The Global Archive For Devotees of Broadway to Hollywood: Cult Guide

Dir: B.A. Rolfe

In the Roman Coliseum, at the beginning of the Christian era, the Emperor Turnerius, accompanied by his favorite, Nerissa, watches the bestial games in the arena. His son Gordian is asked by Grimaldo the magician to save the life of a Christian girl about to be thrown to the lions. He refuses, whereupon Grimaldo prophesies the fate of the Empire by telling the prince a story of the future: Two thousand years hence, in New York, a parallel situation takes place in which a young man is led to put a stop to the base plans of his father. The prince is so deeply affected by the injustice of the story that he plunges into the arena to save the girl, causing the emperor to die in a fit of rage, thus precipitating the coronation of his son as the new emperor.

Dir: Paul Scardon

1860 ushers in the era of iron ships, Richard Sibley, a builder of wooden ships, stubbornly resists the change, which leads him to forbid the marriage of his daughter Rose to John Rhead, a proponent of the new method. This injustice outrages John's sister Gertrude so much that she breaks off her engagement to Sibley's son Sam. Meanwhile, John and Rose elope. Twenty-five years later, John has grown rich and conservative and has a daughter named Emily. Gertrude, still single, tries to help her niece Emily marry the man she loves, Arthur Preece, rather than her father's choice, old Lord Monkhurst, but Gertrude fails. Twenty-five more years pass, and John again attempts to interfere by opposing the marriage of his granddaughter Muriel to Richard Sibley, Jr., an engineer. This time, however, Muriel's independence wins and she marries the man of her choice, and after the death of Monkhurst, Emily and Preece are finally together.

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

Dir: Kinka Kimura

About the tragic love of a young man from a coastal village for a girl from a small island.

Dir: André Antoine

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Shima no onna perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Dir: Louis J. Gasnier

Hajj, a rascally beggar on the periphery of the court of Baghdad, schemes to marry his daughter to royalty and to win the heart of the queen of the castle himself.

Dir: Richard Oswald

The dramatic story of Lady Hamilton's rise and fall in European society during the 1700s and early 1800s, including the romantic love story with Lord Nelson.

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Quatre-vingt-treize perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Dir: Maurice Elvey

A Royalist and his unknown son seek vengeance on his murdered wife's brothers.

Dir: Wallace Worsley

An orphan boy from the Kentucky hills joins the Union Army and rescues his adopted family from Morgan's raiders. He learns his real identity when he returns after the war.

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

Dir: Franklin B. Coates

Depicts Jesse James' return home to Missouri after the Civil War hoping to live a life of peace, but is falsely accused of robbing a bank. He is forced to take up a life of crime by being branded an outlaw. Crimes are commited and blamed on him, his family is maimed by the Pinkerton Detective Agency, but all the while James is able to perform charitable acts to citizens. James is finally assasinated by Bob Ford. All told in a flashback style by Jesse James Jr. to a eastern baeu asking for his daughters' hand in marrage.

Dir: Franklin B. Coates

Shows James' joining of the Quantrill's raiders, a guerrilla force which fought against union sympathizers during the Civil War. James takes allegiance to the Black Flag, the raiders' banner. After the war he receives kind treatment from a judge concerning his acts of crime and later meets and falls in love with Zee, with whom he wishes to live a peaceful life.