Curated Recommendations Seeking the Same Brilliance as Farewell to Love: Cult Guide

Dir: Carmine Gallone

A young duchess who, after her husband's death, marries a young military captain, but keeps the marriage a secret in order that she may continue to enjoy the property which she conditionally inherits. When the captain is ordered to the front the Duchess vainly tries to hold him back. She writes him that she is going to become a mother and asks his advice He urges her to proclaim the fact of their marriage. Both are aware that this confession means tho loss of the inheritance, and Helen cannot face love in a cottage. She determines to evade the role of motherhood, and when her husband returns and asks for the child she tells him that her letter was merely a ruse to get him back. For a time the captain believes her. But a blackmailing nihilistic doctor Bets a thought germinating in the brain of a dwarf who has been dismissed by the Duchess, and through his instrumentality, the conscience-stricken woman is literally blown by a bomb into eternity. A subsidiary plot centres about the statue of Nemesis which is unearthed in the grounds of an old monastery after being buried, some hundreds of years.

Dir: Carmine Gallone

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

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Jacques Jaccard

Douglas MacLeod of the Royal North West Mounted Police is in love with Suzanne Foucharde, who has adopted an abandoned Indian baby, the illegitimate child of Louis La Rocque and Na Fa Kowa. When La Rocque insinuates that the baby is Suzanne's, her brother Henry defends his sister's honor and kills the villain. In spite of his love for Suzanne, it is Douglas' duty to arrest Henry. He does so, but later allows him to escape, taking the bullet himself that was fired after Henry by Constable Burke. Meanwhile, the dead body of Na Fa Kowa is found, accompanied by a note proving that the Indian was the baby's mother. In the spring, when Douglas recovers from his wounds, he and Suzanne are married.

Dir: Arthur Rosson

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

The Hopkinses are a family of squatters struggling against the wealthy landowners or "hilltoppers." When Jerry Hopkins is unjustly imprisoned, his young wife and baby die as a result of the shock, but his sister Polly maintains the faith that has been instilled in her by her grandmother. Later, Polly meets hilltopper Robert Robertson and the two fall in love. Their courtship is disrupted when Robert's sister Evelyn is blackmailed by Oscar Bennett, the man to whom she is secretly wed. In her efforts to help Evelyn, Polly falls under unjust suspicion. Meanwhile, MacKenzie, one of the vindictive landowners, arrests Polly's father and sends her brother to an orphanage. Devastated by these events, Polly's grandmother dies of grief and Polly swears revenge. She has Evelyn kidnapped and brought to her cabin, but the memory of her grandmother prevents Polly from harming her tormentor. Polly's nobility inspires Evelyn, who exonerates Polly, thus clearing the path for her marriage to Robert.

Dir: Carmine Gallone

Lyda is a prostitute with no education and no hope for the future. Unfortunately, this ungrateful job leads her to have an unwanted pregnancy, and once born the child abandons her.

Dir: Sidney Franklin

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

A chorus girl hopes to rise to stardom and thus accepts the advances of a wealthy man. But she becomes fearful of her reputation and safety. In an attempt to escape the rake's attentions, she hides out with a disparate group of men who room in a house called "The Barn." There she learns that there is more to life than that found on the stage.

Dir: F. Martin Thornton

In Paris an orphan cartoonist loves a man with a mad wife, who dies in time to prevent her marriage to a jilted Comte.

Dir: Raoul Walsh

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

Dave Henderson, an orphan who has become the beneficiary of a rich man's will, falls in with race-track crooks Martin Tydeman and Bokky Sharvan who bilk him out of his $100,000 inheritance. In retaliation, Dave steals the money from Tydeman's safe, but is caught and sentenced to five years in jail. In prison, Dave becomes friendly with Millman, who is about to be released, and reveals the money's hiding place to him, arranging to rendezvous at the end of Dave's term. Once released, Dave is hounded by members of Tydeman's gang as well as the police, who are waiting for him to retrieve his bounty. While taking refuge at the house of Capriano, an old bomb maker, Dave falls in love with the old man's daughter Teresa. However, Capriano sets a trap for Dave, who awakens in a drugged state to find the $100,000 missing. With the help of Millman and Teresa, Dave recovers the money, turns it over to the police and resolves to go straight.

Dir: Colin Campbell

Although separated at birth, Siamese twins Fabien and Louis de Franchi remain united emotionally. One day, Parisian Emilie de Lesparre arrives in their Corsican village with her father, and both brothers fall in love with her. Louis goes to Paris to study law and sees Emilie often, but Emilie loves Fabien who has remained in Corsica with their mother. While attending a dinner given by another admirer of Emilie's, M. Chateau Renaud, Louis is drawn into a duel with Renaud and killed. Back home, Fabien senses what has happened and journeys to Paris to avenge his brother's death. After he kills Renaud in a duel, Emilie finally confesses her love to Fabien.

Dir: Carmine Gallone

A young woman living in a castle reads letters written by her ancestor and comes to believe that she is the returned spirit of a former aristocrat who once live there.