The Definitive Watchlist Seeking the Same Brilliance as Bolshevism ...

Dir: Harley Knoles

A social-climbing young woman marries Robert, a rich alcoholic, for his money. Although basically a good man, when drunk Robert treats her as if she's just one more thing he owns, and not his wife. Realizing her mistake, she leaves him. Her brother-in-law believes that the two of them actually do love each other, and sets out to bring them back together.

Dir: Harley Knoles

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

Jo March and her sisters Meg, Beth, and Amy live in a happy family in Concord, Massachusetts. Jo yearns to be a writer, and through the course of the years, finds much within her own family to write about.

Dir: Harley Knoles

Agatha, called "Miss Petticoats," is daughter of a French nobleman and an American woman, lives with her grandfather, Captain Joel Stewart, since the death of her mother years before. Knowing nothing of her royal heritage, Agatha gladly takes a job as secretary to the wealthy Sarah Copeland, whose nephew, Guy Hamilton, immediately begins pursuing the new employee. Jealous of Agatha, one of Guy's former sweethearts, Mrs. Worth Courtleigh, starts spreading rumors about her, and when Joel hears a particularly scandalous one, he dies of shock. Taking Agatha away from all the gossip, Sarah sails with her to Europe, where Agatha finally learns about her bloodline, and also discovers that she is the heiress to a fortune. Then, when she and Sarah return home, Agatha forgives all the people who believed the rumors, and marries the Reverend Ralph Harding, who was always certain of her innocence.

Dir: Harley Knoles

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

Hugh Eltinge, a struggling artist, and Mark Dunbar, a genius of the pen, whom the world has as yet failed to reward, live together in MacDougal Alley. Across the hall is Doris Golden, a reporter on the Evening Star, who enthuses over the work of both. Mark's novel is sold and Hugh and Doris see a new Mark. Mark begs Hugh to allow him to stake him until his pictures sell, but pleasure in his new clothes and new popularity dwindle as he sees his old friends will not profit by them. A happy idea strikes him and he buys all of Hugh's paintings on exhibition at a local dealer, requesting that his name be not mentioned. Mark rejoices with Hugh when he comes home to tell the news. Then the two decide Doris must also share with them, and together they go to a lawyer, and arrange to persuade him to send a letter to Doris saying her uncle in San Francisco has died leaving her a thousand dollars. In another section of the City Mrs. Trailes and her daughter, Ruby, scheme to ensnare a wealthy husband for the girl. Mark's reputation has impressed them. He is invited to attend a meeting of their Literary Club and the girl is given instructions to attract him. Mark meets the young society girl. Hugh and Doris, she is reporting the meeting, are also there and to them evidences of Mark's awakening infatuation are pitifully clear. Mark sees Ruby often. At a ladies' swimming club he is the guest of her mother. At a sign from her mother Ruby pretends to be drowning and Mark jumps in to her rescue. The friendship thus engendered ripens into love and it is not long before they are married. But early in his wedded life Mark begins to feel the pangs of disillusion. Ruby is pettish and extravagant and when he remonstrates with her, she breaks into tirades of scolding that drive him to silence. Doris discovers her uncle is alive, and, perplexed, goes to the lawyer, who tells her all. She writes to Mark, enclosing a check for the whole amount she has left and promising to send the balance as soon as she can. His wife intercepts the letter and accuses him of infidelity. Her true vulgarity asserts itself and he goes to the little studio. Ruby follows and finds him with Doris and another scene is enacted. Mark begs Hugh to look after Doris, then leaves. Hugh leaves a letter for Doris and a note in which he asks her not to read the letter before she has found happiness. Hugh tells a newspaper reporter with whom he is acquainted that he has inherited a fortune from his grandfather, and the account is printed in the evening paper. Ruby and her mother remember he is a friend of Mark's and ask him to call. Soon a closer intimacy than friendship develops and Mark comes home one evening to find Ruby in his friend's arms. Disillusioned, his last ideal, friendship, completely shattered, Mark hurries away. After the divorce, he seeks Doris and the two become engaged. She remembers the letter and opens it. Herein Hugh has outlined his plans, the story of the fortune was a hoax, wherewith to entrap Ruby. For the sake of friendship he had sacrificed himself to bring happiness to the two he loved. Mark telephones to him and when he comes the old feeling of happiness and love fills once more the little studio in MacDougal Alley.

