The Auteur's Selection In the Shadow of Iris perdue et retrouvée: C...

Dir: Louis J. Gasnier

Maud Barhyte visits Paris with her fiancé, Gerald Welden, and her father. Sally Malakoff, Welden's childhood sweetheart whose marriage to the Duke Malakoff was arranged by her ambitious and title-hungry mother, entertains the three as her guests. By a series of misunderstandings Sally disrupts relations between Welden and his fiancée, causing Maud to return to America. Sally divorces the duke, and Welden, thinking Maud no longer loves him, marries Sally. Later, Welden discovers Sally's maneuverings and denounces her. Now an unhappy drug addict, Sally commits suicide, sending confessions to Maud exonerating Welden, already imprisoned on suspicion of murdering his wife. Maud presents the papers to police authorities, freeing Welden.

Dir: Louis J. Gasnier

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

Oswald Lane is welcomed by his hometown as a war hero and enjoys recounting his adventures to anyone who will listen. He accepts an invitation to stay in the home of his rather colorless brother, Andrew, and is soon not only making love to Martha, the Belgian maid, but is also finding Andrew's wife, Hester, receptive to his flirting. After stealing money entrusted to Andrew by his church, Oswald is on his way out of town when he passes a school fire, rescues several children, and is himself seriously burned. Andrew offers his own skin for grafting, and Oswald directs Hester to return the money.

Dir: Louis J. Gasnier

Farmer's son David Wingate marries city girl Vianna Courtleigh over his parents' objections. Her father gives him a job with the company; a baby is born to the young couple; but their happiness is marred by David's desire for a quiet domestic life in opposition to Vianna's love of excitement. David's mother comes to live with them when her husband dies. She observes their unhappiness and, after deciding that Vianna is at fault, determines to teach her a lesson. She kidnaps the baby, threatening to keep him until Vianna reforms. Eventually Vianna sees the folly of her ways and seeks forgiveness from David.

Dir: Louis J. Gasnier

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

Hazel Kirke, daughter of Dunstan Kirke, a miller, is sent off to be educated by Squire Rooney, who has promised to marry her upon her return. All this in repayment for a small sum which Rodney advanced to save the old mill from the auction block. Five years later, near the end of her school years, she meets Arthur Carringford. At home again, she renews her promise to Rodney. Some days later, Arthur on a hunting trip, meets with an accident near the mill, and is confined there for some weeks, during which time a new friendship springs up between the two. Some time later, when Rodney and Dunstan see Hazel and Arthur embracing, Dunstan denounces them and sends them away. Arthur's mother, to save the family fortune, wishes Arthur to marry Maude, her ward, who is loved by Pittacus Greene, and whose fortune was squandered by the elder Carringford before his death. She sends Pittacus and Arthur's valet to dissuade Arthur from marrying Hazel, and they arrive as the two are coming away. At a nearby village, the valet, thinking the ceremony is to be a fake, goes to a saloon for a "minister." He then notifies Mrs. Carringford by letter. A few weeks later that lady arrives during Arthur's absence and tells Hazel that she has been duped. The girl, distracted, runs away and upon Arthur's return the panic-stricken mother tells of the plot and passes away from a heart attack. After a day or two's search for Hazel, Arthur rides toward home, stopping at a small church. The parson proves to be the one who married them and he tells of his good work in the slums of nearby towns disguised as a "tough." The two ride off to the mill hoping to meet Hazel. Unknown to the young people, Dunstan's terrible denunciation of them has left him sightless and it is before Hazel's blinded father that the two are reunited with parental blessing, only after Arthur has rescued Hazel from the icy millpond waters into which she had thrown herself.

Dir: Louis J. Gasnier

John Warriner, facing financial ruin, accepts the proposal of a bootlegger, Benedict, to underwrite the business of illegal wine-selling. His daughter, Angela, takes up with the jazz set and is caught in a raid, at a cafe owned by Benedict. Her former sweetheart, Carl Graham, comes to the rescue and saves her from notoriety, while the family struggles back to its former respectability following Warriner's prison term.

Dir: Louis J. Gasnier

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

Hajj, a rascally beggar on the periphery of the court of Baghdad, schemes to marry his daughter to royalty and to win the heart of the queen of the castle himself.

Dir: Louis J. Gasnier

With the help of a private detective, Elaine tries to catch the masked criminal mastermind The Clutching Hand, who has murdered her father.

Dir: Louis J. Gasnier

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

Episode 1: "The Treasure Trove" Stephen Walcott favors the suit of Sebastian Navarro, a Spaniard, for his daughter Leontine's hand, foreseeing in the marriage a prop to strengthen his tottering fortunes. Leontine is deeply in love with Jerry Carson, a penniless young writer who has taken passage on her father's ship. The ship burns at sea and all are reported lost save the captain and a seaman. Jerry, however, has managed to swim ashore, where he finds in a bottle a manuscript written by a shipwrecked scientist, Matthewson, which gives the location on an island of a buried fortune. Matthewson also writes of some black pellets he has manufactured which will give the finder "power beyond the dreams of all men." Sebastian, thinking Jerry dead, tries to hasten his own marriage by having One Lamp Louie forge a paper which casts a blot on Jerry's memory. Jerry, after many hardships, arrives shortly after the paper is shown to Leontine and her father, and tries to secure it from Diego, Sebastian's brother. During the struggle Diego falls and is killed, his head hitting a heavy desk ornament. The only witness is One Lamp Louie, who sees it through a window. When Jerry is found bending over Diego, he is arrested on a charge of murder, Louie keeping silent, fearing he will be implicated also.

Dir: Louis J. Gasnier

Sedgewick Blynn is a gigolo--albeit a broke one--determined to marry into money, no matter what it takes. One evening he saves a young child from burning to death in a fire and is hailed as a hero. Young heiress Bessie Morgan falls for him and vows to marry him, but her father puts a stop to the elopement. Soon after, Sedgewick is hit by some news that changes his life forever.

Dir: Louis J. Gasnier

Laura Bedford marries poor taxi driver Jim Maberne, and her chum Claribel marries wealthy Richard Smith-Blanton. When the two women accidentally meet sometime later, Laura eagerly accepts Claribel's invitation to an artists' ball. Because of her poverty, Laura is obliged to obtain a ball gown on approval. At the ball she repulses the advances of Smith-Blanton. When her children ruin the dress the next day, Laura takes her husband's savings to pay for it. Jim discovers the loss and orders Laura out. When, later, he comes upon her struggling against Smith-Blanton, Claribel tells him the whole story. Jim gives Smith-Blanton a beating and takes his wife home.