The Definitive Watchlist Seeking the Same Brilliance as Emil and th...

Dir: Francis J. Grandon

A raft carrying a little girl and a dead woman drifts in from a shipwreck to Devil's Island. There, a band of thieves and smugglers name the girl Rose Marie, though she grows up as "nobody's girl." Living in a cave, she learns to read through the kindness of Jason, who is soon killed by the cruel leader, Red Gull. In Red Gull's power, and urged on by Jason's jealous wife, Rose Marie makes her escape in a rowboat, where she is spotted by an aviator flying above the sea. He rescues her, taking her to be cared for at his home where she is well treated. When newspapers report a mysterious shipwreck on Devil's Island, Rose Marie reveals the way in which Red Gull lured ships to their doom there. She guides the authorities to the island, where, after a fierce battle, the thieves are wiped out. Eventually the aviator falls in love with Rose Marie, and "nobody's girl" is somebody's sweetheart at last.

Dir: Bertram Millhauser

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

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Maurice Tourneur

Having endangered his life by foolishly gambling away funds entrusted to him by the Carbonari, an Italian secret society, London banker Bernard Huddlestone appeals to Northmour, an adventurer, for protection. Northmour takes Huddlestone and his daughter Clara to his castle in Scotland, offering them safety in return for Clara's hand in marriage. There Clara encounters Frank Cassilis, an old adversary of Northmour's, and falls in love. Trouble brews between the two men, but when the Carbonari discovers Huddlestone's hiding place and storms the castle, the fugitives band together to fight the avengers. Coming to the realization that only his sacrifice will appease the attackers, Huddlestone steps out and meets his death. Northmour, deciding that married life would prove too monotonous, gives up his claim on Clara to Cassilis.

Dir: Victor Heerman

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

In the gold fields of the Canadian Northwest, a man is falsely accused of a crime and determines that a lookalike is responsible.

Dir: George B. Seitz

The adventures of a gentlemanly crook of astonishing resourcefulness.

Dir: Charles Swickard

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

A young Egyptian goes to the rescue of his employers, a wealthy European family, when they are menaced by a local strongman and his gang.

Dir: George Beranger

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

Dir: Bud Fisher

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

Mutt and Jeff go on strike and make their own film.

Dir: J.P. McGowan

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Harry Garson

Marta Estevan is ready to leave the convent where she has been reared. Dona Luisa Artega, mother of Rafael and the young girl's guardian, arranges a marriage between the two, because she thinks that Marta's influence will rescue her son from the wild life he is leading and make a man of him. Marta rescues the American Bryton, when he is attacked by Indians, and falls in love with him. Rafael's mother sends Bryton away by telling him that the girl has entered a convent for life, and after telling Marta that Bryton had been killed on the trail she exacts a vow from the girl that she will marry her son. Marta marries Rafael. Bryton comes back after the marriage and after Marta has found out the true character of her husband. The story moves on from this point to a happy ending, but with much action of tense and strenuous nature in between. - Moving Picture World, May 15, 1920.