Top-Tier Alternatives Exploring the Legacy of Mrs. Leffingwell's Bo...

Dir: Walter Edwards

A Pair of Silk Stockings is a 1918 American silent marital comedy film starring Constance Talmadge and Harrison Ford. It was directed by Walter Edwards and produced and distributed by Select Pictures Corporation. The film is based on a 1914 Broadway play of the same name.

Dir: Walter Edwards

David Waltham is the head of a syndicate, which corners the food supply. His wife hears of her husband's operation and begs him to consider the poor, who will be unable to pay the prices that his monopoly will exact. He is merciless, however. Among those who suffer from Waltham's efforts is an engineer named John Adams. The bank in which his small funds are deposited undergoes a "run" and he loses all his money. He has previously lost his job. The Adams family is reduced to starvation and finally Adams in desperation breaks a window in a bakery and gets away with an armful of bread. He is arrested and is sent up to the workhouse for thirty days. The rent collector comes around, but Mrs. Adams is unable to pay him anything though she slaves over the washboard and her two children assist her. Seeing that the woman is beautiful, the collector gives her some money, telling her to buy her children and herself a square meal. She reluctantly accepts his gift. Little by little she descends until she even appears in a low dance hall with the man. John Adams returns from jail and goes to his humble rooms. There he finds his children in bed. Finally his wife appears in beautiful and expensive clothes. She appears disgusted with the life she leads and wipes the paint off her lips with loathing. Then she suddenly sees her husband, who is staring at her as if in a trance. She is almost hysterical from fright. He grasps her wrists roughly and demands an explanation. She tells him that she has done it for the children's sake. This plea saves her life, but the soul of John Adams is filled with bitterness. Widespread suffering and destitution prevail and bread lines are everywhere in the poorer quarters of the great city. Men and women practice deception to get a little more bread and some get into fights overcome by their own and their children's sufferings. Three desperate men invade the sanctum of David Waltham, but are quelled by his masterful manner and slink away impotently when he tells them that he will call the police if they are not gone in a minute. John Adams gets a job in Waltham's big storage house. A fellow worker points out Waltham to Adams and the latter's rage against the big monopolist is aroused to a high pitch of fury as he thinks of his wife's degradation. Adams blames it all on Waltham. That night he secrets himself in the big warehouse and telephones to Waltham saying that the police are down there, having heard of a secret plan on the part of some of the starving populace to destroy the place. He tells Waltham to leave his auto a block or two away from the building, when he comes, to avoid suspicion. Adams gets Waltham in the building and securely ties him and then leaves him to starve. That he may not be found, Adams surrounds the magnate with a big pile of boxes. In his struggles to free himself, Waltham upsets the towering piles of boxes and they topple over completely burying him.

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

Dir: Walter Edwards

Wealthy John Steele has a handsome young son, Frank, on whom he pins his hopes. But riches lead Frank not into social standing and duty, but into depravity, drug-addiction, criminal activity, and finally to tragedy.

Dir: Walter Edwards

Paul Boudeaux shares lodgings with Richard Landers, his business partner, and Richard's young wife Matilda. Paul and Richard are in deep financial trouble, but when Paul's wealthy uncle, Batiste Boudeaux, comes to visit for a night, Matilda suddenly is inspired with a plan to save the business. Knowing that Uncle Batiste will give Paul $50,000 if the young man marries, Matilda introduces herself as Paul's wife, which greatly pleases the old bachelor. Complications arise, however, when Batiste decides to stay for a month, and the situation gets worse when early one morning, he sees Paul sleeping on the sofa and Richard stealing away from Matilda's room. Because Paul falls in love with Batiste's nurse Rose, the partners finally get their money, and even the old uncle gives up his bachelorhood by marrying fashion model Mme. Julie.

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

Dir: Walter Edwards

After building a financial empire, Frederick Mallery feels chained to his wife Winnie, who stood by him during the years of poverty. As a result, he offers Warren Woods, a down-and-out former playboy, $50,000 to seduce Winnie, so that he will have an excuse for a divorce. Warren works hard at his job, but instead of weakening Winnie's devotion to Frederick, he himself falls in love with her. Needing the money, however, he boasts to Frederick of having seduced Winnie. Suddenly, Frederick becomes jealous, and after calling off the deal with Warren, he goes to Winnie and tells her that he loves her.

