Visionary Picks Drawn from the Same DNA as Is Divorce a Failure?: C...

Dir: Edgar Jones

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

Dir: Wallace Worsley

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

Neysa von Igel, who is living with her supposed grandfather Adolph Schmidt, loves America, although she believes herself to be German-born. Unknown to Neysa, when she was three years old, her American-born parents were killed in Germany by Emil Koenig, whose punishment was to be sent to the United States to work in the interest of the government of the Fatherland, and who is now associated with Schmidt in his manufacturing enterprise. Koenig demands that Neysa work in behalf of Germany. She revolts and escapes to the home of David Hale, who had been her grandfather's attorney but who is now in the service of the United States Government. Hale and Neysa are married and depart for France, where the girl again encounters Koenig, and, after many thrilling adventures, she kills him in self-defense.

Dir: Edward LeSaint

When famous opera singer Elinore Duane undergoes an operation on her throat, she has a series of ether-induced visions. In one, she is transported to ancient Rome where she appears as a much-admired woman in love with Paul, a young heretic, and at odds with Lutor, the high priest. To save her love, she poisons Lutor with her ring. After several other visions which involve variations on this love triangle, Elinore awakens to discover that Lutor is actually her doctor, Sascha Jaccard, and that Paul is the son of a friend who has come to visit the recovering prima donna.

Dir: Bruno Ziener

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

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

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.

Dir: Robert N. Bradbury

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

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: 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: Wallace Worsley

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

Alouette, the daughter of prosperous French vintner LeSieur Juste DeLarme, secretly marries Bertrand Beaubien although her father wants her to wed wealthy German Kurt Von Klassner. After Kurt slays Bertrand, Alouette is forced to marry the brutal German, and only her love for her little son Bertrand, whom Kurt imagines is his offspring, but who actually is the slain Frenchman's, saves her from complete unhappiness. Years later, when the Germans invade France during World War I, Kurt assists them although they have killed his father-in-law. Bertrand's young sweetheart is killed during the German occupation of the village, and fiercely determined to drive them out, he enlists in the French army. With the arrival of the French forces, the town is rescued, and Kurt, through Bertrand's testimony, is arrested as a spy.

Dir: Wallace Worsley

Mary Thorne, a quarter-breed Native American, returns home from the East with a college degree and an air of refinement, although she relishes the freedom of her father Marshall's mountain cabin. When Mark Hamilton and Chester Martin visit the cabin on a hunting expedition, Mary, in a spirit of mischief, dons her Indian clothing and convinces them that she is full-blooded. Mark falls deeply in love with the girl, while Chester, contemptuous of her Indian background, though attracted to her, decides to possess her. While her father is hunting for gold at Lost Lake, Chester enters Mary's room and attacks her. Mark rescues her, after which he realizes, by the modern décor of her room, that Mary is a cultured young lady. Later, Marshall is killed by an Indian guard at Lost Lake, but Mary inherits the gold he discovered and marries Mark.

Dir: Wallace Worsley

A deformed criminal mastermind plans to loot the city of San Francisco as well as revenge himself on the doctor who mistakenly amputated his legs.