The Global Archive Complementing the Tone of Reckless Decision: Cul...

Dir: John W. Noble

John Kendall was brought up in a wealthy family, but when his father loses the family fortune and then dies, John is left penniless. He joins the army and rises to the rank of sergeant. He soon meets and falls in love with Edith Ferris, the daughter of Col. Dickinson. When he talks to her at a party, Lt. Burkett upbraids him for fraternizing with an officer's family. Edith's mother, not wanting her daughter getting involved with a lowly enlisted man, conspires with Lt. Burkett to discredit John.

Dir: John W. Noble

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

The story of Reverend 'Satan' Sanderson, Hugh Stires and Jessica Holmes, a beautiful and romantic blind girl and ward of David Stires, father of Hugh. The latter is signing his will, making Jessica his sole heir, thereby disinheriting his dissolute son. Jessica protests and Reverend Sanderson protests to David on behalf of Hugh. Sanderson acknowledges that he himself was a wayward youth in college, the leader of a fast-set and looked favorably upon by Hugh, and he feels responsibility for Hugh's downfall. David Stires is obdurate and Jessca's sympathy goes out to Hugh and she blames Sanderson for Hugh's troubles. Sanderson, though, is in love with Jessica. Hugh returns home, gains his father's forgiveness, and weds Jessica, whose eyesight had been restored by a medical operation. And then David learns that Hugh has forged his name to a check. Davis threatens his son with jail and Hugh runs away and seeks Sanderson's help, again. From there the story takes a few turns.

Dir: John W. Noble

Rhy MacGhesney and her two brothers, Clem and Sonnie, live with their father and their servant Maggie in a small boom mining town in Colorado. The boom has passed to the camps further on, leaving their little camp practically deserted. Rhy still has faith in the claim her father worked up to the time he was killed, some five years before, but her brother hates the life of the camp, and wants to sell for what they can get and go back to New York, where he feels he can have a chance to make something of himself. Their neighbor across the street is Lewis Beresford, whose obvious mission in the camp is one of pleasure, but who is in reality a mining expert, connected with big mining interests. He has ingratiated himself into the affection of the people of this little camp, and shows a great liking for Rhy and her brothers. Steve Towney, the former mine superintendent for "The Three of Us," is in love with Rhy and is jealous of Beresford, as he has been accepted as suitor for Rhy's hand, up to the time of Beresford's coming. Mr. and Mrs. Bix, Rhy's closest friends in the camp, give a Hallowe'en dinner, which is to be the biggest event of the year. On the day that the dinner is to be given, Steven strikes, by accident, mineral. This assures the success of the mine on which he holds an option, and which adjoins "The Three of Us." Overjoyed, he rushes to Rhy to tell the good news, informing her that it will be impossible for him to attend the Bix dinner, as his option expires the next day at noon. Rhy confesses her love for him, and asks him to wait until next morning. She will then go with him. He consents, giving her the option and samples of ore. Clem overhears the conversation. He is bribed by Beresford to reveal it. The latter thus has an opportunity to make an attempt to gain possession of the mine. He is at the recording office waiting to establish a claim the moment that the option to Towney's mine expires. But Rhy saves the mine and proves her loyalty to Steve by a thrilling ride over the mountains. This is shown in a series of exciting pictures. A great explosion for the breaking of ground for a smelter for the two successful mines ends the picture.

Dir: John W. Noble

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

To the village of Old Chester comes Helena Richie in search of balm for a broken heart. Her dissolute husband, in a drunken rage, has killed their little child. This tragedy induces Helena to listen to the pleadings of Lloyd Pryor to leave Paris, where the Richies are living, and come to America with him. Pryor makes frequent visits to Helena in the little home he establishes for her in Chester, and the townspeople accept the statement that he is her brother. Old Benjamin Wright, however, has his own suspicions as to the relations between the two. His interest is more than a casual one, for his grandson, Sam Wright, a young poet, is in love with Helena. The old man tells him his belief with regard to Mrs. Richie. Sam asks her whether the suspicion has any foundation, and when she admits that it has he kills himself. Dr. Lavendar, the kindly old minister, has in his charge a child who needs a home. He has decided to send the little boy, David, to Mrs. Richie for a trial visit. She welcomes the boy, who fills the place in her heart left vacant by the death of her own child. Her heart becomes bound up in the boy, though she is torn by conflicting emotions by the thought of her own false position. Helena's husband has been in such feeble health, owing to his dissipations, that she has constantly expected his death to release her so that she and Pryor may be married. Finally the long-expected event happens, but Pryor has tired of her. His promise of marriage has been nothing but a ruse to get her to elope with him. Looking about for an excuse to break the bonds which have become irksome to him, he tells her that she must give up David. She refuses and he says she must choose between the child and himself. Realizing Pryor's unworthiness, she clings to the child, and Pryor leaves her. Helena goes to Dr. Lavendar, tells him the truth about her past relations with Pryor, and asks him to let her keep the child with her always. The old man's answer is: "Can you teach him to tell the truth, you who have lived a lie? Can you make him brave, you who could not endure? Can you make him honorable, you who have deceived all?" Helena is silent in the face of this accusation. She decides to give David up and to leave Old Chester. She tells Dr. Lavendar that on her way to the station next day she will come to bid David goodbye. Next day at the rectory Dr. Lavendar asks her to take with her a parcel which she will find wrapped up in the coach. She promises, and in the coach finds the package to be little David, all wrapped up for traveling. Her willingness to sacrifice her own happiness for the boy has proved her worthiness to keep him, and Helena and little David leave Old Chester to find peace among new surroundings.

