The Cult Collection Comparable to the Style of Parisian Love: Cult ...

Dir: Louis J. Gasnier

A newspaperwoman finds trouble aplenty when an Inca tribe believes her to be the reincarnation of their long-lost princess.

Dir: Louis J. Gasnier

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

With the help of a private detective, Elaine tries to catch the masked criminal mastermind The Clutching Hand, who has murdered her father.

Dir: Alexander Butler

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

Dir: Louis J. Gasnier

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

Hazel Kirke, daughter of Dunstan Kirke, a miller, is sent off to be educated by Squire Rooney, who has promised to marry her upon her return. All this in repayment for a small sum which Rodney advanced to save the old mill from the auction block. Five years later, near the end of her school years, she meets Arthur Carringford. At home again, she renews her promise to Rodney. Some days later, Arthur on a hunting trip, meets with an accident near the mill, and is confined there for some weeks, during which time a new friendship springs up between the two. Some time later, when Rodney and Dunstan see Hazel and Arthur embracing, Dunstan denounces them and sends them away. Arthur's mother, to save the family fortune, wishes Arthur to marry Maude, her ward, who is loved by Pittacus Greene, and whose fortune was squandered by the elder Carringford before his death. She sends Pittacus and Arthur's valet to dissuade Arthur from marrying Hazel, and they arrive as the two are coming away. At a nearby village, the valet, thinking the ceremony is to be a fake, goes to a saloon for a "minister." He then notifies Mrs. Carringford by letter. A few weeks later that lady arrives during Arthur's absence and tells Hazel that she has been duped. The girl, distracted, runs away and upon Arthur's return the panic-stricken mother tells of the plot and passes away from a heart attack. After a day or two's search for Hazel, Arthur rides toward home, stopping at a small church. The parson proves to be the one who married them and he tells of his good work in the slums of nearby towns disguised as a "tough." The two ride off to the mill hoping to meet Hazel. Unknown to the young people, Dunstan's terrible denunciation of them has left him sightless and it is before Hazel's blinded father that the two are reunited with parental blessing, only after Arthur has rescued Hazel from the icy millpond waters into which she had thrown herself.

Dir: Louis J. Gasnier

Pauline, a young maiden, must protect herself from the treacherous "guardian" of her inheritance, who repeatedly plots to murder her and take the money for himself.

Dir: Edward LeSaint

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

When famous opera singer Elinore Duane undergoes an operation on her throat, she has a series of ether-induced visions. In one, she is transported to ancient Rome where she appears as a much-admired woman in love with Paul, a young heretic, and at odds with Lutor, the high priest. To save her love, she poisons Lutor with her ring. After several other visions which involve variations on this love triangle, Elinore awakens to discover that Lutor is actually her doctor, Sascha Jaccard, and that Paul is the son of a friend who has come to visit the recovering prima donna.

Dir: Louis J. Gasnier

Episode 1: "The Treasure Trove" Stephen Walcott favors the suit of Sebastian Navarro, a Spaniard, for his daughter Leontine's hand, foreseeing in the marriage a prop to strengthen his tottering fortunes. Leontine is deeply in love with Jerry Carson, a penniless young writer who has taken passage on her father's ship. The ship burns at sea and all are reported lost save the captain and a seaman. Jerry, however, has managed to swim ashore, where he finds in a bottle a manuscript written by a shipwrecked scientist, Matthewson, which gives the location on an island of a buried fortune. Matthewson also writes of some black pellets he has manufactured which will give the finder "power beyond the dreams of all men." Sebastian, thinking Jerry dead, tries to hasten his own marriage by having One Lamp Louie forge a paper which casts a blot on Jerry's memory. Jerry, after many hardships, arrives shortly after the paper is shown to Leontine and her father, and tries to secure it from Diego, Sebastian's brother. During the struggle Diego falls and is killed, his head hitting a heavy desk ornament. The only witness is One Lamp Louie, who sees it through a window. When Jerry is found bending over Diego, he is arrested on a charge of murder, Louie keeping silent, fearing he will be implicated also.

Dir: Charles Horan

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

While working as a flower girl in Devlin Maddox's nightclub, Nellie Vaughan meets wealthy young Pelton Van Teel and falls in love. Maddox, desirous of using Nellie to blackmail Van Teel, spreads a rumor that she is his mistress. This makes Nellie uncomfortable, and she demands that Van Teel marry her immediately, to which he agrees. Meanwhile, Van Teel has been losing money gambling to Maddox, who threatens to break up the marriage by producing a worthless check that the young husband has written. Venturing to Maddox's apartment for a showdown, Nellie pulls a gun and demands the check, accidentally shooting Maddox when he throws a lamp at her. Maddox plans to charge Nellie with assault, but when the police arrive, his butler, actually a detective employed by the elder Van Teel, exposes Maddox, who is then arrested, clearing the path for the couple's happiness.

Dir: Harley Knoles

Jim McDonald, the foreman of a shipbuilding plant and head of the labor union, strives to combat the anarchistic propaganda being put forth by Klimoff, the leader of a Bolshevik gang whose goal is to disrupt the country with strikes and anarchy. Despite McDonald's efforts, a strike is called, resulting in chaos. McDonald's child is knocked down by runaway horses abandoned by their striking driver, and dies. Mob scenes take place in America, as well as in Russia. Eventually, the unrest is quelled with an armistice called between Capital and Labor for a year, during which time wages are to be increased to reflect the cost of living, and leaders are to work out a common plan for their mutual advantage. The strikers now realize that they have been pawns of the Bolsheviks and call off the strike, agreeing to the plan.

Dir: Dallas M. Fitzgerald

Confidence artist Flossie Golden attempts to fleece foolish but wealthy James Venable with a breach-of-promise suit. Venable's shrewd attorney, Richard Harding, outwits Flossie by proposing that she marry Venable and live on an allowance of $3,000 per year. Flossie is determined to get even with Harding for ruining her plans. In an attempt to con him, she poses as Innocence Page, but falls in love and marries him instead. Larry, Flossie's former accomplice, endeavors to blackmail her with her errant past, but Harding is already cognizant of the facts and Larry fails.