Dir: Walter Edwards

Alma Clayton is a butterfly type of girl. She is being wooed by a gilded youth, Neil Webster, whom she likes to a degree. At a public banquet Alma becomes acquainted with Wayne Burrous, a brilliant criminal lawyer, and won by the man's eloquence, she casts Neil aside and eventually marries Wayne. Her husband's strict attention to business piques her, and it results in Wayne leaving her use of their large mansion while he takes up his residence in the club. Alma, while out shopping with a friend, meets Neil, who tells her that his love for her is gone. At home she calls him by telephone. He arrives at Alma's home, and informs her that what he said about his love for her is not true, and that he is actuated by the desire of revenging himself on Wayne for winning her away from him. She is undetermined whether to elope with him or not. Meanwhile Jim Sims, a burglar, breaks into Wayne's room. After taking a number of gold and silver pieces his eye fixes on a portrait of Wayne. He recognizes it as representing the lawyer who had once saved him from jail, although Sims was penniless: He carefully replaces the articles from his sack to the dresser and is about to leave empty-handed on account of respect for his benefactor when he hears the excited conversation of Alma and Neil. He steals down the stairs and suddenly confronts them just as Alma is about to yield and go away with Neil. At the point of his gun he makes Neil sit quietly, while Alma is compelled to tie him with a rope to his chair. Then Sims makes the woman go upstairs to Wayne's room, where he shows her the picture of her husband and tells her of his saving Sims from jail. The burglar insists that such a man could not be the brute that she thinks him. He is so forceful in the presentation of the claims of Wayne and of the penalty that she would have to pay if she should break the laws of society that the woman is won over. Then Neil manages to drag himself, still securely bound to the chair, over to a telephone. He gets the receiver off the hook with his teeth and calls the police. On their arrival Neil is released. Alma hides the burglar and tells the officers that the burglar escaped through a window. When they are gone she rejects Neil. Neil goes out the back door, is mistaken for the burglar and is badly beaten up by an officer. Alma gives the burglar the picture of her husband as a souvenir of gratitude for his aid in setting her right. She then calls up her husband, and on his return there is a happy reconciliation.

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Good Night, Paul perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Dir: Walter Edwards

After discovering her husband Roger has been unfaithful to her, Angela De Haven sets out to make all men pay for his deceit. Roger, despairing of ever winning back his wife, sails for the South Sea islands and is lost during the voyage. Meanwhile, Angela establishes a salon where prominent men vie for her attentions. One of the members of her court, Bragdon Brant, controls the Bob Cat mine, but not the railroad extending to it which is owned by Bob Spalding. Brant sends Angela West to buy the controlling interest in the railroad and she meets Bob, who falls in love with her. Angela refuses to marry him and flees after securing control of the road through Bob's partner, Durant. She returns to New York, intent upon ruining Brant, but is prevented from carrying out her plans when Bob appears and forces her to realize the destructive path that her life has taken. Angela then restores the railroad shares to Bob, and thus reconciled, they travel West to spend the rest of their lives together.

Dir: Walter Edwards

Foster Borrum is the wealthiest man in the town of Norwalk. He practically owns everything. He has won his position by merciless grinding and is regarded by the villagers with fear and contempt. A stern man, with only one softening influence in his life, his wife, whom he idolizes. The wife dies and Borrum turns on the world with added bitterness and hatred. He is living a life of dreary isolation when one day a visitor steps off the train at the station, a little girl; also alone in the world; who has been tagged to her destination in the search of a relative who has long since disappeared. The villagers are too poor to adopt the child. In a cynical mood Borrum takes possession of the girl. Ivy Marten, and installs her in his home. Ivy, aching for sympathy, meets with no response from the austere man, whose treatment of her borders on brutality. Exaggerated reports of this reach the authorities, and Borrum is haled before them. Ivy, who loves the old man in spite of his coldness, is the prime witness for the defense and her loyal support of her guardian wins the day. A change comes over the attitude of Borrum towards the child and the world in general and with a softened heart he strives to make life happier for the orphan and for the hitherto despised inhabitants of the poverty stricken village.

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

Dir: Walter Edwards

Dr. Dudley Duprez is a well-known Louisiana physician. His beautiful but wayward niece, Rose Duprez, is abducted by Paul Crenshaw, a friend of the doctor, and to prevent her shame from becoming known, Rose kills herself. Dr. Duprez learns her secret and determines to make Crenshaw expiate his crime. While traveling on a Mississippi River steamer, the doctor wins Mercedes, a beautiful slave, at cards. He takes her home and, passing her off as a distant relative, arranges it so that Crenshaw falls in love with the girl. A wedding is arranged, and immediately after the ceremony Dr. Duprez announces to the assembled guests that Mercedes is a slave and that he considers he has punished Crenshaw sufficiently by making him the husband of a "nigger." A yellow fever epidemic breaks out shortly after, and Crenshaw is shot when attempting to evade the quarantine. Dr. Duprez is told by a dying overseer from the plantation where Mercedes was born that the girl is of Spanish and American ancestry, without a drop of negro blood in her veins, and was made a slave through a conspiracy. The doctor returns home, confesses his wrong to Mercedes and is forgiven by her. In the end they are married.

Dir: Walter Edwards

When playwright Curtis de Forest Ralston becomes enamored of actress Viola Strathmore, who is to appear in his play "Vanity," Viola induces him to change certain parts and give her more lines. Curtis, who is not as talented as he thinks he is, fails at his job but is saved by his wife Anita, a former actress who has forsaken her career for marriage. Anita and her old manager, Bruce Winthrope, fashion the play to suit Viola, and "Vanity" becomes a huge success. The play's triumph enlarges Curtis's ego even further, and he deserts Anita for Viola. When the play's financial backer discovers the illicit relationship between the star and author, however, he withdraws his funds and the play closes. Still in love with Viola, Curtis attempts to continue their affair, but she kills him because she blames him for her downfall. Fearful of the police, Viola takes refuge in a tenement, and when they track her down, Viola's faithful Egyptian servant Borul slays his employer rather than let her perish at the hands of the law.