The Definitive Watchlist Seeking the Same Brilliance as Breed of Me...

Dir: Lambert Hillyer

Mrs. Hugh Manners tires of her husband, a stodgy lawyer, and arranges to divorce him. She gives a party to celebrate her freedom and becomes involved with Preston Ducayne, a gambler, and Olga Kazanoff, an adventuress. Ducayne is killed and suspicion points to Mrs. Manners until her husband establishes her innocence.

Dir: Lambert Hillyer

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

Buckskin Hamilton guides a wagon train across the wasteland, caring well for the pioneers he escorts, but hoping to solve the murder of his brother by one of the travellers.

Dir: Lambert Hillyer

Tough outlaw 'Sierra' Bill falls in love with traveling violinist Nelly Gray and forces her to marry him. They have a child, but their cozy family life is interrupted by gambler Ringo, who not only persuades Nelly to leave her husband but also ruins Sierra at the gaming table. With thoughts of vengeance, the angry Sierra breaks out of jail and goes after Ringo.

Dir: Lambert Hillyer

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

When her baby daughter Eleanor is traumatized after her father perishes in a storm at sea, Mother Coutierre sends the girl to live with her aunt in Paris. Years later, Eleanor, now a successful model in Paris, is surprised by a visit from her elder sister Marie, who has come to hide the birth of her illegitimate child. When Mother Coutierre arrives and believes Eleanor to be the infant's mother, Eleanor continues the deception so that her sister can marry Pierre Bondel, a fisherman. Soon after Marie returns to her village of Normandy, her brother Jean is accused of murdering Raoul Bergere, a man of loose morals of the village. When Jean's conviction seems certain after witnesses testify that they heard him threaten to kill Raoul for stealing his boat, Marie confesses that she killed the rogue for fathering her child. Following her expose, Pierre takes Marie into his arms and promises to care for her and the child, and Eleanor's honor is at last vindicated.

Dir: Lambert Hillyer

John Haynes, known as "Hardwood," is a boss lumberjack in the great Northwest woods. During a Saturday-night revel with his pals, he receives a letter informing him he has inherited a modest shop in New Orleans from his late uncle. He has no idea what that means, but he travels to New Orleans to take over his new business, and is dismayed to learns he is now the proprietor of a shop that sells petticoats.

Dir: Lambert Hillyer

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

Three men, Lucky Bill (Tom Mix), Landry (J. Gordon Russell), and Morgan (Jim Mason) are in love with the same girl, pretty Molly (Betty Jewel). Lucky Bill finally wins her with his skillful horsemanship and dogged determination.

Dir: Lambert Hillyer

An outlaw named Duane (Tom Mix), captured by the Texas Rangers, is promised a pardon if he rounds up a gang of cattle thieves. The man he suspects as the leader is revealed to be the father of Duane's sweetheart, Helen (Billie Dove). Duane captures the gang, gets a pardon for Helen's father, and marries Helen.

Dir: Lambert Hillyer

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

Bruce Thornton, a forest ranger, arrests Ruth Melier, who is accused of murdering her stepfather. However, Ruth reveals that her brutal husband, Horgan, is the murderer. Bruce and a fellow ranger capture Horgan and his gang of timber thieves, establishing Ruth's innocence.

Dir: Lambert Hillyer

Claire Curtis, Jimmie Strong and Mary have spent their childhood together in the country. Upon reaching adulthood, Claire goes to New York and becomes a success on stage. Jimmie, who has always dreamed of becoming an inventor, goes to New York to sell the machine he invented, and there he renews his acquaintance with Claire. Soon their old friendship ripens into love. Meanwhile, back in the country, Ralph and David Harding, who are making Jimmie's machine, plan to steal the right to it. Back in New York, Mary appears and informs Claire that she loves Jimmie, and the actress resolves to give her a chance to win him. When it appears that the Hardings' scheme to steal Jimmie's machine will succeed, however, Mary's ardor turns cold. Claire and Jimmie then rush back to the country in time to avert the takeover and save his firm from bankruptcy.

Dir: Lambert Hillyer

John Oxford owns a gambling hall in an Alaskan mining town, but it known far and wide as an honest man. However, one day he finds that in order to save the life of Doris Henry, who has come to Alaska to marry Wallace Towers, he has to cheat. It turns out that Wallace has incurred huge gambling losses and is being threatened by those to whom he owes the money, and they in turn are threatening Doris--who mistakenly blames John for the predicament that she and Wallace are in.