Dir: Harley Knoles

In the little kingdom of Balkany lived a king and queen who were not liked by their subjects. His Majesty was King John the Fifth, and Her Royal Highness was Queen Vesta. To them was born a daughter, the Princess Honore, who was placed in the convent of the Holy Sisters. The little kingdom rebelled against the extravagance of King John, and an attack was made upon the castle. Both the king and queen were assassinated. Princess Honore succeeded to the throne. In love with her and coveting the crown was Baron Stefano, Prime Minister, but his love was not returned. This incurred the ill-will of the Prime Minister, who set out to overthrow the little kingdom and turn it into a republic with himself as ruler. Prince Boris renounced his title and cast his lot with the peasantry. He was loved by the common folk and proved a leader. During the annual fair people gathered in the capital from far and near. There were rumors of an uprising. The young queen had not brought about much change in the conduct of the official household. The extravagance had continued to eat up the revenue raised by the heavy tax, and the people were protesting and demanding that something be done for their relief. These rumors reached the girl queen, and clad in the garments of a peasant girl she went forth during the fair to learn what she could. In this way she soon learned of her disfavor. One day she met Prince Boris, who told her of conditions that existed. One of the government spies, overhearing his conversation, suspected that he was forming a plot against the young queen, who was not recognized by the spy because of her disguise. The spy hastily informed the Prime Minister, who ordered the arrest of Prince Boris. The soldiers were dispatched, and Prince Boris was placed under arrest. The young queen protested. She as his companion was also confined to the prison. The chief of the Royal Guard notified the Prime Minister of the arrest, telling him that during the struggle with the queen she defied him by proclaiming that she was the queen, and this aroused the suspicions of the Prime Minister. Alone he went to the dungeon and discovered that Boris's companion really is the queen. It dawned upon him that now he had her in his power, he will force her to make him her king consort, or bring about conditions that will speedily overthrow the government. Meanwhile Lesbia, a peasant girl, learns of the conspiracy and through her love for one Ivan, sergeant of the Royal Guard, she secured the release of the queen, who escaped in safety to the Royal castle. Next morning the queen heard the tolling of the prison bell. On asking her secretary what it indicated, she was told that her sweetheart, the Prince Boris, was to be executed at sunrise. She rushed into the office of the Prime Minister and forbid the execution. He laughed at her. Back in the village, outside the prison wall, the soldiers were drawn up to execute Prince Boris. But the people saw their beloved leader. rushed forward, overpowered the soldiers and released him from his bonds. An attack was then made on the castle. Prince Boris discovered his peasant girl companion to be none other than her Royal Highness, Queen Honore. The people were for revenge, but the queen told them of the Prime Minister's conduct and followed by her the crowd attacked Baron Stefano, which resulted in his death. The queen accepted Prince Boris as her beloved king consort.

Dir: Harley Knoles

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

As a prank, college student William Lewis and some of his friends break into a house and are interrupted by a policeman who is accidentally shot. Will's friend Sid accuses Will of the shooting, but Will manages to escape and moves to a large city far away. He meets and marries Alice Hamilton, and they later have a daughter, Editha. Will has a job as a bank teller and everything is going fine--until Sid shows up one day and threatens to expose Will as the man who killed the officer unless Will helps him rob the bank. Complications ensue.

