Hand-Picked Alternatives Movies That Echo the Spirit of Midnight Mystery: Cult Guide

Dir: George B. Seitz

The adventures of a gentlemanly crook of astonishing resourcefulness.

Dir: Harry Southwell

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

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Herbert Blaché

French dancer Sigrid, diagnosed with a weak heart, is ordered by her doctor never to dance again. But when her dancing skills are needed by her lover's father to help quell a native uprising on the East Indian frontier, she determines to dance whatever the cost.

Dir: George B. Seitz

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

Episode 1: "The Lost Torpedo" Craig Kennedy's marvelous invention, a super-force torpedo to revolutionize warfare, has been stolen. Kennedy himself has disappeared, although Elaine has a note from him begging her not to grieve whatever happens, for he is safe. And then, one night, on a barren strip of land jutting out into the Atlantic, a fisherman, concealed behind a rock, sees the periscope of a submarine rise; sees a man's head and shoulders rise seemingly out of the sea, and sees a pair of athletic arms strike out bravely for the shore. That night, at a hotel in New York, a distinguished-looking foreigner, much resembling the man who seemed to rise up out of the sea, is shadowed by a fussy old gentleman resembling the fisherman of the coast scenes. The foreigner goes out and the fussy old gentleman goes to his room, where, after a short, sharp struggle with a valet, he searches through all drawers and papers. One paper he pockets with glee, and then departs. Elaine and Jameson are visited by the distinguished-looking foreigner who tells them he is a secret service agent from Washington, and begs to get information with regard to Kennedy and the lost torpedo. Elaine's dog, digging with its forepaws in a pot of palms, unearths the lost torpedo and carries it to the attic, where he drops it behind a trunk. The torpedo's propeller, however, has been left in the palm-pot. where Marcius Del Mar, the foreigner, finds it. Elaine is suspected by him of having concealed the torpedo. The fussy old gentleman, in Del Mar's tracks since he left his rooms, is an interested spectator. He is unaware that Del Mar has spies guarding the house, and is set upon by them. Rushing madly into the conservatory, he faces Del Mar. Both draw their guns, but the fussy old gentleman fires first. His gun is loaded with bullets containing an overpowering gas. Both Del Mar and Elaine fall suffocated to the floor. How the fussy old gentleman escapes is a fitting climax to this episode.

Dir: F. Martin Thornton

In Paris an orphan cartoonist loves a man with a mad wife, who dies in time to prevent her marriage to a jilted Comte.

Dir: Victor Heerman

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

In the gold fields of the Canadian Northwest, a man is falsely accused of a crime and determines that a lookalike is responsible.

Dir: Ewald André Dupont

Fred Hopkins, a jeweler's assistant, replaces the pearl necklace Lord Reading bought as a wedding present with a worthless imitation. A hunt begins, which the flower seller Rahel and the jumping jack dealer David are able to end by finding the jewelry. Hopkins, who is convicted, then commits suicide for fear of being punished with poison.

Dir: Roy Clements

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

A man agrees to marry the daughter of a deceased friend - who is, in fact, being impersonated by the servant girl of the daughter, who has also already died.

Dir: Fred Stranz

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: George B. Seitz

Episode 1: "The Violet Diamond" Pearl Standish, bored with society and longing for excitement, is held up by a masked man who demands the violet diamond of The Daroon. He tells her that her father bought the diamond from a villainous priest in Arabia who stole it from its rightful owner. The masked man, Nicholas Knox, has been given three days to recover the diamond or die at the hands of the Secret Order at the head of which is a priestess who stops at nothing to gain her end. The only man that might know something about this diamond is Richard Carslake, her father's former secretary. In spite of the knowledge that her father and he had a disagreement, she requests him to give her what information he has concerning the violet diamond. Just then Knox enters, Pearl points to him and says, "There is the man who has the gold setting in which the stone belongs." Immediately Carslake moves toward the door. Locking it and drawing his revolver, he demands the setting for the diamond. Searching Knox he finds the setting and is about to escape when through the window comes the priestess, accompanied by two of her spies, who sneak behind Carslake and knock the revolver from his hand. In the struggle which follows, Knox recovers the setting. After a struggle Carslake escapes and Pearl finds herself alone with Knox. Wishing to know the identity of the mysterious woman who helped him, Pearl asks Knox. "I can tell you nothing," is his reply. "Well then if you can tell me nothing, I want you to hand over that apparently much-valued setting for the violet diamond," Pearl assures, covering him. Assisted by her butler, Pearl secures this setting, but the spies come to Knox's assistance again and Pearl is attacked by an Arab. In a struggle with him on the stairs, she is hurled over the rail but catches on to the chandelier and falls to the floor. Knox is finally overpowered by the butler. Standing by a window, Pearl discovers a knife stuck in the wall. Pearl pulls this knife from the wall and discovers a note on it. "Fifteen days are allotted to you to return the violet diamond or die," it reads. "What is this mysterious diamond, the possession of which means such dangers?" is the question which will bring audiences back for the next chapter.