Editor's Top Picks Sharing the Atmosphere of Joymati: Cult Guide

Dir: Maurice Elvey

A Royalist and his unknown son seek vengeance on his murdered wife's brothers.

Dir: J. Gordon Edwards

Don Caesar de Bazan, a reckless nobleman, falls for Maritana, a gypsy dancing girl. When Maritana is insulted by a drunk, Don Caesar wins her love by coming to her rescue. The two go to Madrid, where the girl is summoned to dance before the Queen. Maritana also attracts the attention of King Charles. Don Jose, the prime minister, who secretly loves the Queen, plots to get Maritana for the King. To do this, he schemes to have Maritana marry a nobleman so she can enter the King's court. Don Jose chooses Don Caesar, who has been imprisoned and sentenced to death for dueling during Holy Week. Don Caesar agrees to marry the woman selected by Don Jose. After the ceremony, his wife believes he has been pardoned, but Don Caesar is sent to a firing squad. He is saved by a youth who has removed the bullets from the rifles. Eventually, Don Caesar wins the King's approval, and he is made prime minister.

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

Dir: D.W. Griffith

Two orphaned sisters are caught up in the turmoil of the French Revolution, encountering misery and love along the way.

Dir: Paul Scardon

1860 ushers in the era of iron ships, Richard Sibley, a builder of wooden ships, stubbornly resists the change, which leads him to forbid the marriage of his daughter Rose to John Rhead, a proponent of the new method. This injustice outrages John's sister Gertrude so much that she breaks off her engagement to Sibley's son Sam. Meanwhile, John and Rose elope. Twenty-five years later, John has grown rich and conservative and has a daughter named Emily. Gertrude, still single, tries to help her niece Emily marry the man she loves, Arthur Preece, rather than her father's choice, old Lord Monkhurst, but Gertrude fails. Twenty-five more years pass, and John again attempts to interfere by opposing the marriage of his granddaughter Muriel to Richard Sibley, Jr., an engineer. This time, however, Muriel's independence wins and she marries the man of her choice, and after the death of Monkhurst, Emily and Preece are finally together.

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

Dir: Hanns Kobe

John, a young man raised by his aunt, is in love with Anna, a servant girl who is going to have his baby. He is willing to marry her but his stern aunt wants him to marry a rich girl. To separate the lovers, she arranges for her nephew to be enrolled at a university in a distant town. She then has Anna sent away to live with Torgus the coffinmaker and his mother where she will be secluded until the birth of the child. Torgus, a golemesque sort of fellow, is immediately charmed by the beautiful girl and takes pity on her. Meanwhile, Anna anxiously awaits John's return . . .

Dir: André Antoine

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

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

Dir: Unknown Director

A public procession with the body of the Unknown Soldier, as registered by the operators of the Italian Film Federation and the Cinema Phototechnical Union. A symbolic tribute on the fallen Italian soldiers killed during World WWI who were buried without identification or in unknown places.

Dir: John W. Brunius

Historical drama which features Gösta Ekman as the dashing rogue who steals the heart of the ethereal Mary Johnson.

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

Dir: Beaumont Smith

A cinematic adaptation of some of the stories of celebrated Australian author and bush poet Henry Lawson.

Dir: Wallace Worsley

An orphan boy from the Kentucky hills joins the Union Army and rescues his adopted family from Morgan's raiders. He learns his real identity when he returns after the war.