Masterpiece Selection Resonating with the Themes of Mary Regan: Cult Guide

Dir: Lois Weber

A fictionalized composite of several celebrated murder cases, particularly the Stielow case, in which an innocent man is convicted and sentenced to death on purely speculative evidence.

Dir: Lois Weber

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of It's No Laughing Matter perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Hi Judd, poet, postmaster and philosopher, is the sunshine of the village, a veritable doctor of happiness. His right arm the little world of the village leans on, the kind words he scatters broadcast reap their harvest of love for the old postmaster and the verses he writes (sometimes when he should be working) proclaims him the wit of the village. And because of the verse writing Mrs. Judd is often discouraged. Hi confides in his daughter, Bess, that he often stands in awe of Mrs. Judd when she catches him pencil in hand, with the woodpile untouched and the chores not done. But Bess is consoling and when Hi is not around she makes a collection of the verses and sends them on to a great newspaper. Theirs is a peaceful life that must have its dramatic climax and it all descends upon them at once. Jim Skinner, an unscrupulous, grasping old miser, holds the mortgage on the house and also has designs upon Hi's position as postmaster. Then the bank fails and shadows hang low. In the meantime drama is stirring within their home. Bess who had thought she cared for Hal, the station master is under the spell of Sam who has come from the city to be the new ticket agent. Hi, dubious of his character and regretting his daughter's change of heart, before it is too late, finds a picture of Sam, his wife and their baby. Hi recognizes in the wife, Belle, the long-missing daughter of Mother Wilkins, a widow of the village whose home has burned and who would have suffered privation had it not been for the generosity of Hi. He sends for Belle, making her believe the money and message come from Sam and when Sam is confronted with the wife and baby he sees there is nothing to be done but face the unexpected situation. The mortgage is due. Heartbroken, they are preparing to leave the little home when word comes from the newspaper: "Verses accepted, send them as fast as you can write them." Thus ends the story. Hi, with his $500 check from the newspaper pays off the mortgage, the future holds its promise; Mother Wilkins is happy with her daughter and the little baby, and Hal and Bess are engaged to be married.

Dir: Lois Weber

A young woman grows tired of providing for her family.

Dir: Lois Weber

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

Phoebe Morrison, a wealthy young lady, is shown a photograph of handsome Squire Elton by her father. Since Elton is a partner in her father's oil business, the girl goes west to meet him. The two fall in love, but Phoebe decides her prospective husband needs more polish comparable to the men she knew in the east. So Elton goes on a tour of Europe, returns a refined gentleman, and marries Phoebe. But now Phoebe feels he has lost some of his charm. Then she thinks he is having a fling with her cousin Sophia. So she decides the best solution is for Elton to return to his original environment out west. She feigns ill health, and persuades him to move, and gradually he becomes the man she fell in love with. Then Elton confesses that he had been acting the part of an Eastern gentleman to teach Phoebe a lesson.

Dir: Lois Weber

Carillo and his wife Selma are devoted to each other. As a sculptor, Carillo has achieved the qualities of honor and love until the Devil seeks to overturn these accomplishments by sending his imps Lust, Drink and Self Pity to the artist's home. Carillo succumbs to lust and sells his honor to the Devil. When he loses love, he finally crumbles until Loyalty regenerates him when Selma carves Repentance under the shadow of the cross. This causes Satan to recoil, and the couple start a new life without Youth and Honor, but enriched by Wisdom and Experience.

Dir: Lois Weber

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of What's Worth While? perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

A Broadway actress becomes a star due to the guidance of her director. The two fall in love, but are prevented from marrying due to a clause put into her contract by her producer.

Dir: Lois Weber

A pretty but poor girl leaves the young boy who loves her for a rich playboy who she believes will take care of her, but the wealthy cad has other plans for her.

Dir: Lois Weber

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Even As You and I perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Envious of the wealth of her classmates at the fashionable boarding school to which her parents struggled to send her, Millicent Rankin hides the fact that her father is a plumber. She invites her friend Beatrice Deering to her home, which she describes as lavish, for the vacation, but thinks that Beatrice will refuse. The embarrassment Millicent feels when she receives a wire that Beatrice is coming causes her mother pain, but when Millicent's sister becomes ill with scarlet fever, Millicent goes instead to Beatrice's country residence where she hopes to meet a rich husband. At the Deerings', Millicent is soon disappointed with society's mores. After almost succumbing to the advances of Elmer Lacy, who secretly is carrying on an affair with Beatrice's stepmother, Millicent protects Mrs. Deering's reputation by humiliating herself. When she learns that her mother is ill, Millicent rushes home and discovers happiness with her family and her old sweetheart.

Dir: Lois Weber

Ray Sturgis, leader of the fashionable Long Island jazz set, is engaged to "Egypt" Hagen, an up-to-date girl in every respect. Egypt is arrested at a roadhouse raid, and at her mother's bidding, the Reverend Norman Lodge arranges for her freedom. At a fancy-dress ball, when Ray wears a costume made of newspaper headlines concerning her arrest, Egypt is offended. Seen constantly in the company of Reverend Lodge, her reputation causes church people to take up the matter with the bishop. Leaving the country club, Egypt goes to the Lodge home and hides behind the door when the bishop arrives; Reverend Lodge wants to marry her, and they admit their love; but humiliation causes her to leave with Sturgis that night. Their yacht is wrecked, but Lodge and the bishop follow and rescue Egypt, though Sturgis is drowned. The bishop, realizing the depth of their love, consents to marry them.

Dir: Lois Weber

The parallel stories of a modern preacher and a medieval monk, Gabriel the Ascetic, who is killed by an ignorant mob for making a nude statue representing Truth, which is also represented by a ghostly naked girl who flits throughout the film.