The Definitive Guide Deeply Connected to More to Be Pitied Than Sco...

Dir: Edward LeSaint

The city editor remarked to his star reporter, Jimmie, "This is the biggest steal that any corporation tried to put over the municipality. Run it down, break it up, and you will own the shop." Jimmie went after the new assignment fast and furious, and the front page of his paper began to attract the attention of the populace to a new condition of affairs, in which a railroad trust appeared to be hiding behind an innocent application made by a coterie of seemingly disinterested citizens, all of whom were associated with big corporations. Councilman Blake, a cold-blooded politician, led the controlling faction of aldermen, and while he had long been a "suspect" nobody was clever enough to "put it over on him." At the preliminary council meeting only a single vote was required to give the "people's property" to the railroad trust. The lacking vote was Black, who, knowing his previous power, reserved his right to hold the big job in leash. At this point in the game, grim Grayson, the head of the railway trust, came to the city secretly, just as Blake expected he would, praying for a conference. In the interim Reporter Jimmie met and impressed Alice, Blake's stenographer, who felt the power of his personality, and could not restrain her interest in the story that was unfolding as he came day after day for interviews. When she learned that Councilman Blake was to be a guest that night at Grayson's country home she "tipped it off" to Jimmie by 'phone. He managed to get unobserved into Grayson's house and his sharp ears overheard the conclusion of the bargain between the councilman and the magnate. Blake hurried away, and Grayson sat down to enjoy reflecting that he had the winning of the franchise fight in his pocket, signed for a certainty by Blake. The alert Jimmie leaped upon him, bound and gagged him, and, possessing himself of the precious document, escaped from the house and made a run for his horse he had concealed in the shrubbery. He ran into the husky secretary of Grayson and handed him a punch on the point of the jaw and then proceeded to his horse. The secretary, however, rallied for the count and took a shot at Jimmie, that came so close that it made a brain bruise across his brow. Grayson's man staggered to his feet, rushed to the house and found his master trussed up like a stuffed turkey. He released him, learned the truth of the raid, and consequently, upon his master's demand, rushed for his automobile. The wounded reporter rode madly on and then the automobile came flashing into the scene. Jimmie tried out all the tricks at his command in fox chasing, in cutting across ploughed fields and taking down narrow, rough lanes, but Grayson's car ate up the miles savagely and came closer and closer. Now they were in the city limits, and on a shaded boulevard the car caught up with the tired rider and his foam-flecked steed. Jimmie was dragged from his horse, and was about to be thrown in the car and carried away when a mounted patrolman appeared and asked impertinent questions. Jimmie thrust the document in the officer's hand, when Grayson declared his identity and insisted that a valuable document had been stolen from him. The patrolman glanced at the document and the significance of it appealed to him so powerfully that he handed it back to Jimmie and told him to "Beat it." Then he compelled the frantic Grayson and his huskies to conform with the speed laws so he could trot alongside their automobile through the park. Things were happening in the City Hall in the interim and likewise at the newspaper office, a sort of expectant hush that comes before great news "breaks." The editor was about to order the presses to start, giving up the expected scoop as too late, when Jimmie with a bloody handkerchief bound about his brow, and the knock-out document in his hand, staggered into the office with his smashing story. It was a big thing and the bold-face type played it up scare-heads. The scene shifted to the council chamber. Blake concluded his speech and the voting was about to begin, when Jimmie darted into the room and pushed the "extra" under the nose of the astonished Blake, and then passed other copies around so quickly that the great franchise steal died a-bornin'. Blake's pretty stenographer was at work early that morning when the telephone rang and she recognized the voice, unmistakably Jimmie's that said, "Hello a friend is talking. Will you marry me?" It wasn't hard to guess the answer, and when the orange blossoms bloomed upon her brow two months later, the newspaper that Jimmie helped to the greatest scoop of the time was heavily represented both in "among those present" and the bridal gifts.

