Cinematic Discoveries Following the Footsteps of Blue Streak McCoy:...

Dir: Wilfred Lucas

Brian O'Farrell (Snowy Baker), is an English 'new chum' who takes a job at an Australian cattle station. He is teased by station hands because of his appearance (including spats and a monocle) but he soon impresses them with his skills at riding and boxing. The station manager, John MacDonald (Wilfred Lucas), takes O'Farrell to Sydney to meet his daughter Edith (Kathleen Key) who is working in the slums. Edith is kidnapped by criminals after witnessing a crime but O'Farrell rescues her. It is later revealed he is the owner of the station.

Dir: Robert N. Bradbury

A simple country girl, brutally mistreated by her stepfather, awakens first the sympathy, then the love, of The Boy. The Spider, who lusts after The Girl, makes a bargain with the stepfather and takes her to the city where, kept prisoner, she is soon broken in health and spirit. Cast out and near death, she is taken in by The Boy. Following the demise of The Spider, The Boy takes her to church, where he prays, and after many hours she is restored to health.

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

Dir: Edward LeSaint

When famous opera singer Elinore Duane undergoes an operation on her throat, she has a series of ether-induced visions. In one, she is transported to ancient Rome where she appears as a much-admired woman in love with Paul, a young heretic, and at odds with Lutor, the high priest. To save her love, she poisons Lutor with her ring. After several other visions which involve variations on this love triangle, Elinore awakens to discover that Lutor is actually her doctor, Sascha Jaccard, and that Paul is the son of a friend who has come to visit the recovering prima donna.

Dir: William Parke

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.

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

Dir: B. Reeves Eason

The struggle of a group of homesteaders against an unscrupulous band that desires to profit through obsolete Spanish land grants.

Dir: B. Reeves Eason

Leneau and his wife, who live in a cabin, lose their own baby early in the story. Red Adair and his partner have kidnapped Little Roughneck, who starts out alone while they are in a drunken orgy. The child wanders over to Leneau's place and falls into a bear trap, where he is found next morning. Leneau and his wife, still mourning for their own child, at first refuse to give him up or look for his family. Later, after Leneau has had mortal combat with the kidnappers, he learns that the Little Roughneck belongs to a judge living at Vancouver. He leaves his despondent wife to take the child back to the city. Then comes a surprise finish, which is too good to spoil by simply relating it.

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

Dir: Edgar Jones

A mail-order bride arrives at a Maine lumber camp but doesn't like her prospective husband.

Dir: B. Reeves Eason

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

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

Dir: Bruno Ziener

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Frank Beal

During a raging Montana snowstorm, Doctor Jim Barnes collapses at Esther Anderson's cabin door. Esther offers Jim refuge, but when he discovers that their food supplies are running dangerously low, he braves the journey into town in order to replenish them. On the way, he is overcome with exhaustion and fails to return. Esther, unaware of Jim's condition and abused by her stepfather, joins a theatrical troop and leaves home. Time passes and Jim finally finds Esther, but a vindictive member of her troupe accuses her of having an affair with the manager and Jim believes the accusation. He leaves and Esther goes to New York City where she becomes engaged to a jealous artist, although she still loves Jim. Sam Tuttle, a long time friend, is aware of Esther's continuing love, and so brings Jim to New York City in time to save Esther from an unhappy marriage.