The Essential Watchlist that Capture the Essence of Hold the Press:...

Dir: Tom Collins

Tex, a famous detective, recounts the story of how he went into the crime business: While visiting his old friend, Jack Nelson, a dispute breaks out between Nelson and his butler. Later that night, Nelson is murdered, and the next morning the murder weapon, a knife, is discovered next to the body. Edna, the victim's wife, seizes the knife, and Tex, fearing that she is about to kill herself, throws the weapon out the window. Interpreting Tex's actions as incriminating, the police arrest him, and he is sentenced to prison. Two years later, a fire breaks out at the penitentiary, and Tex's bravery in saving the warden's wife and child wins him a pardon. Determining to solve Nelson's murder, Tex searches for the butler but discovers him to be innocent. Summoned to Edna's deathbed, Tex hears her confess to the crime, thus causing him to devote his life to solving crimes and saving innocents from being convicted on circumstantial evidence.

Dir: Robert Thornby

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

When Mrs. Chapman Price, the daughter of wealthy socialite Mrs. Janney, quarrels with her husband over her mounting gambling debts, he packs his suitcase and moves out. Desperate to pay off her debts, Mrs. Price rifles her mother's safe but discovers that its contents are missing. The blame points to Chapman Price and Esther Maitland, Mrs. Janney's private secretary. When the Price baby is kidnapped and held for ransom, Esther is suspected of that crime, too. Only Dick Ferguson, a neighbor, believes in Esther's innocence. After several misadventures, Esther discovers that the kidnapping was perpetrated by the detective whom Mrs. Price hired to unravel the burglary, which was committed by Ferguson's servant. Thus cleared, Esther joins the man who believed in her, and the Prices are reconciled.

Dir: Charles Raymond

A magician helps outwit a Chinaman's gang.

Dir: Tom Collins

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

Tex clears an innocent man who has been found guilty of murdering a man who was molesting his sweetheart. One of the 'Tex' detective series.

Dir: Tom Collins

When milk magnate Jacob Strauss is found murdered in his library, the guilt points to Strauss' secretary, Harry Gray, who the previous day was fired when his employer discovered that he was secretly engaged to his daughter Sybil. Arrested for the crime, Gray asserts that he arrived in time to witness the attack on Strauss by a masked man who escaped through the window. When the secretary's story is ridiculed because the window is sixteen stories above ground, Sybil appeals to Tex to take the case. After a long search, Tex summons a number of suspects to his office and accuses Blake, whose apartments are above those of the murdered man. It transpires that Blake, who held a grudge against Strauss for losses he suffered in the milk pool on the exchange, killed him and made his escape by means of a rope. Thus exposed, Blake leaps out the window to his death, clearing Gray of guilt and freeing him to face a happy future with Sybil.

Dir: Thomas R. Mills

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

Returning from the war front, Captain Phoebe Plunkett accepts an assignment to apprehend jewel smugglers in pursuit of the Sultana diamond. On his mission, he meets Patricia Melton, who introduces herself as a French Secret Service agent also in search of the diamond. Plunkett is in love with Olga Karakoff, daughter of a wealthy jeweler, and he soon comes to suspect that Olga's father is in league with the smugglers. However, Patricia is the true impostor, and after she discovers that the jewel is encased in a locket worn around Olga's neck, she captures Olga and the diamond. Plunkett comes to the rescue and wins both Olga and a large reward for recovering the jewel.

Dir: Phil Rosen

Tomboy socialite Theodora Hayden, known to friends as "Teddy," is an amateur aviatrix and racing car enthusiast. Relishing her freedom, Teddy spurns lawyer Gerry Rhinelander West, her childhood sweetheart, and runs away to Greenwich Village. There she meets model Ruby Joyce and Ruby's lover, boxer "Gunboat" Dorgan. She becomes the student of portraitist Raoul Uhlan, who tries to make love to her. Infuriated by the artist's audacity, Teddy has him beaten by Gunboat, who misinterprets her gratitude. Gunboat kisses Teddy, who repulses him, then borrows her car and strikes another auto. After tracing the car to its owner through the license plate number, the driver of the injured vehicle sues Teddy. Raoul then sues Teddy for injuries inflicted by Gunboat; and Ruby sues her for alienation of Gunboat's affection. When her family refuses to help her, Teddy turns to Gerry, who settles the suits and wins her hand.

Dir: Tom Collins

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

When the body of Wall Street broker Norman Temple is found dead in his office, the police arrest contractor James Borden for the crime on the testimony of Temple's secretary that Borden had threatened her employer over an unpaid note. Also under suspicion is Temple's Japanese valet, who quarreled with his employer the day before the murder. Tex, a detective, enters the case, following his own leads which prove the valet innocent. Tex finally deduces that Minkin, one of Temple's clerks, shot his employer when he interrupted the clerk robbing his safe. With Tex's revelation, Minkin's room is searched, the stolen bonds found and Borden is freed.

Dir: Phil Rosen

Mary Bird and Myron Sharpe are newlyweds and live happily in a small New England town until the birth of their children. Myron becomes dissatisfied as Mary's time becomes more devoted to her children than to making herself attractive for her husband. When Mary's old friend Pauline Dallas comes to visit, Myron finds himself attracted to her chic appearance. The two are on the threshold of a love affair when Mary becomes lost in a storm while boating. Believing that his wife has drowned, Myron realizes how deeply he loves her, and when Mary is rescued, the couple are reconciled.

Dir: Phil Rosen

The hero impersonates a "spook" bandit and aids in bringing the band to justice.