Deep Archive Finds Movies That Echo the Spirit of Limousine Life: C...

Dir: John Francis Dillon

Donald Keith, a young lawyer who takes up residence in the small town of Owasco, Michigan, finds himself opposed by lumber king Quartus Hembly, feared by all the townspeople. Keith takes up the case of Daniel Kersten against Hembly, who has cheated him out of his property, and during his investigation he discovers that the father of Thora Erickson, whom he loves, conspired with Hembly against Kersten, and at length he obtains a deathbed confession from Erickson. Hembly has Keith wounded on the night before the trial and bribes the jury, but Keith appears, stirs up the town in rebellion against Hembly in spite of his weakened condition, and wins his case.

Dir: John Francis Dillon

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of She Hired a Husband perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Daphne Trowbridge, an impulsive and obstinate but nonetheless kindhearted young woman, lives with her aunt and uncle on their country estate. Daphne falls in love with Tom Dunstan, but when she learns that Mrs. Trowbridge favors the young man, she deserts him, whereupon he departs for the woods brokenhearted. Because her aunt dislikes Gerald, Daphne accepts his proposal, but on the day of the wedding, she discovers that Mrs. Trowbridge has liked him from the beginning. Furious at her aunt's scheming, Daphne hires the first man she meets, who happens to be a heavily bearded lumberman, to marry her and then leave. Later, however, her hired husband abducts her to his cabin in the woods, where he eventually succeeds in taming her. After he rescues her from two lecherous lumberjacks, Daphne discovers that her husband is Tom, whom she had loved all along.

Dir: John Francis Dillon

Jerrold Jarvis Jones, a lowly shipping clerk, falls asleep on his office stool and has a dream: He is an aggressive, carefully groomed man of the world who welcomes adventure when an attractive girl addresses him as Tourvaine and takes him on an automobile ride. He is taken to a meeting of a secret criminal society known as "Children of the Night" and is mistaken for a new leader who was to arrive from abroad, a role he assumes until exposed. In a series of fights with the crooks, he rescues Sylvia (in real life a secretary in his office) and mingles in the world of high society. Awakening from his dream, he is fired with ambition and astonishes everyone by walking out with the stenographer.

Dir: John Francis Dillon

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

Working as a manicurist at the Ritz, Helen Thurston, is in love with her wealthy patron, Jack Standring, but the young man's mother wants him to marry a rich debutante. Helen is informed that she has inherited her grandfather's millions, and she proceeds as quickly as possible to acquire expensive clothing and jewelry on credit. Jack, however, is not impressed. Soon Helen learns that she has inherited only $1,000, the remainder of the fortune having gone to her cousin Spindrift. The creditors hound her for their money, and at a grand ball at the Standring home, a detective threatens to arrest her. Touched by her poverty, Jack decides to elope with her. Finally Spindrift violates the conditions of the will, and Helen inherits the entire fortune.

Dir: John Francis Dillon

Gentleman crook Boston Blackie answers a want ad for an expert safe cracker placed by Doris Macon, who claims a moral right to the safe's contents. She hires Blackie, and they break into the house where the safe is kept. Blackie blows up the safe just as owner Captain von Hoffmeier returns home. Doris disappears with papers from inside the safe, while Blackie takes phonograph records, which, when played with a special needle, reveal secrets that implicate von Hoffmeier as a German political spy. Doris is actually the girl friend of a secret service man who has followed them to the house. Blackie's talents are praised, and he goes to work for the government.

Dir: John Francis Dillon

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Heiress for a Day perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Nancy Worthing, who comes home from boarding school to find that her parents have no time for her, pawns some of her mother's jewels to buy the clothes necessary for entering society. She persuades her father's chauffeur, Phil Ballou, to take her to a notorious cabaret, where a shooting occurs. In the confusion, Phil is arrested as the assailant, and when Nancy's parents learn of the missing jewels, they bring further charges against him. At the trial, Phil reveals that he is the son of wealthy parents who simply wished to earn his own living, and Nancy clears his name by confessing all. Phil and Nancy, united by their ordeals, begin a romance.

Dir: John Francis Dillon

Adventuress Leonie Sobatsky falls in love with a young man named Nevil Trask, and he with her. Trask doesn't know that Leonie is actually the head of an international smuggling ring--and Leonie doesn't know that Trask is an undercover Secret Service agent assigned to break up the ring and capture its head.

Dir: John Francis Dillon

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of The Silk-Lined Burglar perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

A beautiful young girl, Lola, is a dancer at a private club for wealthy men in New York City. Some of the club members make a bet that Lola can't seduce a young doctor, Jennings. Her attempt fails, and in order to find out why she follows him around and discovers that he runs a clinic on the city's poor Lower East Side. She begins to see the young doctor in a new light, and sets out to help him build the emergency hospital he's always wanted.

Dir: John Francis Dillon

Brewster, the bean king, has an option of renewal on a certain bean canning plant owned by Ellis. Ellis does not desire to renew and hires Wingate, a shyster lawyer, to help him. Brewster has to send Betty to renew the contract. Later he sends his lawyer to help her and Ellis' man persuades her that he is a plotter. There follows plot and counter-plot, but all-innocently Betty carries the day.

Dir: John Francis Dillon

Eddie appears as a squatter named "Black Jack," who makes a strong fight for his rights against armed aggression. In the course of the story he kidnaps his own boy.