Dir: John W. Noble

While touring India, noted English criminologist Richard Duvall saves the life of a Buddhist priest who rewards him with the presentation of a wonderful crystal globe. By gazing in it the priest demonstrates that Duvall can fall into a cataleptic state and his astral body is released and is free to roam at will. Leaving the temple, Duvall collides with Grace Ellicott, who is touring the Far East with her aunt, the Countess D'Este and the Count. A mutual admiration between Grace and Duvall results from the accidental meeting. Later, in England, the mistress of Count D'Este makes financial demands which he cannot meet. With his housekeeper, Mrs. Cooke, he plans to put his wife out of the way and thus obtain her fortune. Poison is put in candy which the Countess eats. Her sudden death arouses the suspicion of her niece. On his return to England, Duvall experiments with the magic globe. He is surprised and pleased to see the face of the girl he met in India. Further experiments, while in the cataleptic state, discloses part of the plot that resulted in the death of Grace's aunt, which has cheated her out of the fortune. Duvall seeks out Grace to explain his strange experiments. She tells him that previous to the death of the Countess she had seen her will and that the entire fortune, which included one million dollars in cash, was to be left to her. But after the suspicious death of the Countess, Grace is puzzled when the Count produces a new will in which he is named the sole beneficiary. Duvall succeeds in having his East Indian servant, Purtab Gar, secure a position in the Count's home. Then he proceeds to unravel the mystery and at the same time recover the one million dollars for Grace. Count D'Este is driven to distraction by finding, everywhere he turns in his home, cards that read: "I want One Million Dollars. Victor Gerard." Disguised as "Victor Gerard," Duvall pays a visit to the Count. He insists that the one million dollars be ready for him at midnight, when he will call again. D'Este notifies the police and the chief calls in Duvall to assist in solving the mystery and apprehending "Gerard." Duval outlines a plan in which the Count is directed to have the money ready as demanded. He assures him the premises will be well protected and that "Gerard" cannot escape. "Gerard" arrives at the appointed time and mysteriously disappears, together with the money, as the police close in. Duvall walks out of a room where they think they have "Gerard" trapped. Count D'Este accuses Grace of stealing the money and attempts to strangle her when Purtab Gar saves her. Duvall succeeds in obtaining a confession of the murder from the housekeeper, when he traps her as she is attempting to poison Grace. Duvall explains everything to the mystified police. D'Este is carried off under arrest and Grace and Duvall are left happily together.

Dir: John W. Noble

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

Philip Nolan III refuses to fight for the cause of democracy. His father, Philip Nolan II, who has failed in his efforts to convince his son of the fallacy of arguments, then lays bare all the details of the shameful treason of his own ancestor, the first Philip Nolan, "The Man Without a Country." The father's story shows how the first Philip Nolan played into the hands of Aaron Burr; how Thomas Jefferson was elected president over Burr; how Alexander Hamilton prevented the conscienceless Burr becoming governor of New York; the duel between Hamilton and Burr; how Philip Nolan was later arrested on his wedding night for aiding Burr, who had conspired to start a rival government in the south to wage war against the United States, and how he was later banished from the United States for saying "Damn the United States! I wish I might never hear its name again," and how Philip Nolan died kissing the flag of the country he had execrated. Deeply moved, Philip Nolan III loses no time in joining the boys in khaki.

Dir: John W. Noble

A story about the affects of cocaine on the lives of a family.

