Deep Archive Finds in the Vein of Don Juan diplomático: Cult Guide

Dir: George Melford

A young New York society man makes a bet that he can rob a house and get away without being caught by the police. Shortly after making this wager, he overpowers a professional burglar in his own house, and instead of giving the man up, decides to use him in winning the bet. However, the house that he attempts to rob is the home of the Deputy Police Commissioner, with whose daughter he is in love. The succeeding complications, which arise out of this altogether original situation, are due to the Commissioner's willingness to accept graft and the professional burglar's inability to restrain himself when tempted to steal a valuable necklace. The final result is a happy conclusion to the very troubled love-story.

Dir: George Melford

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

The story relates the attempt of a group of machine politicians at Washington to ruin Matthew Standish, an insurgent who has made himself so strong with the people that he is in a position to defeat the Mullins bill, fostered by a corrupt ring in Washington, in favor of certain railroads. The leaders of this ring are Jim Blake, the boss of the party machine, and his son-in-law Mark Robertson. Standish is being hailed throughout the country as the exponent of morals and virtue, and Blake realizes that the only way to defeat him is to find some blot on his record in the past. He puts a detective to work, who, by bribing Standish's former secretary, finds out that some years ago Standish became involved with a young woman of good family, but for some reason he did not marry her. Blake realizes that skillfully handled, this story could be made to ruin Standish's career, but without the woman's name it will look like a campaign lie. So the entire machine bends its energy to discovering the woman's identity to prove the story. To accomplish this, they lay a trap that they think will make Standish try to warn the woman by telephone. He is deceived and does telephone the woman to be on her guard, calling the number Plaza 1001. Wanda Kelly, telephone girl at the Keswick, has been told of the plan by Blake, who believes that she can be bribed to give him the telephone number. After Standish telephones, Blake's son-in-law Robertson comes in to 'phone his home in New York, calling the same number that Standish has just called. Wanda, the operator, sees that the woman in the case is really Blake's daughter and Robertson's wife, and besides refusing to give the number, destroys her record sheet. Mrs. Robertson arrives from New York and is driven to desperation when Standish informs her that, though he has tried to protect her, he needs to give her name to Blake and Robertson if they continue striving to ruin him by this story. The subsequent events leading to the conclusion of the drama and the defeat of the offensive Mullins bill in Congress are stirring in the extreme. Once again the telephone girl interferes in the plot by disconnecting the wires when the "ring'' politicians, driven to their last ditch, are trying to telephone a newspaper to release the story even without the woman's name. She keeps her courage after this, even when threatened with arrest and criminal prosecution. It is the woman herself who finally comes to the rescue and refuses to see the little telephone girl made to suffer further on her behalf. This terrible revelation makes Blake and Robertson see what a veritable heroine she has been and even leads to the happy consummation of a romance between the telephone operator and Jim Blake's son.

Dir: George Melford

Two people working in the same department store pretend to be aristocracy at a fancy resort, intending to pull a wealthy spouse, but end up falling in love with each other instead.

Dir: George Melford

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

Ailing King Leopold sends his daughter Princess Alexia of Osia to a exclusive American girls' boarding school as a commoner, so that she can know the meaning of true freedom. When she meets young millionaire Bob Carewe, they fall in love, but Alexia is summoned home because of a conspiracy of the king's advisers threatening to replace him with the Duchess Sylvia. When Bob reads of Osia's financial difficulties, he goes to help with a loan, though he realizes she cannot marry him if she is ever to rule. When the king dies suddenly, it causes a rebellion among the people. Although Bob bravely fights against the conspirators and nobly helps a bleeding rival for Alexia's affections, the duchess is proclaimed queen. She orders Alexia's arrest, but Bob, using one of the conspirators as a shield, escapes with Alexia to the border, now they are happily free to marry.

