Visionary Picks In Alignment with the style of Rolling Stones: Cult...

Dir: Dell Henderson

Traveling under the name "Charles Conant," the son of an American mine owner tries to enter England in 1916 after masquerading as a muleteer, but the captain of his ship, suspicious when he sees him looking through a spyglass, plans to take him back to the United States. Charles escapes and visits his relative, Lady Dartridge, and falls in love with her daughter, Lady Joan Templar, who is loved by her cousin, chief constable George Templar who, suspicious of Charles' manner and unexplainable meetings and activities, wants to arrest him as a spy. After Charles handcuffs two German agents, he reveals that he is a secret-service man. Earlier, he mistakenly sold titanium from his father's mine to a German agent. His successful mission recovered the titanium before it went to Germany aboard a U-boat. Promising to wed Lady Joan, Charles leaves to join the Lafayette Squadron in France.

Dir: Dell Henderson

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

Kid Kelly, a gangster in New York's Lower East Side, attempts to rob Goldberg's millinery store. When the police arrive, Flo Haines, who had come to the building to look at an apartment, hides. When the police find her, they charge her with the crime, but the Kid turns himself over to the law instead. After his release, he again meets Flo, who works in an artificial-flower factory by day and at Reverend Roberts' relief mission by night. The Kid soon falls in love with Flo, and his jealous sweetheart Mamie tricks her into coming to her apartment, where she drugs her and turns her over to Joe Carelli, the flower factory's lustful owner. The Kid saves Flo, but when Carelli is found murdered the next day, he is arrested for the crime. The confession of Annie, who had stabbed Carelli in a jealous rage, frees The Kid, who reforms himself and marries Flo.

Dir: Dell Henderson

A young man doubles as a butler and an amateur detective.

Dir: Dell Henderson

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

Press agent J. Butterfield Conroy, known affectionately as "Butts," is left only $500 when his wealthy father dies--until he can show that he has been "of service to humanity" in a scientific capacity. In a New York restaurant, Butts meets Mary Bruce MacDowell when her uncle Angus, an entomologist, chases a butterfly around his table. Smitten with love, Butts follows Mary to Bug Hollow, a resort where the professor is searching for a rare insect. After losing all his money playing poker, Butts starts to walk to Manhattan, when he meets Frank Morrison, an acquaintance, who hires Butts to invent a reputation for him as a scientist so that the professor will allow him to court Mary. Although Butts is successful, Mary, loving Butts, refuses Morrison. After Butts rescues the professor from his burning laboratory, set on fire by Brazilian swindler Ybor Cavallo, the professor consents to Butts' and Mary's marriage and Butts is awarded the rest of his father's estate.

Dir: Dell Henderson

Stubborn Emily Delmar sneaks out of the house to go to a nightclub, and when she discovers that she has left her house keys at home, decides to spend the evening at the apartment of Richard Trotter, a young man who is pursuing her. Trotter comes home to find her there, and proceeds to take her to the house of her Aunt Geraldine. On the way there they stop at a beachfront hotel for dinner, and Emily, not ready to go to her aunt's house just yet, hatches a scheme to stay overnight and have a swim. Unfortunately, her Aunt Geraldine and Herbert Threadgold, a rival for Emily's affections, arrive at the hotel, see Richard and Emily there and assume "the worst". Complications ensue.

Dir: Dell Henderson

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Hit or Miss perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Pampered Frederic "Freddy" Pritchard, warned by his father that he must work or be disinherited, learns how to crack safes to help his girlfriend Gloria Nevins, whose villainous uncle holds security for the family jewels, as well as the right to vote on the disposition of the Nevins Motor Works. After Freddy steals the papers with the aid of his valet Smithson, Gloria's uncle locks him in a warehouse to prevent him from attending a crucial stockholders' meeting. Freddy escapes and saves the factory for Mrs. Nevins, who gives him power of proxy. Pritchard, Sr., pleased with his son, consents to Freddy's marriage to Gloria.

Dir: Dell Henderson

Pretty young seamstress Doria Dane is discovered by a motion picture producer, who transforms her into a film star and then proposes. Doria, however, has fallen in love with a sculptor named George Steele, who has asked her to pose for his statue, "American Militant." Under Doria's influence, George concentrates on his work and avoids his frivolous Greenwich Village friends, with the result that he wins a prestigious award for the statue. Basking in the limelight, George neglects Doria and falls prey to the fashionable Mrs. Schuyler, a wealthy widow who wants him for herself. George's friends are horrified when Doria bursts into his studio and shatters his masterpiece, but soon afterwards, she leads him into artist Harry North's studio, where the statue is standing intact. After explaining that she destroyed only Harry's replica of the work, Doria accepts George's heartfelt apology, and the two are reunited.

Dir: Dell Henderson

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Please Help Emily perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Shark Rawley is a sailor aboard the tramp steamer Aurora , presided over by a brutal captain named Sanchez. While ashore one night, Shark and Sanchez encounter society girl Doris Selby and her friends on a slumming expedition at a dockside bar called the Wine Room. Entrapped by some of the predatory characters that infest the place, Doris escapes through a cellar only to abducted by Sanchez who then takes her to the Aurora . Arriving at the pier just as the ship is leaving, the Shark catches the vessel and, once aboard, battles the captain and crew for possession of Doris. In the ensuing fight, the Aurora catches fire and all hands are forced to abandon ship. The Shark saves Doris, and when the rescue ship finally reaches them, the pair have fallen in love.

Dir: Dell Henderson

Engrossed in his business affairs, John Kirby fails to assess the seriousness of his wife Helen's objections to the constant parade of business chums and their mistresses who come to dinner. When Kirby gives Helen the ultimatum of accepting the status quo or filing for divorce, she divorces him and obtains a position as a stenographer in the office of one of her husband's friends, but leaves after he makes advances toward her. Finding employment as a model in a dress shop, Helen is invited by one of the girls to attend a masquerade ball with two gentlemen friends. Helen agrees and discovers that her escort is her ex-husband. Although he cannot identify Helen because they are masked, Kirby suspects that his date is his ex-wife and arranges for another meeting in which he asks Helen to remarry him, and she agrees to make him her second husband.

Dir: Dell Henderson

Helene De Travillac, a sweat little French girl, loves her handsome cousin, Andre D'Eguzon, but a scheming aunt has engaged her to Valentin LeBarroyer, a methodical, statistic-loving "stick," but wealthy. On the wedding morning Andre suddenly appears on the scene and pleads with Helene. She hesitates, a little, tears off her veil and flees with her lover to her old home in the country. There her grandmother makes the natural mistake of thinking Andre is the husband. The resulting complications are amusing. Finally arrives the discarded Valentin, hunting for his bride. When he dins her he proves himself a man, and "The Beautiful Adventure" ends happily for the lovers.