Masterpiece Selection that Capture the Essence of P.K.P.: Cult Guide

Dir: J. Gordon Edwards

Don Caesar de Bazan, a reckless nobleman, falls for Maritana, a gypsy dancing girl. When Maritana is insulted by a drunk, Don Caesar wins her love by coming to her rescue. The two go to Madrid, where the girl is summoned to dance before the Queen. Maritana also attracts the attention of King Charles. Don Jose, the prime minister, who secretly loves the Queen, plots to get Maritana for the King. To do this, he schemes to have Maritana marry a nobleman so she can enter the King's court. Don Jose chooses Don Caesar, who has been imprisoned and sentenced to death for dueling during Holy Week. Don Caesar agrees to marry the woman selected by Don Jose. After the ceremony, his wife believes he has been pardoned, but Don Caesar is sent to a firing squad. He is saved by a youth who has removed the bullets from the rifles. Eventually, Don Caesar wins the King's approval, and he is made prime minister.

Dir: René Plaissetty

A 'coward' resigns his commission and poses as an Arab to save his former comrades.

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

Dir: John W. Brunius

Historical drama which features Gösta Ekman as the dashing rogue who steals the heart of the ethereal Mary Johnson.

Dir: Franklin B. Coates

Shows James' joining of the Quantrill's raiders, a guerrilla force which fought against union sympathizers during the Civil War. James takes allegiance to the Black Flag, the raiders' banner. After the war he receives kind treatment from a judge concerning his acts of crime and later meets and falls in love with Zee, with whom he wishes to live a peaceful life.

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

Dir: Frederic Zelnik

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Anthony Young

Films shot by newsreel companies and army cameramen are featured to tell the story of what it was like for soldiers during World War I.

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Jesse James Under the Black Flag perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Dir: Jerome Storm

Luther Green goes to war in France in 1917. When he comes back to his family home in New Jersey, he has a surprise following him: a beautiful French girl named Nina.

Dir: B.A. Rolfe

In the Roman Coliseum, at the beginning of the Christian era, the Emperor Turnerius, accompanied by his favorite, Nerissa, watches the bestial games in the arena. His son Gordian is asked by Grimaldo the magician to save the life of a Christian girl about to be thrown to the lions. He refuses, whereupon Grimaldo prophesies the fate of the Empire by telling the prince a story of the future: Two thousand years hence, in New York, a parallel situation takes place in which a young man is led to put a stop to the base plans of his father. The prince is so deeply affected by the injustice of the story that he plunges into the arena to save the girl, causing the emperor to die in a fit of rage, thus precipitating the coronation of his son as the new emperor.

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

Dir: Harry Garson

Marta Estevan is ready to leave the convent where she has been reared. Dona Luisa Artega, mother of Rafael and the young girl's guardian, arranges a marriage between the two, because she thinks that Marta's influence will rescue her son from the wild life he is leading and make a man of him. Marta rescues the American Bryton, when he is attacked by Indians, and falls in love with him. Rafael's mother sends Bryton away by telling him that the girl has entered a convent for life, and after telling Marta that Bryton had been killed on the trail she exacts a vow from the girl that she will marry her son. Marta marries Rafael. Bryton comes back after the marriage and after Marta has found out the true character of her husband. The story moves on from this point to a happy ending, but with much action of tense and strenuous nature in between. - Moving Picture World, May 15, 1920.

Dir: Kinka Kimura

About the tragic love of a young man from a coastal village for a girl from a small island.