Editor's Top Picks Sharing the Atmosphere of Private Worlds: Cult G...

Dir: Gregory La Cava

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Gregory La Cava

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

Ma is chasing a milk devouring fly, while uncle, in the garden, is sweeping the carpet with a vacuum cleaner. Then he falls beneath a tree near a beehive. The twins immediately suck the bees into the vacuum, and go in search of Pa, who, worn out from painting the outhouse also slumbers. Awakened by a dose of angry bees, Pa and Ma give chase, and after great trouble the twins are captured and dealt with in a manner befitting their crimes.

Dir: Gregory La Cava

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Gregory La Cava

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

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Gregory La Cava

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: William Parke

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

Bruce Wendell, the son of West Virginia coal mine owner James Wendell, graduates from West Point and prepares to lead a fighting unit to the front during World War I. As his father lies dying, however, he convinces Bruce to remain at home and guard the mine. Bruce's fiancée Ann Blair assumes that he is a coward and breaks off their engagement, but her brother Bobbie remains Bruce's loyal friend. Meyer, a German agent, persuades railroad president Parrish to refuse to transport Wendell's coal, but when Bruce adamantly refuses to close the mine, the spy's men decide to blow it up. While Ann is being abducted by Meyer, Bobbie is buried in an explosion at the mine. Bruce rescues Bobbie and then sends a plea to Lieutenant Parrish to rescue Ann. Meyer and his gang are captured and Ann renews her vow of love to Bruce.

Dir: Gregory La Cava

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Dallas M. Fitzgerald

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Smash-Up in China perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

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.

Dir: Edgar Jones

A mail-order bride arrives at a Maine lumber camp but doesn't like her prospective husband.

Dir: Edward LeSaint

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.