Visionary Picks Drawn from the Same DNA as Dulcie's Adventure: Cult...

Dir: James Kirkwood

Young Dolly Lane has committed herself to becoming a star on the stage, but when she meets handsome and wealthy farmer Steve Hunter, she falls in love and marries him. Unfortunately, Steve soon loses his fortune and the couple is forced to move in with a friend, Teddy Harrington. Not long afterwards Steve's rich uncle dies, leaving him wealthy, but on that same day Dolly is asked to take the place of a stage star who has taken ill. She does and becomes the toast of Broadway, but now Steve wants her to return with him to the West and become a farmer's wife. She relents, but soon becomes bored with that role and longs to return to the stage.

Dir: James Kirkwood

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

Though mistreated by her cruel stepmother and stepsisters, Cinderella is able to attend the royal ball through the help of a fairy godmother.

Dir: James Kirkwood

Even though he had saved her father from a financial crisis, Jennifer Hale refuses to marry wealthy Stephen Weldon, who tries to ruin the Hales. They leave for their summer home in the woods where Jennifer falls in love with wealthy James Murray, a lumber camp foreman. After Weldon finds them and threatens Hale with exposure unless Jennifer marries him, Murray marries Jennifer. Weldon then convinces him that Jennifer and he had a secret romance, and that she married Murray for his money. Murray's sister Agnes becomes Weldon's lover, and when he prepares to leave, she kills him. After Jennifer takes the blame to save Murray from learning of Agnes' disgrace, Murray, although he now hates her, takes Jennifer to the mountains to escape the law. Just as the posse overtakes them, a man rides up with the news that Agnes fell over a cliff and confessed before she died. Their love renewed love, the couple are now reunited.

Dir: James Kirkwood

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

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: James Kirkwood

Montgomery Jackson, a man who possesses a deep fear of bloodshed, refuses to enlist in the American army during World War I, ignoring the appeals and insults of his friends and colleagues. Even when his fiancée, Bettie Adams, threatens to leave him, he refuses to fight, but after she volunteers to serve as a Red Cross nurse in France, he relents and joins the American forces. At the front, he proves his courage by fighting bravely and saving the lives of Bettie's father, Colonel Adams, and of the man to whom she had become engaged after accusing Montgomery of cowardice. Finally Montgomery is wounded, but through Bettie's care he recovers, and after his rival, realizing that Bettie still loves Montgomery, gives Bettie her freedom, she and Montgomery happily renew their engagement.

Dir: James Kirkwood

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Gambier's Advocate perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Suffering from aphasia after being conked on the head, a man is coerced into robbing his fiancée's home.

Dir: James Kirkwood

Nell Gwynne ( Mary Pickford ) and King Charles II ( Owen Moore ) fall in love after meeting at a fox hunt. Nell soon learns the jealous Duchess of Portsmouth ( Ruby Hoffman ) is a spy and conspiring with the Duke of Buckingham to place Charles at the mercy of the King of France. Nell boldly disguises herself as a fashionable young blade and wins the confidence of the Duchess. Now entrusted with the delivery of important documents, she makes sure they go to the King of England rather than the King of France. Now, Nell has the last laugh on the traitorous Duchess.

Dir: James Kirkwood

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

A young girl, Anemone (Mary Pickford), who lives with her Aunt (Ida Waterman) is abducted by a crude family of Virginia mountain moonshiners. A fight between two of the young male relatives decides who will marry the girl. Lancer (James Kirkwood) is the winner and marries Anemone against her will. She is reunited some time later with her Aunt, but when she learns Lancer is in dire trouble she returns and stays by his side, realizing she had always been in love with him.

Dir: James Kirkwood

Sylvia is the niece of a man who leaves a fortune for her. He leaves it in the hands of his attorney, who is supporting an aspiring wife and daughter. Sylvia goes to the lawyer's home and is looked upon as an intruder. The lawyer's son sets out on a road of dissipation and soon becomes a devotee of gay life. He is saved just in time by the gentle influence of Sylvia and, upon discovering that his father is using all of the girl's fortune, he makes him give her the money. The family is horror-stricken at the thought of losing their fortune. They ask Sylvia's forgiveness for their treatment of her and she insists upon sharing her fortune with them. She also tells Arnold, the son, that his love is reciprocated.

Dir: James Kirkwood

When a young girl who has grown up as a music hall entertainer is brought to live in a stodgy New England town, the quiet town life is changed forever.