neighboring town to bring back Dr. Howard after Jennie's father takes a turn for the worse. Soon after, the old man dies and the doctor convinces Jennie to return to his home and marry him. Upon discovering that the doctor already has a wife in New York, Jennie leaves him, but, too proud to go home, accepts a position in a dance hall. Meanwhile, Razor Joe and his gang kidnap Joey. Jim follows, confronts them with his guns drawn, and rescues the boy. All ends well as Jim and Jennie are reunited and, together with Joey, begin life anew as a family.

Dir: William S. Hart

Jim Houston, the "Shootin' Iron" Parson, comes to Barren Gulch to reform the morals of the frontier community. He receives the support of "Birdshot" Bivens, the sheriff of the county. Jim's wife, Mary, however, is a weak character. She falls a prey to the seduction of Dr. Hardy, the village gambler and saloon keeper, and elopes with him. Jim Houston, forsaking the ministry, goes to the mountains and cares for his child in a log cabin home. Later the child falls very ill. Mary, in a mountain storm, comes unwittingly to their door. Dr. Hardy is sent for as the only physician in the district. He ministers to the child and confronts Houston, who intends to kill him. Mary is asked to make her choice between Houston and Dr. Hardy. She points towards the child and goes to its bedside. Houston forgives his wife and instead of killing Hardy permits him to go unharmed.

Dir: William S. Hart

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

Shark Monroe is the captain of a sealing vessel in Alaskan waters. He takes on Marjorie Hilton and her brother Webster as working passengers when they are left stranded. Though a tough, hard-bitten man, Monroe finds himself mellowing under the influence of Marjorie. He protects her from the unclean desires of the white slaver Big Baxter, and ultimately Marjorie sees the decent man behind Monroe's coarse exterior.

Dir: William S. Hart

Robert "Bob" Sands a rowdy cowboy, leads his friends in tearing up an Arizona town that has gone distressingly "dry," until members of the Law-and-Order League hog-tie Bob and ship him East on a passenger train. Bob, out for adventure, goes on to New York and becomes the guardian of the wild-tempered Larry Harrington, a millionaire's son. Larry commissions Bob to deliver love letters to waitress Mary Lee, an entanglement forbidden by Harrington, Sr., but Bob falls in love with the girl himself. Mary decides that she prefers cowboys to millionaires, and Bob and Mary wed and return to the West.

Dir: William S. Hart

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

Angus McConnell is factor of the outpost of the Hudson Bay Company which is dignified by the name of Fort Lu Cerne. The summer has been disastrous for the trappers, and they are deeply in the company's debt for provision. Angus keeps account of what they owe in a little book, and one night this precious book disappears. Angus vows all manner of vengeance on the culprit who has taken it. He keeps close watch on the office, and at last he beholds Lois Le Moyne, belle of the outpost, rummaging about his desk. Unknown to him, she has come to make him a gift of a beautiful pair of moccasins, made with her own fair hands, so he concludes she is the thief, and has her thrown into the goal. Then Richard Sylvester, the company inspector, comes to Fort Lu Cerne on the rounds. He sees Lois, falls in love with her, and has her released. On his promise that he will have Angus dismissed as factor and himself appointed, she agrees to wed him. This he accomplishes, and Angus takes to the trail alone. But before the wedding can take place an epidemic of sickness breaks out, and in terror the cowardly Sylvester flees with his bodyguard. Angus, who has heard that the Blackfeet Indians are about to descend on the outpost to demand a white person to be sacrificed as an offering to the god who has brought down the plague, happily returns at this time and resumes the reins of authority. The Indian attack takes place, and after a thrilling fight, in which the whites are greatly outnumbered, Angus goes forth to offer himself as the victim. He is miraculously saved, however, and returns to the fort. But he finds that all the garrison have gone save Lois; and with these two great enemies along in a terrible situation there comes about a great finish to a remarkable film. -- Moving Picture World, June 3, 1916.

Dir: William S. Hart

A gold prospector strikes it rich, but the crooks who run a frontier town take it away from him. He determines to get it back and clean up the town.

Dir: William S. Hart

"Selfish" Yates operates a disreputable saloon on the desert's edge in Arizona. Sisters Mary and Betty Adams, who lost their father crossing the desert, arrive in the town of Thirsty Center and appeal to Yates for help and work. Yates is none too helpful, suggesting dance-hall work for Mary. She refuses, instead taking a menial job assisting Yates' cook. Yates is a hard case, but little by little Mary's influence works a renewal of humanity in him, until at last he finds himself tested by crisis.