Dir: Edward LeSaint

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

Schoolteacher Faith Miller inherits $10,000. Edson, McGill and Slade, three enterprising crooks, own the Moonflower, a worthless mine. Slade goes East to unload, and hearing of Faith's good fortune, he approaches her and finds her easy prey: she buys a share in the mine for $9,000. Advised by friends to take a rest, Faith goes to inspect her mine. Arriving at the town, she is insultingly approached and the man who has annoyed her is knocked down by Jim Ralston, a young mining engineer. She goes to the home of Big Annie, who tells her that the mine is worthless. The miners, touched by her beauty and helplessness, engage her to teach their school, the only available pupils being Pete, a half-wit, and Jim, who is held in connection with a hold-up committed by Edson and McGill. At first Jim rebels, but when he sees the teacher, he becomes a willing student. Faith recognizes him as her protector. Jim conceives the idea of salting the mine, and wires Slade to the effect that the mine is rich with silver and not to sell. Slade returns. Edson and McGill, pursued by a posse, reach the schoolhouse and persuade Jim to conceal them. Flynn, at the head of the posse, accuses Jim of hiding the bandits and is killed by a shot from an unseen hand. Jim is arrested as the murderer. Faith intercedes, begs him to flee and is handcuffed to him. They escape and take refuge in a mountain cabin. Jim shoots the fetter apart, breaking his wrist, and insists that Faith return home. As Jim tells Slade of Faith's whereabouts, Slade notices the fetter on his hand, takes him to the outskirts of the town and the miners prepare to bang him. Faith sells her interest in the mine back to Slade, and Pete, as he delivers a note to her from Jim, also tells Faith of Jim's peril. The outlaws, Edson and McGill, are shot as they resist arrest, Edson's dying confession of Flynn's murder reaching Jim's executioners just as they refuse to listen to Faith's pleading for her lover's life. Faith, weakened by the trying ordeals through which she has passed, sinks to the ground, only to be taken into the waiting arms of the man she loves.

Dir: Edward LeSaint

De Guise visits the Paris home of the Marquis Henry De Montfort to obtain the marquis' system of beating the roulette wheel. In the struggle, De Guise kills the marquis and then abducts his daughter Blanche, who has fainted. On the road, De Guise is knocked unconscious in a fight with the "Stag," a leader of the Paris underworld, and the latter takes Blanche to his den in the slums. Blanche awakens with no recollection of what has transpired and begins a new life with the Stag. Using her father's roulette system, the two soon make a fortune and enter Paris' select gambling society. Blanche meets De Guise, stabs him, and is arrested, but an operation for "pressure on the brain" saves her from prison and restores her memory. De Guise recovers and again abducts Blanche, but the Stag comes to her rescue and, now choosing straight life, finds happiness with her.

Dir: Edward LeSaint

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of The Devil's Wheel perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Doctor Lambert takes his wife west to a mining town, where he can both minister and doctor. His wife is not happy and upon discovering she is pregnant, runs away with a gambler. He soon dumps her, and she comes back and dies giving birth to a baby girl. Lambert, out of his mind with rage, leaves the baby on a doorstep and vows to never have faith again. He returns to the mining town fifteen years later a drunkard. He meets young, kind Lily Sawyer and is greatly impressed by her compassionate nature. Meanwhile, the gambler has returned and decides to abduct Lily, but his partner recognizes Lambert and tells him Lily is his daughter. He kills the gambler before he can harm Lily and soon his faith returns.

Dir: Edward LeSaint

Hal, now fully grown, leaves his wife Edith and his estate in England to return to the land of his Indian mother. There he works for the rights of Indians in a land deal which pits him against David Ladd, the wily reservation agent who is secretly in collusion with the asphalt trust which is trying to rob the Indians. Hal falls in love with Wah-na-gi, the Carlisle graduate who has returned to teach at the agency school, but he is too honorable to conceal that he is already married. Upon the death of his father, Hal returns to England as Lord Effington to discover that Edith loves Lord Yester and wants a divorce. Hal gladly agrees, but when the family physician informs him that Edith is addicted to morphine and his presence may save her life, Hal consents to stay. Returning to America to testify in a lawsuit against the asphalt trust, Hal regretfully informs Wah-na-gi that he cannot leave his wife. The Indian maiden goes off in the snow to kill herself by the grave of Hal's mother when Hal receives a message that Edith has died from an overdose of morphine. Hal rushes into the snow, overtakes Wah-na-gi and asks her to marry him.

