Masterpiece Selection that Capture the Essence of Honor First: Cult...

Dir: Jerome Storm

A rural youngster uses the strength he has developed handling egg crates in a shipping office to carry him to success in the boxing ring.

Dir: Jerome Storm

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

Mary Manning lives in a cabin in the Wisconsin woods with her invalid mother, her uncle, and her stern grandfather; her own father, Paul, disappeared 18 years earlier. When Paul, who became a derelict, finally returns home, his father turns him away, but Mary retrieves the prodigal and leads him to his wife, who bids Mary take care of him and then dies of shock. Aware of the pain that Paul caused her mother and preoccupied with handsome Tom Gale, Mary neglects her father, and he soon resumes his drinking. When Paul visits a notorious dance hall, however, Mary remembers her promise to her mother and goes after him, but both are arrested in a raid. In court, she tries to assume the blame for Paul's presence in the dive, but Judge Michael Burke refuses to believe her. In his chambers, the judge effects a reconciliation of the family, after which Tom asks for Mary's hand in marriage.

Dir: Jerome Storm

Bill Henry Jenkins is a country boy on the lookout for a good career. He faces numerous obstacles, including losing his sales job when his bicycle is lost. A bigtime poker game turns out to be the key to Bill Henry's success.

Dir: Jerome Storm

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

Ulysses S. Grant Briggs, raised by his grandfather Thaddeus, who served under General Grant, grows up with the General as his hero even though his neighbor, former Confederate soldier Jeff Hanan, argues that General Lee was the better man. When war is declared, Thaddeus and Jeff forget their differences and train Ulysses for military service. At the camp amateur show, Ulysses falls in love with dancer Betty Martin, but remembering Thaddeus' admonition to "watch out for play actresses," Ulysses avoids her. When dissolute Harry Weller lures Betty to a notorious roadhouse, Ulysses follows, knowing he can be court-martialed. Hearing Betty struggle, Ulysses fights Weller and keeps the military police from entering until Betty can escape through a window. Ulysses then is sent to the guardhouse where Thaddeus and Jeff unsuccessfully try to convince him to talk. After Betty confesses, the commanding officer, Thaddeus and Jeff agree that Ulysses did what both Grant and Lee would have done.

Dir: Robert N. Bradbury

A simple country girl, brutally mistreated by her stepfather, awakens first the sympathy, then the love, of The Boy. The Spider, who lusts after The Girl, makes a bargain with the stepfather and takes her to the city where, kept prisoner, she is soon broken in health and spirit. Cast out and near death, she is taken in by The Boy. Following the demise of The Spider, The Boy takes her to church, where he prays, and after many hours she is restored to health.

Dir: Edgar Jones

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Hay Foot, Straw Foot perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

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

Dir: Jerome Storm

Socially prominent but nearly penniless Easterner Mrs. Bereton, marries her daughter Avice to wealthy cattleman Barton Masters. Before the ceremony, Avice promises Dr. Fortescue Van Fleet, with whom she has been carrying on a flirtation, that her marriage will mean nothing, but after she moves to Barton's ranch, she comes to respect her husband deeply. When the wedding party, consisting of Van Fleet as well as Avice's mother and brother Billy, visits the ranch, Van Fleet attacks Avice in her room, but Barton catches him and turns him out. The next day, Barton sends Avice's relatives home and compels her to work on the ranch. She is resentful until Van Fleet returns and shoots Barton, seriously wounding him. At the point of a gun, Avice forces the doctor to tend her husband's injury, and after Barton's recovery, she devotes herself to him.

Dir: Jerome Storm

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

Andy Fletcher is a blacksmith in a country village, but he dreams of racing automobiles. He gets his chance to enter a big race, but winning is complicated by a band of bank robbers.

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: Bruno Ziener

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.