Dir: John W. Noble

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

In a prologue, the relationship between capital and labor throughout history is shown in caveman days, Biblical times, and the feudal period. In the main story John Stoddard, a construction chief building a gigantic bridge for capitalist Courtlandt Van Nest, sympathizes with the workers' dissatisfaction with low salaries and subsistence conditions. When his attempts to negotiate with Van Nest fail, the workers, led by agitator Lavinsky, prepare to strike. Van Nest's daughter Janet, who is engaged to a militia captain, visits the site and is appalled by the squalor. Despite their differences, Janet and Stoddard fall in love. When the strike breaks, Van Nest sends in the militia. As they prepare to fire, Stoddard sees Lavinsky about to throw dynamite, and wrestles it away. He then agrees to Van Nest's demand for settling the strike that he refrain from seeing Janet. After Janet leaves home to help poor families, Van Nest looks for her at Stoddard's house where Stoddard demonstrates that because of their similar ancestry, he and Van Nest are not very different. When Stoddard's sister Edith allows Van Nest to witness the surprise reunion of a worker and his wife from Europe, to whom Janet had sent transportation money, Van Nest softens and agrees to Janet's marriage to Stoddard. An epilogue follows showing blindfolded Justice saying to fat Capital and burly Labor, "Why quarrel? You are worthless without the other."

Dir: John W. Noble

Wood Harding, the illustrator, first sees Margot, the model, at a sale of the effects of a poor old artist who befriended her. The auctioneer is belittling the old man's work when Margot rushes upon the platform and tells how kind he has been to her. Harding buys the picture that has been ridiculed, and makes her a present of it. From that time on she poses only for him, and the two fall in love. Harding has a wife from whom he has been separated for some time, but he marries Margot without saying anything about her. The real Mrs. Harding returns, and threatens to have her husband arrested for bigamy. To save the man she loves Margot denies that she has been married to him. The girl goes to a distant city and poses for Mrs. Hall, a miniature painter. Mrs. Hall introduces her to Austin Bland, a novelist, who falls in love with her and asks her to marry him. She tells him frankly that she already has given all the love she possesses to another man. Bland says he will be content if she will only marry him, and she does so. Bland is writing a novel called "The Power of Decision." Its central theme is that "Every mortal has within himself the God-given power of decision." By his own decision each man must act for himself in every crisis. The publishers have engaged Wood Harding to illustrate Bland's book. It is the author's wish that his wife pose as the heroine, and Harding comes to visit at the Bland residence. Neither Margot nor Harding gives a sign of recognition on meeting, but Harding tries to exert his old spell over her. Her husband's book seems to have a special meaning for her. One paragraph in particular fascinates her: "This was the turning point in her life. The choice between these two men, one bound to her by the holy sanctity of the marriage vow, the other calling from out the darkness of the past. Which road? What lies beyond? The power of decision rests with her." Gordon, the butler, surprises Harding in the act of attempting to embrace Margot, and later when she discovers him trying to open the safe he prevents her from calling the police, threatening to expose her to her husband. Bland learns the truth through Mrs. Harding, who sees Margot's picture in an announcement of the new novel. Bland has been asked by his publishers to take a trip with an arctic explorer, to write a series of articles. He accepts. Harding has been urging Margot to go away with him and she cannot come to a decision. She promises to signal him by switching the library lights on and off when she has made up her mind. Bland leaves in his car for the railroad station, but the machine breaks down and he misses his train. Returning, he sees Harding across the street watching the library windows, and then the lights flash off and on. He goes into the house and confronts Margot, who tells him she has been tempted to go away with Harding, but has finally come to a realization of her love for her husband and has summoned Harding to tell him so. Bland does not believe her. The curtains at the French window move and Bland fires at them. A man falls, enveloped in the curtains. Margot urges her husband to escape, saying she will take the blame. Bland finds he has shot not Harding, but the butler, Gordon, who has come to attempt robbery. Harding has hurried away on hearing the shot. Margot finally makes her husband realize that, like his heroine, she has chosen the right road and has exercised her God-given power of decision.

Dir: John W. Noble

Faro Black, the chief of the Gypsies, finds out that his son Faro and his girlfriend Egypt have gotten married. Infuriated, he tells that their marriage isn't valid, since Egypt is actually the daughter of wealthy Gordon Lindsay, who is on his way to the gypsy camp to claim her. The two promise to remain faithful to each other, but as time passes and she never hears from him, her love turns to bitterness. What she doesn't know is that Faro is being held prisoner by his father who, on his deathbed, tells him a secret that changes everything.