Rare Cinematic Gems Exploring the Legacy of Death from a Distance: ...

Dir: Unknown Director

The story is that of two clever crooks who are operating at a fashionable seaside resort, with the help of a highly trained and uncannily intelligent chimpanzee. Valuable jewels are constantly disappearing and the detectives are unable to obtain a clue. Finally, after an especially daring robbery, a clue is found that leads to the discovery of the thieves. The simian leads the detectives a chase that calls for some acrobatic stunts on the part of the chasers. The end of this is the capture of the chimpanzee, recovery of the jewels and the arrest of the crooks.

Dir: Alexander Korda

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of A 111-es perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Tom Collins

When the body of Wall Street broker Norman Temple is found dead in his office, the police arrest contractor James Borden for the crime on the testimony of Temple's secretary that Borden had threatened her employer over an unpaid note. Also under suspicion is Temple's Japanese valet, who quarreled with his employer the day before the murder. Tex, a detective, enters the case, following his own leads which prove the valet innocent. Tex finally deduces that Minkin, one of Temple's clerks, shot his employer when he interrupted the clerk robbing his safe. With Tex's revelation, Minkin's room is searched, the stolen bonds found and Borden is freed.

Dir: Robert Thornby

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

When Mrs. Chapman Price, the daughter of wealthy socialite Mrs. Janney, quarrels with her husband over her mounting gambling debts, he packs his suitcase and moves out. Desperate to pay off her debts, Mrs. Price rifles her mother's safe but discovers that its contents are missing. The blame points to Chapman Price and Esther Maitland, Mrs. Janney's private secretary. When the Price baby is kidnapped and held for ransom, Esther is suspected of that crime, too. Only Dick Ferguson, a neighbor, believes in Esther's innocence. After several misadventures, Esther discovers that the kidnapping was perpetrated by the detective whom Mrs. Price hired to unravel the burglary, which was committed by Ferguson's servant. Thus cleared, Esther joins the man who believed in her, and the Prices are reconciled.

Dir: William C. Dowlan

At a party thrown at the Metcalf estate, the Marquise D'Irancy's Sultana diamond disappears when the lights go out during a power failure. Suspected of the crime is William Kirkland, the wastrel son of the wealthy Kirkland family, but William's sister Diana comes to his defense. Aiding her in the investigation is Clamp, a wandering peddler. After several misadventures, Clamp reveals that he is a secret service agent on the trail of the international criminals, the de Vallignacs, who are summering at the resort. After proving that the de Vallignacs have stolen the diamond, Clamp arrests his prey, clears William and marries Diana.

Dir: Marcel Perez

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

Ralph Barr refuses to lend more money to Trent, who has been rejected by Judith Reynard and is now engaged to Barr. When Trent insults Judith, Barr threatens to kill him. Then Trent calls on Barr, threatening to kill himself and make it appear that Barr killed him if Barr will not lend him the money. Later it seems that Trent has committed suicide and Barr is suspected of the murder, but disappears. A series of complications follows which make it appear that Barr did kill Trent, but it turns out that he was killed from a shot behind the portieres. Another murder takes place and more mystery develops. Finally it is determined that Barr is not guilty, and Judith's loyalty saves him.

Dir: Tom Collins

When milk magnate Jacob Strauss is found murdered in his library, the guilt points to Strauss' secretary, Harry Gray, who the previous day was fired when his employer discovered that he was secretly engaged to his daughter Sybil. Arrested for the crime, Gray asserts that he arrived in time to witness the attack on Strauss by a masked man who escaped through the window. When the secretary's story is ridiculed because the window is sixteen stories above ground, Sybil appeals to Tex to take the case. After a long search, Tex summons a number of suspects to his office and accuses Blake, whose apartments are above those of the murdered man. It transpires that Blake, who held a grudge against Strauss for losses he suffered in the milk pool on the exchange, killed him and made his escape by means of a rope. Thus exposed, Blake leaps out the window to his death, clearing Gray of guilt and freeing him to face a happy future with Sybil.

Dir: Joe May

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

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: George Beranger

Writer Frank Theydon goes undercover to research the criminal activity in New York City's Chinatown.

Dir: Frank Lloyd

Laura Bruce is married to John Bruce, police commissioner. She discovers her husband is enjoying a drunken revel with another woman, and vows she will obtain a divorce. After doing so she weds Paul Ramsey. His employer, Dick Turner, a libertine, offers his a responsible position in the west, and she faces a long separation. Ramsey later learns that Turner is interested in his wife and engages a man to protect her, who happens to be her former husband. She finds this out, but does not know he is bent on vengeance. She is inveigled to go to Turner's apartment, where she meets Turner's former "flame." One of them leaves the apartment which is "Room 13." Returning from the West, Ramsey is taken to an adjoining room by Bruce, and listens to a conversation in "Room 13" between a man and a woman. He is convinced it is his wife's voice. Maddened he rushes to the room and batters down the door. He confronts Turner and shoots him. At the trial Ramsey will go free if his wife confesses she was in the room She does and he is acquitted. A reconciliation follows. - Moving Picture World 1920