Cinematic Discoveries Following the Footsteps of Her Five-Foot High...

Dir: Edgar Jones

A mail-order bride arrives at a Maine lumber camp but doesn't like her prospective husband.

Dir: Dallas M. Fitzgerald

Confidence artist Flossie Golden attempts to fleece foolish but wealthy James Venable with a breach-of-promise suit. Venable's shrewd attorney, Richard Harding, outwits Flossie by proposing that she marry Venable and live on an allowance of $3,000 per year. Flossie is determined to get even with Harding for ruining her plans. In an attempt to con him, she poses as Innocence Page, but falls in love and marries him instead. Larry, Flossie's former accomplice, endeavors to blackmail her with her errant past, but Harding is already cognizant of the facts and Larry fails.

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

Dir: Harry L. Franklin

John Maddox, Sr., who directs the Equity Trust Company with James Buckley, sends Henry Jenkins to steal a note of security from Buckley's safe, and in the struggle that ensues between Buckley and the burglar, the former is killed. Maddox claims that Buckley, failing in his scheme to steal from the company, committed suicide, and John Maddox, Jr., knowing that Buckley's daughter Beatrice is now penniless, breaks his engagement with her. Forced to earn her own living, Beatrice opens a candy factory, and with the help of her loyal friend, Robert Howard, the business becomes so successful that it presents a threat to Maddox's candy company. Maddox sends Jenkins to instigate a strike at Beatrice's factory, but when he is mortally wounded in a fight, he confesses everything. With her father's honor restored and her business flourishing, Beatrice happily agrees to marry Robert.

Dir: Bruno Ziener

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

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

Dir: Harry L. Franklin

Aspiring author Johnny Rutledge, whose philosophy for business and love is embodied in his book entitled, "Taking it Easy, or Everything Comes to Him Who Waits," is evicted after he gives his last $10 to Anne Travers, another would-be author, so that she can pay her rent. Johnny joins a medicine show and attempts to comply with his wealthy father's demand that he earn $5,000 before he receives any more family money, while Anne, upset at Johnny's lackadaisical attitude, is courted by a crook who, learning she will inherit a fortune if she is married by a certain time, impersonates a famous author. When Johnny learns of Anne's impending marriage, he hurriedly steals a car, impersonates a minister, and arrives just in time to stop the marriage and expose the fraud. After Johnny marries Anne and receives a $5,000 reward from her executor, he rushes to his father's lawyer, and after being admonished to "take it easy," Johnny replies, "There ain't no such word."

Dir: Harry L. Franklin

Good-natured Marcellus Starr, the proprietor of a small town men's furnishing store, answers "That's good" to everything. A group of city crooks decide to fleece him of his life's savings, and send beautiful Josephine Pollock and Barrett Prentice to call on him. They find him an easy target, and Marcellus is so smitten with Josephine that he willingly accompanies her to Chicago. The scheme is to convince him he could make a fortune enlarging his business when actually he is backing a fake horse race. When Marcellus goes home with Josephine to get the money, she meets his orphaned niece Alice, whose money is also to be used. Josephine realizes what a fine man she is swindling and that she is falling in love with him. Marcellus admits that he was on to her all the time, but he was determined to reform her and make her his wife. Both are happy that he has succeeded.

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Eva, wo bist du? perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Dir: Harley Knoles

Jim McDonald, the foreman of a shipbuilding plant and head of the labor union, strives to combat the anarchistic propaganda being put forth by Klimoff, the leader of a Bolshevik gang whose goal is to disrupt the country with strikes and anarchy. Despite McDonald's efforts, a strike is called, resulting in chaos. McDonald's child is knocked down by runaway horses abandoned by their striking driver, and dies. Mob scenes take place in America, as well as in Russia. Eventually, the unrest is quelled with an armistice called between Capital and Labor for a year, during which time wages are to be increased to reflect the cost of living, and leaders are to work out a common plan for their mutual advantage. The strikers now realize that they have been pawns of the Bolsheviks and call off the strike, agreeing to the plan.

Dir: Harry L. Franklin

Because her mother wishes it, Kate Leigh marries Basil Kildare, the wealthy owner of a Southern plantation called Storm. His servant Mahaly, the mother of his illegitimate son, protests his infidelity so bitterly that Basil takes the child away from her. Kate soon finds that her new husband is a coarse and brutal alcoholic and seeks comfort in the friendship of Dr. Jacques Benoix and his mother. When Basil obtains a note written from his wife to Jacques, he finds the doctor and engages him in a brutal fight. After Basil is found dead, Jacques is sentenced to life in prison, but some years later, owing to Kate's unceasing efforts on his behalf, he is granted a pardon. On her deathbed, Mahaly confesses that she killed Basil, leaving Kate and Jacques to begin a new life together.

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Johnny-on-the-Spot perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Dir: Harry L. Franklin

Lon Withers, a bored clerk for an exporter, annoys his sweetheart, Suzanne Brooks, his employer's daughter, with his get-rich-quick schemes. To teach him a lesson, Suzanne has South American millionaire importer Señor Romez cable Lon that he will be arriving soon to look for an American representative. Lon attempts to bluff his way into Romez's good graces by entertaining him lavishly on the life savings he cajoles from bookkeeper Ford and by impressing Romez with his phony company, F. F., Inc., or Four Flusher, Inc., located in a ritzy hotel. After two weeks of spending at cabarets, boxing matches, and horse races, Lon is broke. When he convinces members of the hotel staff to contribute to his company, the hotel detective arrests him. Suzanne and Romez straighten things out, and Romez, impressed by Lon's hustling, hires him as his American representative, which leaves him and Suzanne happy.

Dir: Maurice Elvey

A lady marries a horse trainer but withholds herself until her crippled brother is cured.