Dir: Harley Knoles

On her son David's second birthday, Madge Black witnesses her best chum Nan Westland, kissing her husband Jeffrey Arnold Black, a successful lawyer, and orders Nan from the house. Angered, Jeffrey does not explain that it is his money that maintains their home--not her father's, as she believes. Jeffrey leaves his wife and son. On board a westbound train, Jeffrey meets Nan. She explains that she has been compromised, and that she is going away to hide. Touched by her apparent sorrow, Jeffrey tells her that, though he doesn't love her, he will try to protect her. In love with him, Nan is willing to accept him on any terms. A year later a son is born to Nan and Jeffrey. She pleads with him to divorce Madge and marry her for the sake of their son William's name, but he will not hear of it. Ben Richardson, Jeffrey's client, is a frequent visitor at their home. Richardson's sincerity eventually wins Nan; goaded by Jeffrey's indifference, she leaves him and their son to become Richardson's wife. Twenty years later David Black has developed into a splendid specimen of manhood, while his half-brother William has become the leader of a lawless band. David goes West to take charge of a mining plant. Happily married, Ben Richardson and Nan have become owners of Chanceland, a gambling-house in Colorado. "Rodeo," as William Arnold is known, goes to Chanceland to try his luck, but he loses all his money. He sees Nan in the music room adjoining, and eager to make an impression on her, he saunters in. When Nan asks his name, he says they call him "Rodeo the bandit." His real name, William Arnold, son of Jeffrey Arnold, from whom he had run away at 14. Never knew his mother; he guesses he'd better be going or he'd get sentimental. Not revealing her identity, Nan presses a ring into his hand, and tells him to come to her if he should be in trouble. Believing that he has surely "caught" the Queen, he strolls out. In the same town, his half-brother, David Black, is working on his mining schemes. In the doorway of Chanceland, "Rodeo" passes David Black, and both are struck by their remarkable resemblance to each other. David receives a telegram from his fiancée Kathleen May, asking him to meet her at the train which is to arrive the next morning. That night Rodeo and his men hold up the train. While Rodeo is relieving the passengers of their valuables, the conductor leaps on him, and the bandanna which concealed the bandit's features, is torn away, revealing him to Kathleen, who believes that he is David. The bandit effects a getaway. When David comes for Kathleen the next day, she snubs him and walks past him. Ben Richardson's servant sees Rodeo and his men dividing the plunder and reports to Richardson. The latter intimates to Nan that the young fellow she was interested in is suspected of a number of crimes. She realizes that her son is in danger. Disconsolate, David tries to find solace in Chanceland, where he is arrested on the charge of robbing the mails and holding up the train. Deciding on a bold stroke, Rodeo goes to see Nan. She discloses herself as his mother and pleads with him to be careful, for as soon as the prisoner proves an alibi, the sheriff will be after Rodeo. Hearing Richardson, she pushes her son into her bedroom. Richardson, suspecting that Nan is hiding her lover, dashes into the room and fires at Rodeo, who is taken to court where David is being tried for the bandit's crimes. Nan confesses to Richardson that Rodeo is her son, and hastens to court. Also in the courtroom are Kathleen and Madge, David's mother. The presiding judge is Jeffrey Arnold Black, father of the prisoner. When Rodeo is brought in, a dramatic scene ensues, during which the two half-brothers face each other. Nan embraces her wayward son, while he bewails the fact that he had found his mother only to lose her, and draws his last breath after vindicating David. A tender reconciliation follows among Madge, Jeffrey, and their son David. Richardson seeks and obtains Nan's forgiveness for his suspicions of her. David and Kathleen embrace, then discuss their hopes of a little cottage for two.

Dir: Harley Knoles

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

Evelyn Carmichael, a poor widow aware that she is about to die, writes to her wealthy father-in-law Lord Carmichael, who had disowned his son years earlier, pleading that he rescue his granddaughter Geraldine, known as Jerry, from a life in the slums. Lord Carmichael, an avowed woman-hater since his wife disappeared years earlier with his brother, expects Jerry to be a boy and is appalled to find otherwise. However, the lord is won over by Jerry's sweetness, and when Jim Dawson, a neighbor of Jerry's from the tenements, arrives at Carnimore Castle with his daughter Sophia, whom he is trying to pass off as Jerry, the lord exposes them as impostors and then expels them from his castle. Meanwhile, Jerry has also won over the hearts of the servants, whom she is drilling into a play army. One day, while on an excursion into an unused tower of the castle, they discover a locked room in which reside two skeletons. A note near one of the skeletons explains that Lord Carmichael's wife and his brother had been exploring the tower when the lock sprung and trapped them, causing their deaths. Lord Carmichael, realizing that his wife didn't betray him, has his faith in women restored and makes Jerry mistress of the castle.

Dir: Harley Knoles

Neglected by her grief-stricken father, a doctor, after the tragic death of his wife, little Eileen Homer changes the wording of her father's ad for a governess to read: "Wanted, a mother." A laborer named Giuseppe asks Dr. Homer to operate on his ailing son, but when the boy dies, the enraged father attacks the doctor. Eileen meets her father's friend, Dr. Thelma Winter, and that night, while dreaming that Dr. Winter has become her fairy mother, she walks in her sleep to the edge of the lake. Wandering aimlessly in his grief, Giuseppe rescues the girl and takes her home to fill the void left by the loss of his son. In trying to return home, Eileen falls from the fire escape and is rushed to the hospital, where Dr. Winter saves her life. Afterwards, the grateful Dr. Homer becomes a more loving father with the help of his new wife, Dr. Winter, and Giuseppe becomes the family's gardener.

Dir: Harley Knoles

Helene, who dances in a Greenwich Village cabaret accompanied on the violin by her grandfather, loses her job after his death. She then is hired as a portrait model by four artists--Jaffrey Darrel, Ned Lorrimer, Dick Turner and Stanley Sargent--all of whom become fascinated with her. Helene leaves the Village when Ned's jealousy disrupts the camaraderie of the quartet and becomes a stage star. Meanwhile, all of the artists have attained success except Jaffrey, who refuses to taint his art with commercialism. Helene, learning of Jaffrey's failure, visits him in the Village and accepts his marriage proposal.