The Cult Collection Inspired by the Vision of Mannequin: Cult Guide

Dir: Alexander Butler

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

Dir: James Cruze

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of An Adventure in Hearts perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

When Captain Dieppe, an American agent of French descent, refuses to divulge confidential information he gathered for a small Italian principality until they pay him, he is pursued by secret service agent Guilamo Sevier to Fieramondi in Northern Italy. Dieppe agrees to help the lonely Count Fieramondi convince his wife to return from her isolated wing of their castle. The countess, after convincing her cousin Lucia to take her place in the castle, goes to Rome to raise money to pay Paul Sharpe, who is blackmailing her because of her gambling debts. Dieppe falls in love with Lucia, whom he thinks is the countess, and after he fights Sharpe and steals the evidence of the debts, he sacrifices his own love by preparing a reconciliation between the count and the countess. After Dieppe obtains his money from Sevier, the real identities are revealed. Finally the count and countess are reunited, while Dieppe and Lucia maintain their romance.

Dir: Bruno Ziener

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: William Parke

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Eva, wo bist du? perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

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: James Cruze

Walsingham Van Dorn, a rather unsuccessful book agent, is stunned to learn that he has inherited forty million dollars from his two uncles. Van Dorn asks his attorney Wilkins to handle the responsibilities entailed in managing the fortune and then retires to his mansion. One evening, however, he is awakened by a young woman named Desiree Lane, who refuses to leave until the two million dollars that his uncles swindled away from her father is restored. Van Dorn tries to return the money but discovers that Wilkins has stolen it and fled. Van Dorn and Desiree set out to find him, but when the hotel in which they have stopped for the night burns down, they are left standing in the street clad only in pajamas. To avoid a scandal, they marry and happily settle down. Two years later, Wilkins, unable to handle the fortune, returns it, but the young couple wonders whether they will continue to be happy as millionaires.

Dir: James Cruze

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

An inventor travels to the South Seas, where there is buried treasure belonging to a girl. The girl's father is being held captive by cannibals until she returns a pearl that belongs to one of their idols.

Dir: Edgar Jones

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

Dir: James Cruze

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

A young man pursues a young lady with the same energy he applies to his other obsession in life, auto racing.

Dir: James Cruze

Department-store clerk Larry Young is determined to marry a rich girl. He falls for Elaine Debaux, whom he believes to be the daughter of a wealthy shipbuilder. However, when war breaks out Larry is drafted into the army. Before he is taken in, though, he and Elaine are rescued from gangsters by an ex-con named Mike Moran. It turns out that Moran wants to join the army but they won't take him because of his record. Larry, who doesn't want to go into the army because it will interfere with his plans to marry Elaine, comes up with an idea he thinks will work out for all concerned. Complications ensue.

Dir: James Cruze

Young Jack Wright offers his hand in marriage to the winner of a lottery, but after committing to the winner falls in love with another woman.