Rare Cinematic Gems Sharing the Atmosphere of Man of the Hour: Cult...

Dir: Maurice Tourneur

Peggy Admaston and her husband are socialites whose happy marriage quickly deteriorates as Admaston neglects his young wife for business matters, and is unaware of her loneliness and vulnerability. When Peggy is wooed by Admaston's friend Collingwood, who acts on his feelings without regard to consequences, she grows fond of him, but remains faithful to Admaston. After socialite Lady Attwill causes Admaston to doubt his wife's fidelity, his suspicions are furthered when a fire erupts one evening at the theater, and Admaston returns home unexpectedly to find that Peggy, who refused to accompany him because she said that she did not feel well, entertained a male visitor that evening. Admaston arranges to trap Peggy and Collingwood together at a country roadhouse, and begins divorce proceedings based on the resulting strong circumstantial evidence. Later, Lady Attwill convinces Admaston that Peggy's friendship with Collingwood was innocent and the couple is reunited.

Dir: Maurice Tourneur

For 10 years the men of the D. and O., a short line, have been at the mercy of "B," supposedly Barker, president of the railroad. The line itself is run from the executive offices in New York, far distant, and none of the men have ever laid eyes of "B," yet the smallest transgression, accidental or otherwise, of the railroad's rigid and economical discipline results in a telegraphed order from "B," decreeing the fine, suspension or other punishment for the offender. Latterly, it has amounted to almost persecution and the men are on the verge of a strike. The climax comes when 48, the passenger train driven by Jim Lewis, goes off the rails on a soft spot and ties up the whole system for a day. When 48 finally limps into Wellsdale, the eastern terminus, "B's" decision is waiting for Lewis, two weeks' pay as a fine and six months' probation on a yard engine. The punishment starts a riot. The men agree to send Lewis to see Barker. Lewis calls on Barker. Barker receives Lewis, and instead of the hulky, brutal man he expected to find, Barker is an elderly, kind old gentleman, with a charming family. Mildred, his daughter, impresses Lewis. At last, Lewis, much bewildered, accepts an invitation to dinner with the family. In the morning Lewis learns that "B" is Brown, the manager. With a card from Barker he seeks an interview, but learns the manager has decamped, taking all the negotiable funds of the road. Lewis, thinking of the girl he met the night before, asks for and gets the job of running down "B." After considerable detective work he locates a man he has reason to believe is his quarry. With the aid of a bellboy, he gets a tip on the departure of the suspect and as the fleeing man enters a machine Lewis grabs him. There is a fight, which ends in Lewis's victory. Jim Lewis returns in triumph to New York with the stolen goods licked in a brand-new bag, and reaches Barker's house in the early evening, just as a group of D. and O. magnates are deciding that the road is gone and done for. Jim is the sort of stuff the road needs in its executive offices, and barker states that he is to come in to New York to be trained. Jim parts with Mildred on his way out, but to their mutual satisfaction it is only "au revoir." The future is rosy for Jim Lewis, and the boys of the road have gained more than they hoped when they sent him to see "B."

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

Dir: Maurice Tourneur

The wealthy but selfish parents of a lonely young girl begin to rethink what is important to them after a servant's irresponsibility results in a crisis.

Dir: Maurice Tourneur

After being expelled from college, Giles runs away from home and meets and falls for a young lady.

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of The Poor Little Rich Girl perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Dir: Maurice Tourneur

