Visionary Picks Drawn from the Same DNA as Lily of the Alley: Cult ...

Dir: Henry Edwards

A shepherdess becomes an opera star. A shepherd becomes a sculptor.

Dir: Henry Edwards

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

A boarding house skivvy helps a poor playwright, becomes an actress and saves him from an insane convict.

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: Edgar Jones

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

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

Dir: Harley Knoles

Jim McDonald, the foreman of a shipbuilding plant and head of the labor union, strives to combat the anarchistic propaganda being put forth by Klimoff, the leader of a Bolshevik gang whose goal is to disrupt the country with strikes and anarchy. Despite McDonald's efforts, a strike is called, resulting in chaos. McDonald's child is knocked down by runaway horses abandoned by their striking driver, and dies. Mob scenes take place in America, as well as in Russia. Eventually, the unrest is quelled with an armistice called between Capital and Labor for a year, during which time wages are to be increased to reflect the cost of living, and leaders are to work out a common plan for their mutual advantage. The strikers now realize that they have been pawns of the Bolsheviks and call off the strike, agreeing to the plan.

Dir: Bruno Ziener

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

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

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: Henry Edwards

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

A poor author feigns marriage to please his dying father.

Dir: Henry Edwards

In the East London tenements lives one Alexandra Vickers, better known as "Viccy." She is rough-tongued, quick-tempered, and generous as far as her slender means allow. Her parents died when the girl was very young and left her to shift for herself. Later she takes up her abode with Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Smith and their nephew, Albert Grummett. In the month of August the family decides to go to the hop fields and earn their living picking the sticky vegetable from which is made the national beverage, beer. About this time in America a wealthy contractor dies and leaves his immense fortune to Victoria Alexandra Vickers, the only daughter of his brother. A search is made for the girl and she is finally located in the hop fields. She is placed under the care of a Mrs. Carrington, to become polished. After "Viccy" leaves, Grummett, with five hundred pounds given him by the girl, sets himself up in business and is soon prosperous. Mrs. Carrington's son asks "Viccy" to marry him, as he needs money to pay his debts, and the girl accepts him. She later sees Grummett, however, and after discovering that Carrington wants only her money she goes back to Grummett, and East returns to East.

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.