Dir: George Melford

Margery Huntley, an orphan alone in New York employed at a dressmaking establishment, is sent by the forewoman to match a sample of lace for a gown. At the lace counter she stands next to Helen North, a wealthy girl who is a kleptomaniac. Helen steals a piece of very expensive lace that is missed before she can get away; in a panic, she slips it into Margery's open handbag and disappears. The stolen goods are found on Margery and she is sent to prison; meanwhile,, Helen goes abroad with her invalid father. Margery serves her full term in prison, and on her release is befriended by the "Prison Angel," a kind Salvation Army woman who hears her story, believes in her, and gives her a chance to train as a nurse. Margery graduates and is happy in her work, when the detective who arrested her recognizes her while visiting the hospital and tells one of the nurses that she has a prison record. Margery, realizing that her usefulness in that particular field is over, asks the doctor to send her abroad to nurse the wounded in Belgium. Through the war Helen's father loses all his money and dies suddenly in Belgium and Helen is left practically penniless. Her only hope is to hear from her father's old friend, wealthy Mrs. Franklyn of California, to whom her father had written, begging her to help his daughter. Mrs. Franklyn has never seen Helen, but generously sends her money and a steamer ticket and urges her to join her as quickly as possible. Helen starts on her journey, but is compelled to wait, and suffers the delays and hardships common to all the refugees at that time. Margery has reached Belgium and is working in a Red Cross Emergency Hospital. Helen and other refugees are driven from the refugee camp by the appearance of two hostile airships. Helen, panic-stricken, runs so far that she is lost and exhausted, and is brought to the Emergency Hospital. Margery recognizes her, but Helen doesn't recognize Margery. Helen tells Margery her story, displaying her steamer ticket and asking how she may continue on her journey. Margery tells Helen, "I am the girl you sent to prison." A shell strikes the Emergency Hospital and Helen is severely wounded and left for dead The enemy captures the town and Margery is left alone with those wounded who couldn't be moved. While arranging Helen's dress and papers, she is struck by their similarity of age and height, and notes the fact that Mrs. Franklyn has never seen Helen. She yields to the temptation to take this chance Fate has put in her way and determines to go to California as Helen North. She leaves the Emergency Hospital in the company of Dr. Richard Carlton, a young American Red Cross surgeon, serving with the enemy who has been so badly wounded that he is invalided home. After Margery's departure, the German surgeon discovers that Helen is not dead, but suffering from a depressed fracture of the skull. He operates and restores her to health. In the meantime Margery has been successful in establishing herself as Helen North. Mrs. Franklyn has become very fond of her and Dr Carlton is deeply in love with her and wishes to marry her. The real Helen North makes her escape and comes to claim her own. At first Margery only begs to be allowed to go away quietly, but the other woman is so vindictive and so forgetful of the part she played in robbing Margery of her good name, that Margery, angry, determines to deny the truth. She succeeds in this up to the last moment and then overcome by the thought that she is condemning this girl to lifelong imprisonment in an insane asylum, and that she herself has gained Dr. Carlton's love under false pretenses, makes full confession, only to find that the doctor loves her in spite of everything.

Dir: George Melford

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

Masha, a young Russian emigrant traveling to the U.S., is saved from an officer's advances by civil engineer David Harding. Upon landing in America, J. J. Walton, a self-made political boss and contractor, pursues Masha and hires her as his maid. She leaves after the first night, but becomes his mistress after Walton promises her an education and marriage. Sometime later, David defeats Walton in a bidding war for a contract to build a dam in Arizona. Intent on ruining David, Walton dynamites the dam while Masha distracts the engineer. Although Walton takes refuge, he is drowned in the floodwaters. David and Masha survive, and confess their mutual love.

Dir: George Melford

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: George Melford

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

A young man joins the French Foreign Legion and is sent to Algieria, where he becomes a target for hatred by his commander. However, the commander has a change of heart when he realizes who the young man is.

