Hand-Picked Alternatives for Fans of L'appassionata: Cult Guide

Dir: Alexander Butler

In Alberta, Canada, a Cornish emigrant unmasks a rustler posing as the girl's "blind" father.

Dir: Robert N. Bradbury

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Into the Light 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: Tod Browning

Achmet Bey, a Turkish chieftain, catches one of his many wives in adultery and murders her lover. Throwing aside the cuckolding wife, he abducts his harem an innocent girl. However, a brave American who loves her comes to her rescue.

Dir: Frank Beal

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

During a raging Montana snowstorm, Doctor Jim Barnes collapses at Esther Anderson's cabin door. Esther offers Jim refuge, but when he discovers that their food supplies are running dangerously low, he braves the journey into town in order to replenish them. On the way, he is overcome with exhaustion and fails to return. Esther, unaware of Jim's condition and abused by her stepfather, joins a theatrical troop and leaves home. Time passes and Jim finally finds Esther, but a vindictive member of her troupe accuses her of having an affair with the manager and Jim believes the accusation. He leaves and Esther goes to New York City where she becomes engaged to a jealous artist, although she still loves Jim. Sam Tuttle, a long time friend, is aware of Esther's continuing love, and so brings Jim to New York City in time to save Esther from an unhappy marriage.

Dir: Edgar Jones

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

Dir: Edward LeSaint

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of The Devil's Riddle perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

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: 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: Hugh Ford

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

The 'dead' wife of a steel process inventor returns, as does her 'dead' husband, a war amnesiac.

Dir: André Liabel

The story of "Jack" is well-known. It is a beautiful story of a natural child. His mother, Ida de Borancy, worships the dear little nameless and fatherless being whom she decides, as he is getting on in years, to place in a boarding school. The child's professor of literature is a certain Amaury D'Argenton, a failure of the faculty, and an uninspired poet. During one of her visits to the institution, Mme. de Borancy is attracted by D'Argenton, and falls in love with him. The "Ne'er-do-Well" soon gives up his starving position and makes his abode with her, exercising over her absolute control. He soon learns to hate little Jack and forces her to leave him permanently at school. The poor child, unaccustomed to the separation, runs away, only to find, when he arrives at his former home, that his mother has moved and is now living thirty miles away. He undertakes the journey on foot, and reaches his mother's house completely exhausted. Here he meets Dr. Rivals and his daughter, Cecil. One day Jack, while out for a stroll, meets a peddler on the road, a Mr. Belisaire, worn out with fatigue and privations. Greatly moved, the boy takes him home and is giving him food, when D'Argenton arrives, throws out the peddler and sends Jack away as an apprentice. A new life now opens to Jack, and for two years he labors diligently in the iron works of Indret, living with his foreman, Father Roudick. The latter's nephew, a gambler, steals a small fortune that was to constitute his cousin's dowry, and Jack is charged with the theft, cruelly beaten and dragged before the Magistrate. . Filled with remorse, the real culprit acknowledges his guilt and returns the money. The unpleasantness of that adventure, coupled with the insufficient wages he receives, impels Jack to seek another position. He makes for the seacoast, and ships aboard a trans-Atlantic steamer as a stoker. One night a collision takes place. The boat is struck below the water lines and every man makes a wild, frantic rush to save himself, every man for himself. As by a miracle Jack is saved and returns to his old home, irresistibly attracted by a desire to see his mother. Thanks to the devotion of good old Dr. Rivals, Jack, who has gone through a terrible illness, is restored to health. The two young people fall in love with one another, which is encouraged by the doctor, provided that Jack will study to take his place. Jack goes to Paris to take up his studies, rents a room, where his mother seeks refuge when maltreated by D'Argenton, D'Argenton discovers her retreat and begs her to come back to him. It is in vain that Jack drives him away, for, by means of a touching letter, he succeeds in inducing her to return. The hate he bears Jack is not yet gratified, and he writes to Cecil threatening to reveal her true identity to Jack. She, fearing the outcome of such a revelation, decides to break off the engagement. When Jack learns of this he starts for Paris. In despair he tramps the road all night, and finally drops to the ground, worn out by cold, fatigue and despair. He is carried to the home of Belisaire, and the doctor is hastily summoned, who diagnoses the case as an acute attack of consumption, and orders Jack taken to a hospital. Here a last vision recalls to him his past life, all the hardships and miseries he has endured. He yearns to press in his arms once more his mother, however guilty she may have been, and whom he heartily forgives, but the ravages of disease have sapped his strength and, just as she enters the room, Jack passes to the Great Beyond, his last wish denied him.

Dir: Edward Dillon

Her education in a French convent school completed, plain Justine Spencer returns to New York. There she is shocked to discover that her mother Dodo is a flamboyant musical comedy actress with many male admirers. Dodo, on the other hand, is dismayed to find Justine priggish and dowdy. One of Dodo's suitors is Billy Ferris, who, in a fit of jealousy, murders her and slays himself. Out of pity, Cosmo Spotiswood, another admirer of Dodo, marries Justine, but soon tires of his platonic marriage and leaves for Europe. Upon his return, Cosmo finds Justine transformed. Under the tutelage of Dodo's maid Loti, she has bobbed her hair and donned fashionable apparel. Thus changed, Justine is surrounded by suitors. Stung by jealousy, Cosmo falls in love with his sophisticated wife.