Cinematic Discoveries Resonating with the Themes of Damaged Hearts:...

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.

Dir: T. Hayes Hunter

Cowhand Jim Cleve is wrongly accused of murder and rescued by Jack Kells, leader of a band of Idaho outlaws known as the Border Legion. But when the Legion takes Joan Randall prisoner and leaves Cleve to guard her, he realizes that he cannot remain part of an outlaw band and decides to rescue Joan.

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

Dir: T. Hayes Hunter

A woman who has been in a train wreck and lost her memory is mistaken for a vaudeville star, complete with a husband and several children.

Dir: Edgar Jones

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

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

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: Maurice Elvey

A lady marries a horse trainer but withholds herself until her crippled brother is cured.

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

Dir: T. Hayes Hunter

Dr. Montrose's attempts to develop a chemical which would make a person super-intelligent fail, and the subjects of his experiments metamorphose into hideous monsters who band together and prey on humans. With the police stymied, a young detective attempts to track down the leader of the group of killers, known only to have a small crimson stain in one eye.

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 The Jackeroo of Coolabong perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Dir: T. Hayes Hunter

Modeled after a popular collection of stories known as "Brother Gardener's Lime Kiln Club," the plot features three suitors vying to win the hand of the local beauty.

Dir: T. Hayes Hunter

Hunting the desert for his daughter, Jonas Warren finds the man who took her away, who then produces a marriage certificate to pacify Warren's anger. After the husband finds a gold mine and uses the certificate to mark it, they die in a sandstorm. Later, Dick Gale, an Easterner in search of adventure, rescues his friend Captain George Thorne and the captain's sweetheart Mercedes Castenada from Mexican bandit Rojas. Dick takes Mercedes to Jim Belding's ranch, where Dick falls in love with Belding's adopted daughter Nell. When Rojas arrives with a band of outlaws, Dick and the ranch cowboys escort Mercedes to the mountains, led by Dick's Yaqui Indian friend. After the Yaqui throws Rojas off a cliff and locates a water source for the ranch, he shows Nell the gold mine. The marriage certificate of her parents proves that the mine is hers. Since she now knows she is not illegitimate, she can marry Dick.