The Auteur's Selection Complementing the Tone of Fantomas - On the ...

Dir: Edward Sedgwick

Hector MacKnight, known to the townspeople as "Goofy" and an irritatingly terrible fiddler, is innocently drawn into a rigged poker game. A general fight brings the sheriff, and a chase ensues. Before the confusion is ended and Hector cleared, he meets Ruth Randolph and becomes involved in a circus while trying to recover the other half of her treasure map. Although the treasure proves to be nothing more than a prehistoric jawbone, Hector receives a reward for capturing the crooks that enables him to marry Ruth.

Dir: Edward Sedgwick

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

The Ramblin' Kid, a cowboy, falls in love with Carolyn June, a beautiful easterner, and wins her after he triumphs in a rodeo in spite of having been doped by his enemy, Sabota the Greek, a crafty racetrack tout.

Dir: Edward Sedgwick

Sam Purdy, a banker-turned-politician-turned-sheep farmer is repeatedly blackmailed by his half-brother because of their love for a woman named Mary.

Dir: Edward Sedgwick

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

Two pals in the A. E. F. are given a furlough. With a borrowed dollar they "clean up" in a crap game and start for Paris. Instead they land in Cardonia, a principality of Spain. Hero is mistaken for a bandit and falls in love with the prettiest senorita in Cardonia. After a series of exciting adventures he saves the girl from marriage with the villain, finds she is the daughter of the Grand Duke, and becomes assistant ruler of the kingdom. The last seen of hero he is back in camp doing k. p. duty for overstaying his leave.

Dir: Edward Sedgwick

Cowpuncher Sam Pertune (Hoot Gibson) strikes the father of the girl he loves, Mae Day (Laura La Plante), in self defense and, thinking he has killed him, runs away and joins the U.S. Navy. Learning the man isn't dead, Sam wishes to resign from the Navy but is told he is out of luck. But luck shines on him when, with his ship in port, Mae visits her aunt in San Francisco who is married to the captain of Sam's ship.

Dir: Edward Sedgwick

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

Geoffrey Arbuthnot Islip " Blinky " (Hoot Gibson), the bespectacled son of Col. "Raw Meat" Islip, is scorned by his fellow cavalrymen stationed on the Mexican border because his previous military experience was as a Boy Scout. He redeems himself by rescuing Major Kileen's daughter Mary Lou (Esther Ralston), from kidnappers, following their trail in Boy Scout fashion.

Dir: Edward Sedgwick

"Swat" Anderson (Hoot Gibson) is a cowboy who plays on the town's baseball team and can hit the ball so far they have to send a man on horseback to retrieve it. It isn't long before a major league scout signs him to a professional contract. "Swat" can hit and he can run but he can't catch a ball which makes him a bit of a liability. That doesn't keep a gang of gamblers from deciding to kidnap him to ensure they win betting against his team in the championship series.

Dir: Edward Sedgwick

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

When he loses his job as ranch hand for singing during work hours, Hank Sherman takes his pet mule and joins a circus. There he meets Gloria Gómez, with whom he had indulged in a mild flirtation, and emerges victorious from a tangle with circus employees. Gloria's father, the ex-president of the Republic of Bargravia, admires Hank's valor and selects him as leader of a counter-revolutionary movement in his country. Gloria forces her fiancé, Pedro, whom she dislikes, to accept Hank, but Pedro becomes jealous and has his rival kidnapped. Hank succeeds in escaping and embarking for Bargravia; there, Pedro attempts to foil Hank's plans but is defeated. After desperate fighting, Gloria's father regains his post and she weds Hank.

Dir: Edward Sedgwick

"Katy" Didd is in love with Alice, but her guardian wishes her to marry Tetlow, an influential man in town. Katy knows Alice will be unhappy with Tetlow, and decides to win her by force. While Alice is on her way to meet Tetlow for the wedding, Katy holds up the stage and kidnaps her. Tetlow suspects Katy and has him captured and taken to the desert to die. Katy escapes, and returns to town just in time to stop the wedding ceremony. He gallops into the church and carries Alice off with him.

Dir: Edward Sedgwick

The Bearcat, alias The Singin' Kid, crosses the Rio Grande into Three Pines, singing bloodthirsty verses, but in spite of these he makes friends with Sheriff Bill Garfield and likewise with Alys May, daughter of cattle rancher John P. May, by saving her from a runaway. As a reward he gets a job on the ranch and falls in love with Alys, though warned she is engaged to Aitken, her brother's college chum. Aitken and Peter return from college, and Aitken becomes involved in an affair with Mary Lang, a former sweetheart in a neighboring town, who wants a payment to forget the flirtation. The Kid keeps Aitken from paying, and when Mary's accomplice is murdered he takes the blame, but later he proves himself innocent. Aitken departs for the East, leaving the field free to the Kid and Alys.