The Definitive Guide Inspired by the Vision of Dans l'ombre du harem: Cult Guide

Dir: Harley Knoles

Jim McDonald, the foreman of a shipbuilding plant and head of the labor union, strives to combat the anarchistic propaganda being put forth by Klimoff, the leader of a Bolshevik gang whose goal is to disrupt the country with strikes and anarchy. Despite McDonald's efforts, a strike is called, resulting in chaos. McDonald's child is knocked down by runaway horses abandoned by their striking driver, and dies. Mob scenes take place in America, as well as in Russia. Eventually, the unrest is quelled with an armistice called between Capital and Labor for a year, during which time wages are to be increased to reflect the cost of living, and leaders are to work out a common plan for their mutual advantage. The strikers now realize that they have been pawns of the Bolsheviks and call off the strike, agreeing to the plan.

Dir: Tod Browning

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

Achmet Bey, a Turkish chieftain, catches one of his many wives in adultery and murders her lover. Throwing aside the cuckolding wife, he abducts his harem an innocent girl. However, a brave American who loves her comes to her rescue.

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: Colin Campbell

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

Zora, a girl of French origin, is raised by a wealthy Bedouin family after her mother Valerie dies while eloping with another man. Zora feels such great longing for the French artist Adrien that she accepts the offer of another artist, Raoul, to take her to Paris with the stipulation that if Adrien rejects her, she must give herself to him. Jan, the chieftain's son who is in love with Zora, follows the two to Paris. There Zora realizes that Adrien does not love her and discovers her real love for Jan. However, she feels bound to honor her pact with Raoul and is about to succumb to his advances when her father appears and recognizes Raoul as the man who destroyed his home years earlier. In the ensuing fight between the two men, Raoul is killed, thus freeing Zora to accept Jan's love.

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.

Dir: Alexander Butler

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

In Alberta, Canada, a Cornish emigrant unmasks a rustler posing as the girl's "blind" father.

Dir: André Liabel

The story of "Jack" is well-known. It is a beautiful story of a natural child. His mother, Ida de Borancy, worships the dear little nameless and fatherless being whom she decides, as he is getting on in years, to place in a boarding school. The child's professor of literature is a certain Amaury D'Argenton, a failure of the faculty, and an uninspired poet. During one of her visits to the institution, Mme. de Borancy is attracted by D'Argenton, and falls in love with him. The "Ne'er-do-Well" soon gives up his starving position and makes his abode with her, exercising over her absolute control. He soon learns to hate little Jack and forces her to leave him permanently at school. The poor child, unaccustomed to the separation, runs away, only to find, when he arrives at his former home, that his mother has moved and is now living thirty miles away. He undertakes the journey on foot, and reaches his mother's house completely exhausted. Here he meets Dr. Rivals and his daughter, Cecil. One day Jack, while out for a stroll, meets a peddler on the road, a Mr. Belisaire, worn out with fatigue and privations. Greatly moved, the boy takes him home and is giving him food, when D'Argenton arrives, throws out the peddler and sends Jack away as an apprentice. A new life now opens to Jack, and for two years he labors diligently in the iron works of Indret, living with his foreman, Father Roudick. The latter's nephew, a gambler, steals a small fortune that was to constitute his cousin's dowry, and Jack is charged with the theft, cruelly beaten and dragged before the Magistrate. . Filled with remorse, the real culprit acknowledges his guilt and returns the money. The unpleasantness of that adventure, coupled with the insufficient wages he receives, impels Jack to seek another position. He makes for the seacoast, and ships aboard a trans-Atlantic steamer as a stoker. One night a collision takes place. The boat is struck below the water lines and every man makes a wild, frantic rush to save himself, every man for himself. As by a miracle Jack is saved and returns to his old home, irresistibly attracted by a desire to see his mother. Thanks to the devotion of good old Dr. Rivals, Jack, who has gone through a terrible illness, is restored to health. The two young people fall in love with one another, which is encouraged by the doctor, provided that Jack will study to take his place. Jack goes to Paris to take up his studies, rents a room, where his mother seeks refuge when maltreated by D'Argenton, D'Argenton discovers her retreat and begs her to come back to him. It is in vain that Jack drives him away, for, by means of a touching letter, he succeeds in inducing her to return. The hate he bears Jack is not yet gratified, and he writes to Cecil threatening to reveal her true identity to Jack. She, fearing the outcome of such a revelation, decides to break off the engagement. When Jack learns of this he starts for Paris. In despair he tramps the road all night, and finally drops to the ground, worn out by cold, fatigue and despair. He is carried to the home of Belisaire, and the doctor is hastily summoned, who diagnoses the case as an acute attack of consumption, and orders Jack taken to a hospital. Here a last vision recalls to him his past life, all the hardships and miseries he has endured. He yearns to press in his arms once more his mother, however guilty she may have been, and whom he heartily forgives, but the ravages of disease have sapped his strength and, just as she enters the room, Jack passes to the Great Beyond, his last wish denied him.

Dir: Maurice Elvey

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

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

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: Bruno Ziener

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.