Richard Duvall is a young American detective in the employ of the French Secret Police. While in Paris he meets Grace Ellicot, also an American, with whom he falls in love. He marries her and is about to start on his honeymoon when he is called on by Mons. Lefevre, chief of the secret police. The French Ambassador to England, Monsieur De Grissac, has lost an ivory snuff box which must be found. They depart for London to interview the Ambassador. In London they go to the Embassy. There the Ambassador tells them that he was robbed of the snuff box while he was dressing and suspecting his valet, Noel, he locked him in his room. When Duvall goes to interview the valet, he finds that he has been murdered. Meanwhile, in Paris, Lefevre has broken the news to Duvall's wife of his departure to London. She, wishing to follow Duvall, asks Lefevre where she can find him. Lefevre tells her that if she will help in the recovery of the snuff box she will find Duvall. She consents, and Lefevre tells her to go to Brussels and try to place herself in the sanitarium run by Dr. Hartmann. who is supposed to be a German spy and whom Lefevre believes to be instrumental in the theft of the snuff box, which box, Lefevre hints, is of diplomatic importance. Richard Duvall, aboard the boat for Antwerp, finds the man whom he is following, asleep in a saloon, and during the night he opens the stranger's suitcase. He finds the package given the stranger in the barber shop, and on opening it, discovers the contents to be rice powder. By this time Duvall has learned that Grace is in the sanitarium, and that she furnished the news to Lefevre's agents. He feels that Grace should leave the sanitarium as soon as possible. He goes to Mr. Phelps, the American Ambassador, and has him invite Grace to dinner, planning to escape after dinner. During dinner that night, Dr. Hartmann, who is beginning to suspect Grace and Duvall, turns up at Mr. Phelps' house as an unexpected guest. When Richard and Grace leave on the pretext of Duvall's escorting Grace back to the sanitarium, Hartmann asks if he might ride with them. Because of no plausible reason, Duvall is forced to consent. On arriving at the sanitarium, Duvall is taken prisoner by two of Dr. Hartmann's attendants. His failure to discover the snuff box angers Dr. Hartmann. He knows that Duvall must have it with him, as his luggage has been searched and his friends imprisoned on various trumped-up charges. He gives Duvall until the next evening to confess the whereabouts of the box. The time allotted him is up, and Duvall refuses to confess. Hartmann resorts to torture. Finally Richard, at night, finds his opera hat behind a packing case and secures the box from the hat. Experimenting with several ornaments on the top of the box, he discovers that it has a double top. Inside the box is a piece of tissue paper, on which a series of numbers are written. Duvall substitutes another set of numbers, and conceals the set found in the box. In order to make Grace confess where the box is, as Dr. Hartmann believes she knows, he lets her see Duvall being tortured. She is almost crazed by watching his pain, so gets the box and delivers it to Hartmann. They are at once released, and proceed to Paris. They are not able to deliver the box to Lefevre, but they give him the series of numbers. Duvall and Grace at last start on their delayed honeymoon.

Dir: Maurice Tourneur

A resourceful young girl struggles to free herself from slum life.

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of The Wishing Ring: An Idyll of Old England perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Dir: Maurice Tourneur

Arriving with her husband in Arabia, Katherine Wyvrne is ready for romantic times in the exotic Middle East, but her aristocratic husband prefers to be out hunting "Barbara sheep" than fulfilling his wife's desires. She soon meets up with the dashing Arab chief Benchaalai and falls for his charms, but he has a much more sinister goal in mind for her than romance.

Dir: Maurice Tourneur

In order to save her mother from disgrace, Margaret marries Richard Harding even though she really loves Geoffrey Morton. Five years later, the Hardings have a little son, and Margaret's life has been made almost unbearable by her husband; she lives for nothing but her son. Morton, returning after an absence of two years, learns that Harding has made some false accusations against him and goes to his home to demand a retraction. While there, he witnesses an exhibition of Harding's cruelty as he whips his little son. After Morton leaves, Harding threatens to beat the boy again, and Margaret tells him that she will shoot him if he does. Harding defies Margaret's plea, and she carries out her threat. Together, Harding's secretary and Margaret place the revolver so that it will appear to be a suicide, but the police are not deceived. After a desperate defense by her lawyers, however, the death is ruled accidental and Margaret is free to begin life anew.

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

Dir: Maurice Tourneur

A restless young girl yearns to leave her rural environment and "get away from it all." One day she stumbles upon a film crew shooting a Western near her home. She makes friends with the film's leading man, who encourages her to try her luck as an actress, so she leaves her small town and goes to the big city to break into the picture business. However, things don't turn out quite the way she planned.

Dir: Maurice Tourneur

The story of the training of a racehorse, the Whip, of the amnesiac nobleman who loves the horse, and of the villains who attempt to keep it from racing.