Dir: George Melford

The Lamberts give a charity ball for the benefit of the Widows' and Orphans' Fund. Captain Doane is among the guests. The young officer is in love with Jane, the general's daughter. During the affair, he secures her consent to be his wife. Jane's parents both favor Doane's suit. General Lambert places the box containing the receipts of the ball on his library tale. A moment later he is called away. At the same time, Jack, his son, loses heavily at cards to a professional sharp. The man holds several I.O.U.'s for which he demands payment. Desperate, Jack promises to let him have the money at once. The boy hastens home. Entering the library, he sees the cash box. Abstracting the money. Jack gives it to the gambler, who waits outside. General Lambert receives a telegram, stating that war has been declared between Great Britain and the Boers. He spreads the news. The general relates an incident of the first Boer campaign, telling how one of his comrades had been treacherously slain by the Boers. Turning to Jack, the father bids him avenge the man's death in the coming fray. Jack, however, confronts the knowledge that he is a thief. Entering the library he desperately searches for a way out. He decides upon the course he must follow. Writing a confession of his guilt, the boy places the note where it can be found and then picks up a revolver. Doane enters the room and views the proceedings in amazed silence. He grasps Jack's hand, just as the boy is about to shoot himself. Jack breaks down. The note tells Doane the whole miserable story. He promises Jack to find a way to clear him. General Lambert and the board of trustees enter the room after Jack leaves. They are about to look for the money, when Doane announces that he has stolen it. Shocked, the general calls in the guests and tells them the story. Jane is brokenhearted at her lover's supposed dishonesty. Disgraced, Captain Doane returns home where he receives a note, demanding his resignation. He complies with the order. The next day, he sees his beloved regiment leave for the front. Another officer marches past, in command of the company that was his. His health undermined by the strain, Doane is stricken with brain fever. When her recovers, a few weeks later, the man enlists under an assumed name and is sent to the Transvaal. By rare good fortune, Doane meets Jack. The young officer recognizes in the private, the man who had saved him from disgrace. Jack succeeds in securing Doane as his orderly. The two armies meet in a terrific battle. The Boers, under General Jaubert, successfully hold the British in check. Lieutenant Lambert is sent to one of the British commanders with dispatches. He is accompanied by Doane. On their way they discover a Boer force creeping upon the British flank. Their warning saves the English troops from destruction. From the top of a hill, the Boers under Jaubert are inflicting terrible punishment upon the British by means of heavy siege guns. A charge gradually drives the Boers back. The British succeed in dislodging their foe from shelter by means of the hail of death from rapid-fire guns. With a superb rush, the English gain the ton of the hill and capture the battery that has inflicted the most damage. Jack and Doane are foremost in the fray. The battery is blown skyward. Jack and Doane's unusual valor win them the commendation of the general in command. Doane wearily returns to his tent. His mind goes back to the night of the ball. His hand wanders to the pocket over his heart and brings to view the picture of Jane. Sadly he gazes upon the face of the girl whose love he had surrendered. With a sigh, the man replaces the picture in its resting place. In another tent, a totally different scene is transpiring. Torn by his conscience, Jack is penning a confession which exonerates Doane, whom he has grown to idolize. Leaving his tent, he hands the letter to Doane, requesting him to keep it in event of his death. He informs his savior that should death overtake him on the field, he wishes to die with the knowledge that he had made reparation. Doane watches the boy depart. He slowly tears the letter to pieces. That day another attack is made upon the Boers. The hills are covered with the heavy smoke of artillery and thousands of rifles. The Lancers sweep the enemy before them in a heroic charge. Jack, leading a bayonet charge against a Boer battery, is struck by a bullet and falls. Fighting like fury, Doane rescues the boy and carries him off the field. Immediately afterward, Doane wires the Lamberts, telling them of Jack's injury. Upon receipt of the message, Jane immediately announces her determination to go to her brother's side. Her father's influence enables her to go to the front as a Red Cross nurse. She reaches Jack's force and is assigned to his hospital tent. As she enters the tent, she sees Doane bending over her brother. Doane is electrified at the sight of his sweetheart. Remembering the offense with which he was charged, the girl draws back in contempt. Jack sees the movement and realizes what caused it. With tears streaming down his face, and despite Doane's efforts to stop him. the boy confesses his story. Thunderstruck, Jane stares at Doane. The man turns away in distress. The next moment. Jane's hand is on his arm. She pleads with him for forgiveness. Surrounded, and facing defeat, the Boers fight with the desperation born of despair. Again and again their fire sweeps the charging British, mowing them down like grass. From the overlooking hills the batteries of the English hurl their deadly missiles in the midst of the shelters which cover the Boers. Doane, assigned to one of the batteries, imbues his comrades with heroic spirit. Time and again the Boers strive to capture the battery, their rifle fire brings the men down one by one. Doane finally remains the sole survivor, but the battery still belches forth the shots placed in it by the men who had manned them. A Boer shell lands next to Doane's gun and explodes. When the smoke lifts, the hero strives in vain to arise. Blood gushes from his eyes. Jane is by her brother's bedside when Doane is brought in on a stretcher. She anxiously hovers over the doctor as he examines the man. The surgeon finally declares that while Doane will recover, he will be blind for life. The girl nurses her sweetheart and brings him back to health. Jack tells his story to the commanding officer. He reveals Doane's nobility and the sacrifice he had made. When Doane recovers the story of his heroism has been spread broadcast. The War Office reinstates him to his former rank and in addition Doane receives a medal of valor. Jane is by her hero's side when the emblem is placed upon his breast.

Dir: George Melford

Sue Wells husband Tom works as a shepherd, is sick of being poor, living in the shadow of Mr. and Mrs. James Peabody's opulent estate. When the Peabodys leave for a vacation, Sue and Tom carry out a check fraud scheme and take advantage of a loophole in the Peabody's lease, resulting in their becoming the owners of the estate. However, living in the mansion does little to make Sue happy, and when James returns and discovers what she and her husband have done, he kills Tom. He is about to murder Sue, too, when she wakes up, and realizes that her life as a wealthy landowner has been only a dream. James then enters, and announces that he has made Tom the estate manager, which forever ends Sue's financial worries.