The Recommended Vault Parallel to the Artistry of Down Home: Cult G...

Dir: Irvin Willat

A German-American naval officer takes revenge against the German submarine commander who brutalized his wife.

Dir: Irvin Willat

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

When cowboy Nick McCredie notices in a second-hand book an inscription to "Emily, the prettiest girl in school," he writes to her and learns that she is a lonely Eastern farm girl living with her grandmother. Instead of sending his own picture to her, Nick encloses a photo of his handsome friend Pen Walton. After Nick sees Walton stealing two horses, Nick agrees to keep quiet, when Walton promises to reform. Meanwhile, Emily's grandmother dies, and her new guardian tries to force her to marry him. She writes to Nick, who proposes by letter. Nick meets her, but identifies himself as "Andy," and when she says she would be disappointed if Nick was not as handsome as his picture, he shows her the way to Walton, and rides off alone. After Walton rustles another horse and plants Nick's glove as evidence, he abducts Emily. She escapes, and riding the stolen horse, she leads the rest to the ranch in time to stop Nick's hanging. After the real identities are revealed, Nick and Emily marry.

Dir: Irvin Willat

A widely respected deep-sea diver is approached by a ring of con artists who want him to be the front man for a phony scheme to recover gold from sunken ships. When he refuses, they send a sexy young woman to seduce his son, and then blackmail the father into going along with their scheme.

Dir: Irvin Willat

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

A mutual attraction develops between Roger Wainright, a wealthy New York idler visiting his Florida estate, and Gale Brenon, daughter of a federal revenue agent. During a raid on a fashionable gambling resort, Mr. Brenon is killed, and suspicion is focused on Roger, who escapes to Gale's home. She helps Roger escape into the swamp but joins the search for him when she learns of her father's death. Gale weakens when she finds Roger, but he decides to surrender. Ultimately, Mildred Van Buren exposes Deputy Brown to be Brenon's murderer.

Dir: Irvin Willat

Drakma, an international spy, seeks the possession of the triangulator (a device emitting electronic death rays), which radio expert Alan Holt invented for the United States Government. Mary Walsworth manages to smash the machine before Drakma can get it; therefore, the villain captures Alan and Mary, puts Mary on a rum-runner, and leaves Alan on an island to build another triangulator--under threat of Mary's death. Instead, Alan builds a radio and broadcasts an SOS, which is answered by Admiral Walsworth, Mary's father. Alan gets to the rum-runner on a raft, and holds off the crew until sailors arrive to the rescue.

Dir: Irvin Willat

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

Jailed unjustly for a murder he did not commit, a young man uses his amazing powers of escape to free himself and pursue the actual killers, who hold his fiancée captive.

Dir: Irvin Willat

Molly Townsend, engaged to Luis Riccardi, learns from Capt. John Locke half an hour before the wedding that Riccardi is a thief and a smuggler. Locke, Riccardi's rival for Molly, persuades Molly to sail away with him in his boat bound for South America. He is thrown overboard by the cutthroat crew, and crew leader Jordan nearly makes her his victim before Locke, who has saved himself, rescues her. Riccardi and Jordan, who murdered a man in the Townsend home and stole a diamond necklace, are both jailed.

Dir: Irvin Willat

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of The Story Without a Name perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Harold Mark marries Thora after treating her injured grandfather, then migrates to New York City with his young wife to study surgery. While Harold devotes himself to his studies and to social problems, Thora seeks expression with Greenwich Village bohemians and falls prey to the flattery of sculptor Monsieur Duparc, who convinces her that she is neglected by her husband. After the Marks separate, Harold becomes chief surgeon of a state hospital, and Thora spends a year as the guest of Duparc's aunt. On his way to persuade Harold to divorce Thora, Duparc is injured in an automobile accident. Harold unselfishly performs lifesaving surgery on Duparc, while a crazed patient sets fire to the hospital. Afterward, Harold returns to Thora's country home. She follows and they are reconciled.

Dir: Irvin Willat

During World War I, a professional thief known as The Lone Wolf is assigned to steal a cylinder with important information from behind the German lines and bring it to Allied intelligence headquarters. However, German agents set out to stop him, headed by the man who was responsible for the death of the thief's sister.

Dir: Irvin Willat

Alain de Montcalm is the son of a French trading post proprietor. When a murder and kidnapping occur, Alain pursues the abducted girl and her captor across the far northern wasteland of ice.