Dir: Edward LeSaint

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

Chicago Charlie, a crook, gets Harriet Gordon, a wealthy heiress, to elope with him. He takes her to a road house on the promise that a minister will be waiting. There he drugs her. Detective Scully arrives, but Charlie gets away. Five years later Harriet is engaged to the district attorney. Chicago Charlie is arrested and convicted, Peggy, his sweetheart, pleads to see him. Harriet helps her and takes her as a maid. Chicago Charlie escapes from prison. He tells Peggy he must have money to get away. With Harriet, Peggy meets Charlie. She recognizes him. She .gives him money, but he demands also the engagement ring she wears. He takes it. While Peggy is trying to pawn the ring Charlie attacks Harriet, who takes a knife from a table and kills him. Detective Scully finds Peggy leaning over the body. Through the ring he traces Harriet. However, knowing all the circumstances, he reports to headquarters that a detective stabbed Charlie while Charlie was trying to escape.

Dir: Edward LeSaint

Just prior to World War I, the Kaiser sends Baron von Zeller to inform Emperor Franz Josef of Austria that he is ready to declare war on France. Sensing the impending crisis, the French War Office dispatches secret agent René de Bornay to investigate the situation, and upon his arrival, he cultivates the friendship of Franz Josef's mistress, the Countess Griselda von Arenburg. Austria's Archduke Franz Ferdinand, distressed with the countess' influence over the Emperor, resolves to get rid of her, but she learns of his plans and commissions her Serbian servant Danilo to murder him. Baron von Zeller, who loves the countess, covers up her part in the assassination and asks her to come to Berlin to serve the Kaiser as an agent. In Berlin, she again meets René, and although she has been assigned to expose him, the countess falls in love with the Frenchman and urges him to escape to France. Just as René leaves her apartment, von Zeller enters, and having learned that she hid René from the Germans, has her shot on the spot.

Dir: Edward LeSaint

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of The Squaw Man's Son perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Rhandah, who is to succeed his father, the Maharajah of Dharpuli, is sent to Oxford to be educated. The Princess Nada, to whom he is engaged, fearful of the outcome of his journey, gives him an amulet to bring him back to her in safety. At the college, he soon becomes accustomed to English customs, but refuses all invitations into society. He meets Amy, daughter of Colonel Dawe, and they become interested in each other. Amy wagers that she can persuade the Prince to give her the amulet and succeeds in having him accept her invitation to a party; she manages to see Rhandah alone and secures the amulet. Dick Larimer, to whom Amy is engaged, denounces Amy for doing such a thing. Asa Judd, tutor to the Maharajah's son, has taken a snap shot of Amy and Rhandah and sent it to Colonel Marcy, the Resident British Councilor. Mulai Singh, an aspirant to the throne, obtains possession of the photograph. Rhandah, embittered, returns home just as the Maharajah dies. By his bedside he swears eternal vengeance on all the English and is overheard by Nada. He seeks out Mulai Singh and obtains the picture, declaring his intention of leading his people against the English, issuing a command that all captured English be brought before him. Dick is taken and Rhandah orders him to the dungeon. Amy has come to India with her father and is also taken by the outlaws, but when they see the amulet they release her. Nada recognizes her from the picture, and comes upon Rhandah and Amy as he is contemplating what he shall do with Dick. Rhandah makes advances to Amy which she dares not resent, and tells him she will do anything to save Dick, but he replies there is nothing that will save her sweetheart. Nada, listening, ready to kill Amy with a dagger, overhears and rushes into Rhandah's arms vowing her belief in him. At Amy's solicitation, Nada intercedes and Dick is set free. All the trouble and turmoil is at last ended, and both couples are happy.

Dir: Edward LeSaint

Inez de Pierrefond's mother forces her to marry a wealthy man who proves to be such a brute that after he is killed in a drunken brawl, Inez swears that she will never marry again. Later, she falls in love with John Hemingway, an Iowan who has come to Paris to study architecture, but when she tells him her views on marriage, he leaves her in shock. His friend, Charles Abbey, convinces him that Inez's ideas are quite logical, and for a time, the two live together in perfect happiness. Upon the couple's return to Delphi, Iowa, however, the town gossips assume that the beautiful and cultured Parisian is an adventuress, and when they learn of her book, Free Love , they call a meeting to inform John's mother of Inez's low character. Hearing of their plan, Inez roundly denounces the villagers as hypocrites and then explains her views to Mrs. Hemingway, who lovingly forgives her. Mrs. Hemingway's tender devotion to her son so moves Inez, however, that she eventually consents to the marriage ceremony.

Dir: Edward LeSaint

When his fiancée commits suicide after being used by an American artist, a Japanese art dealer seeks to get vengeance by seducing the artist's wife.