Deep Archive Finds Movies That Echo the Spirit of Life's Greatest Q...

Dir: Harry Revier

Through a real estate purchase Daniel Gaynor acquires all rights in the waterway leading from Moose River to the mill. The original owner has never made use of his rights, but Gaynor, whose one thought is to get power, refuses to allow logs to be floated down the river running through his property. The men resent this injustice, and there is a fight between Gaynor and Bill Jackson, Bill representing the lumbermen. The ruthless way in which Gaynor deals with the men loses for him the sympathy of his one friend, Mary Alden, a widowed school teacher, with whom he is in love. The loggers are forced to sell their output to Gaynor, getting a poorer price for it than ever before. He in turn sells it to the ship company in the city at a lower figure than they have ever paid. Gaynor has had to get the assistance of the sheriff and deputies to protect his interests, and he has won the victory only after many brutal fights. Delighted with Gaynor's executive ability, the firm offers him the position of general manager, at a large salary, and he goes to the city. Mary Alden refuses to accompany him as his wife, for she does not believe that happiness can be built on a foundation of injustice. At the shipyards Gaynor continues in the high-handed way he has begun. He cuts wages, speeds up the work of the men to a cruel degree, and in other ways makes himself a tyrant. So successful is he that in ten years' time he is president of the company. Bessie Alden, Mary's daughter, comes to the city to seek her fortune. She meets Dick Grant, who is employed in the office of the ship building firm, and they are instantly attracted to each other. They are married, and Dick goes to Gaynor and asks for a raise in salary. It is refused. Dick's old grandmother falls ill, and he finds his added responsibilities more than he can manage. A child is born, and Dick is at his wit's end to provide comforts for the child and Bessie. About this time Gaynor's health fails and he is obliged to go to the woods to recuperate. This facilitates the carrying out of the plan that has tempted Dick, and he takes a certain sum out of the cash box each week, telling Bessie that Gaynor has increased his salary. Returning to his old home, Gaynor finds himself thoroughly hated. He is beaten and thrown into the river, but is rescued by Mary. He begins to realize that his power has not brought him the real things in life. Dick's theft is discovered by his superior in the office, and reported to Gaynor on his return. He goes to Dick's house, telling the detective to follow later. Bessie surprises him by thanking him profusely for her husband's raise, and telling all it has done for them. The baby climbs up into his arms and pats his face. Bessie tells him the child has been named for him. It is the first affection that has been shown Gaynor for many long years, and it overwhelms him. When the detective comes, he tells him there has been a mistake, and that there has been no theft. Then, having established the happiness of Dick and Bessie, he goes to Mary Alden and finds happiness for himself.

Dir: Harry Revier

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

Stenographer Dorothy Hallowell works for a Wall Street law firm, and isn't aware that Frederick Norman, a junior partner in the firm, is madly in love with her, even though he is engaged to be married. To get closer to her, he finances her father's laboratory, but when Dorothy realizes what he's up to, she turns him down. His fiancee finds out and breaks their engagement. Dorothy moves back to her small town, but soon runs into trouble when stories of her "unseemly behavior" in New York result in her having to leave town and return to New York, where she manages to get into even more trouble. Complications ensue.

Dir: Edgar Jones

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

Dir: Dallas M. Fitzgerald

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

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: Colin Campbell

Zora, a girl of French origin, is raised by a wealthy Bedouin family after her mother Valerie dies while eloping with another man. Zora feels such great longing for the French artist Adrien that she accepts the offer of another artist, Raoul, to take her to Paris with the stipulation that if Adrien rejects her, she must give herself to him. Jan, the chieftain's son who is in love with Zora, follows the two to Paris. There Zora realizes that Adrien does not love her and discovers her real love for Jan. However, she feels bound to honor her pact with Raoul and is about to succumb to his advances when her father appears and recognizes Raoul as the man who destroyed his home years earlier. In the ensuing fight between the two men, Raoul is killed, thus freeing Zora to accept Jan's love.

Dir: Tod Browning

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

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: 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.

Dir: Eduardo Notari

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

A crime drama in the Gennariello-series. The police detective in Naples that is confronted with modern gangsters and crime events.

Dir: Robert N. Bradbury

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: 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.