Curated Recommendations Seeking the Same Brilliance as Human Desire...

Dir: William Parke

Bruce Wendell, the son of West Virginia coal mine owner James Wendell, graduates from West Point and prepares to lead a fighting unit to the front during World War I. As his father lies dying, however, he convinces Bruce to remain at home and guard the mine. Bruce's fiancée Ann Blair assumes that he is a coward and breaks off their engagement, but her brother Bobbie remains Bruce's loyal friend. Meyer, a German agent, persuades railroad president Parrish to refuse to transport Wendell's coal, but when Bruce adamantly refuses to close the mine, the spy's men decide to blow it up. While Ann is being abducted by Meyer, Bobbie is buried in an explosion at the mine. Bruce rescues Bobbie and then sends a plea to Lieutenant Parrish to rescue Ann. Meyer and his gang are captured and Ann renews her vow of love to Bruce.

Dir: Burton George

Eve Ricardo, a society girl, is sent to live with her aunt in a New England village by her father, a speculator who has lost all his money. She is initially attracted to John Sheen until she discovers that he is a violent thug and bully. She then falls for writer Paul Armitage. Sheen does not take rejection well, and conspires with his sister, Nina Carey--who is married, whose husband is in India and who is in love with Paul--to discredit Paul and break up their romance.

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Eve in Exile 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: Burton George

A girl picks a bum from a park bench and marries him, finding out later that he was once rich and they knew each other as children.

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

Dir: Wilfred Lucas

Brian O'Farrell (Snowy Baker), is an English 'new chum' who takes a job at an Australian cattle station. He is teased by station hands because of his appearance (including spats and a monocle) but he soon impresses them with his skills at riding and boxing. The station manager, John MacDonald (Wilfred Lucas), takes O'Farrell to Sydney to meet his daughter Edith (Kathleen Key) who is working in the slums. Edith is kidnapped by criminals after witnessing a crime but O'Farrell rescues her. It is later revealed he is the owner of the station.

Dir: Bruno Ziener

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

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

Dir: Charles Horan

While working as a flower girl in Devlin Maddox's nightclub, Nellie Vaughan meets wealthy young Pelton Van Teel and falls in love. Maddox, desirous of using Nellie to blackmail Van Teel, spreads a rumor that she is his mistress. This makes Nellie uncomfortable, and she demands that Van Teel marry her immediately, to which he agrees. Meanwhile, Van Teel has been losing money gambling to Maddox, who threatens to break up the marriage by producing a worthless check that the young husband has written. Venturing to Maddox's apartment for a showdown, Nellie pulls a gun and demands the check, accidentally shooting Maddox when he throws a lamp at her. Maddox plans to charge Nellie with assault, but when the police arrive, his butler, actually a detective employed by the elder Van Teel, exposes Maddox, who is then arrested, clearing the path for the couple's happiness.

Dir: Burton George

Sebastian Maure has never known the influence of a good woman's love. He is the type of man who takes a keen delight in knowing that he is held in awe and extends that feeling still further by his daring books. Ghirlaine Bellamy, a young American girl, with her aunt, Mrs. Bellamy, is visiting Rome. She is being courted by Vincent Pamfort, a young English officer of good standing. He is called to England, but before he goes be receives Ghirlaine's promise to marry him. Ghirlaine exerts a new influence over Maure. When he learns that she and her aunt are returning to England on account of the latter's health, he manages to be a passenger on the same vessel. His desire for the girl gets the better of him. Under the name of their mutual friend, Ernesto Sangallo, he asks her to meet him on the deck the first night out, and then he picks her up bodily and drops her overboard. They are picked up by Ilario, a fisherman, and are taken to a small island where dwell fisherfolk. The girl is cared for by the housekeeper of the native priest, and when she is somewhat recovered, Maure arranges for her removal to a certain haunted villa. It seems that Fannia, the daughter of Ilario, was in love with Annibale. Her father wanted her to wed the schoolmaster, so Annibale took the girl and they established themselves in the villa at the top of the cliff, where he guarded her day and night. The superstition of the natives kept them from coming near. But this does not in the least deter Maure from engaging the villa, and thence Ghirlaine is removed and placed under the care of Fannia, who is about to become a mother. An epidemic of cholera breaks out in the village, and the natives credit Maure with producing the plague. With his strong personality he dissuades them from their belief, and he does all he can to alleviate the sufferings of the stricken ones. Eventually he finds a cure for them. Meantime, the child has been born to Fannia and the motherly devotion displayed by Ghirlaine arouses for the first time in the heart of Maure a desire to become a better man. He goes on his way without thought of self, aiding the poor natives and becoming to them almost a god. Then one day in the harbor a yacht is sighted, just as Maure is stricken with the dread disease. On the boat are Vincent Pamfort and Ernesto Sangallo, who has come in search of Ghirlaine. At first Vincent is angry, but he finally is calmed and the three leave. But weeks later, when Maure has recovered from his illness though the efforts of the kind priest, and at last has stricken from his soul all of the evil and has become a man true to his better and higher self, Ghirlaine returns to him, as she has discovered that she loves him more than anyone in the whole world.

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

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: Burton George

"Ginger" tells the story of Ginger Carson (Violet Palmer), a girl who has been trained to be a thief by her criminal father. While helping him rob a house, both are arrested. After her father is sent to prison, Ginger is adopted by the judge (Paul Everton) who sentenced him. When she grows up, she is torn between two men who love her--Bob Trowbridge (Gareth Hughes), the son of the judge, who adopted her, and Tim Mooney (Raymond Hackett), a childhood companion from her criminal past.