Must-Watch List Comparable to the Style of Riders of Destiny: Cult ...

Dir: Maurice Elvey

A lady marries a horse trainer but withholds herself until her crippled brother is cured.

Dir: Herbert Blaché

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

French dancer Sigrid, diagnosed with a weak heart, is ordered by her doctor never to dance again. But when her dancing skills are needed by her lover's father to help quell a native uprising on the East Indian frontier, she determines to dance whatever the cost.

Dir: Lambert Hillyer

Tough outlaw 'Sierra' Bill falls in love with traveling violinist Nelly Gray and forces her to marry him. They have a child, but their cozy family life is interrupted by gambler Ringo, who not only persuades Nelly to leave her husband but also ruins Sierra at the gaming table. With thoughts of vengeance, the angry Sierra breaks out of jail and goes after Ringo.

Dir: J. Gordon Edwards

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

William Farnum is Drag Harlan, a tough cowboy vigilante. After learning about a gold mine from a dying man, he seeks his daughter (Jackie Saunders) as well as the gold. He falls in love with her, but the same gang that shot the old man is after the gold.

Dir: Raoul Walsh

Dave Henderson, an orphan who has become the beneficiary of a rich man's will, falls in with race-track crooks Martin Tydeman and Bokky Sharvan who bilk him out of his $100,000 inheritance. In retaliation, Dave steals the money from Tydeman's safe, but is caught and sentenced to five years in jail. In prison, Dave becomes friendly with Millman, who is about to be released, and reveals the money's hiding place to him, arranging to rendezvous at the end of Dave's term. Once released, Dave is hounded by members of Tydeman's gang as well as the police, who are waiting for him to retrieve his bounty. While taking refuge at the house of Capriano, an old bomb maker, Dave falls in love with the old man's daughter Teresa. However, Capriano sets a trap for Dave, who awakens in a drugged state to find the $100,000 missing. With the help of Millman and Teresa, Dave recovers the money, turns it over to the police and resolves to go straight.

Dir: Robert N. Bradbury

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

Lumberjack Anthony Briggs has lived alone in the Canadian North Woods ever since his wife took their daughter and ran off to New York City with Robert Lacey, the lumber camp foreman. One day he comes across young Indian chief Lone Wolf and his sister Na-ta-Le, whose tribe has been wiped out by a "spotted sickness", and adopts them. Years afterward Briggs' daughter, now a young woman, returns to lead a hunting party with her fiance, Lacey's son Reynard. Complications ensue.

Dir: Edward Sloman

When Wid Gardner, a friend of the "Sagebrusher" Sim Gage in Montana, advertises for a wife for Sim, he finds Mary Warren. Mary, who has recently lost her shop job in Cleveland, goes West under the impression that she is to be a housekeeper. By the time she arrives, she has become blind and cannot see the ugliness of the poor but honest Sim, who realizes that Mary is too refined for him. After some complications involving Frederick Waldhorn, who recognizes Mary as the girl whose legacy he has stolen, and Big Aleck, Mary and Sim are married. The young, handsome Dr. Barnes, who is working to restore Mary's sight, has also fallen in love with her. Eventually, Sim gives his life in rescuing Mary from a flood. Mary's sight then is restored and she confesses her love for Dr. Barnes. Finally, Mary's friend, Annie Squires, who accompanied her from Cleveland, becomes engaged to Wid.

Dir: F. Martin Thornton

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

In Paris an orphan cartoonist loves a man with a mad wife, who dies in time to prevent her marriage to a jilted Comte.

Dir: Colin Campbell

Although separated at birth, Siamese twins Fabien and Louis de Franchi remain united emotionally. One day, Parisian Emilie de Lesparre arrives in their Corsican village with her father, and both brothers fall in love with her. Louis goes to Paris to study law and sees Emilie often, but Emilie loves Fabien who has remained in Corsica with their mother. While attending a dinner given by another admirer of Emilie's, M. Chateau Renaud, Louis is drawn into a duel with Renaud and killed. Back home, Fabien senses what has happened and journeys to Paris to avenge his brother's death. After he kills Renaud in a duel, Emilie finally confesses her love to Fabien.

Dir: Jacques Jaccard

Douglas MacLeod of the Royal North West Mounted Police is in love with Suzanne Foucharde, who has adopted an abandoned Indian baby, the illegitimate child of Louis La Rocque and Na Fa Kowa. When La Rocque insinuates that the baby is Suzanne's, her brother Henry defends his sister's honor and kills the villain. In spite of his love for Suzanne, it is Douglas' duty to arrest Henry. He does so, but later allows him to escape, taking the bullet himself that was fired after Henry by Constable Burke. Meanwhile, the dead body of Na Fa Kowa is found, accompanied by a note proving that the Indian was the baby's mother. In the spring, when Douglas recovers from his wounds, he and Suzanne are married.