Cinematic Discoveries Following the Footsteps of Serenade: Cult Guide

Dir: Raoul Walsh

Harle, a successful French businessman, is so absorbed with his factory that he neglects his wife Claire. One day, Harle's old friend Henri, the Marquis de Puymaufray, comes to visit, and Claire falls in love with the cultured and sensitive man. Several months after his departure, Claire gives birth to a baby girl, Claudia, and dies shortly afterward from neglect and depression. Twenty years pass and Claudia has grown into a beautiful woman. Her father wishes her to wed a count, but she loves Maurice, a young American. During a labor dispute, Claudia is abducted by her father's disgruntled employees and held for ransom. The marquis, who has long watched over the girl, loses his life in a rescue attempt, but Maurice finally succeeds in liberating his sweetheart. After the marquis' death, it is revealed that Claudia actually was his daughter, and Harle, crushed, retires to his country estate, freeing the girl to voyage to America with the man she loves.

Dir: Raoul Walsh

The life of Sam Houston--soldier, statesman, patriot, and one of the founders of the Republic of Texas--is depicted.

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

Dir: Raoul Walsh

When notorious bandit Leopoldo Juarez takes refuge in her house, pretty young Mexican girl Carmelita finds herself falling for him, and arranges to meet him at a nearby brook, but falls asleep soon after he leaves. She awakens to find American army officer William Jerome arriving at the house, looking for Jerome. Intrigued by the young officer, she tells him about her scheduled meeting with the bandit. Juarez finds out about it, and forces her to wear his hat and coat. Jerome mistakenly shoots her, is tried for murder and sentenced to be shot before a firing squad. However, everything isn't quite the way it seems to be . . .

Dir: Raoul Walsh

A boy surrounded by violence grows up to become an infamous gangster.

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

Dir: Raoul Walsh

A Spanish soldier falls under the spell of a fiery gypsy girl named Carmen. His obsession with her leads to his ruin.

Dir: Raoul Walsh

Harold Whitley, a member of New York's idle rich, is upset when the United States enters World War I. Upon learning that married men are exempt from the Selective Draft, Harold urges his fiancée Mary to wed him quickly, but Mary indignantly threatens to break their engagement. At the twenty-story skyscraper that Harold's father is building, Mary meets Jim Kelly, the contractor's son, and is impressed as he rises on a beam. Jim returns Mary's gloves to her Fifth Avenue address, where Harold insults him. At training camp, Jim, enthusiastic about the draft, is promoted to aviation captain, while Harold, who exhibits cowardice as a captain, is released. In France, Jim is knocked unconscious by a shell and nursed by Mary, now in the Red Cross. Jim captures a German raiding party, and after he makes them exchange clothes with allied soldiers, they are shot by their own men. When Mary is abducted by a German prince, Jim pursues on horseback, tumbles over a cliff, swims ashore and arrives in time to rescue her. They then escape in an airplane.

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

Dir: Raoul Walsh

Jack La Salle marries South American heiress Blanquetta Del Castillo, and the two settle into a happy life in New York City. Following the birth of their son, Jack, Jr., however, Jack becomes involved in an affair with the notorious Josie Sabel and thereafter ignores his wife. Outraged upon learning that Jack has taken their son to Josie's apartment, Blanquetta files for divorce, the court finally ruling that the boy must live with each parent for a portion of the year. As the time of little Jack's departure from his father approaches, Jack, Sr. declares that he will never return the boy to his mother, whereupon the tortured Blanquetta shoots and kills her faithless husband. The jury, moved by Blanquetta's desire to love and protect her son, ultimately acquits her.

Dir: Raoul Walsh

Under promise of marriage, innocent Mary Ellen Ellis leaves her country home to accompany the experienced Walter Benton to the city. Mary Ellen finds herself in an underworld milieu, but she is able to influence burglar Bull Clark to reform, thus earning his undying gratitude. Clark is able to repay Mary Ellen when he rescues her from The Weasel, who has followed her to her apartment. When Benton returns and finds his wife and Clark together, a fight ensues between the two men in which Benton is killed by The Weasel. Clark is accused of the murder and sentenced to jail, but escapes and joins the Navy. Meanwhile, Mary Ellen is forced to live in shame until she is rescued by Jane Murray, an office assistant in an East Side infirmary. There Mary Ellen meets Dr. Graham, Benton's cousin, and the two fall in love. Fear of the doctor's scorn for her past life forces Mary Ellen to leave, and she is abducted by The Weasel and imprisoned in a vacant room. A newsboy informs the doctor of her whereabouts, and through the doctor's efforts Mary Ellen wins her freedom as well as his love.

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

Dir: Raoul Walsh

Before diplomatic relations between the United States and Germany have been severed during World War I, Count Johann von Bernstorff establishes an intricate spy network in America, headed by the treacherous Otto Goltz and his ally, Wolff von Eidel. Their activities result in labor strikes, factory explosions, and transportation disasters. Headquartered in a major U.S. industrial center, Otto marries Lillian O'Grady and treats her so brutally that she eventually dies. Lillian's death is avenged by a young American soldier named Dick Gregory, who is in love with her sister Rosie. Following Otto's death, von Eidel is arrested, but when a group of German sympathizers tries to rescue him, a patriotic vigilante group attacks the jail, shooting the spy and imprisoning the disloyal Americans. In the end, as American forces storm France, Kaiser Wilhelm grows desperate.

Dir: Raoul Walsh

When the United States enters World War I, a mother sends her two eldest sons off to the battlefields with a smile, although her heart is breaking. She soon learns that the eldest is missing and the second son is wounded, however, and resolves to keep her youngest at home. The boy, due to the influence of pacifist literature, willingly accompanies his mother on a secret journey to their seaside home, but the father, ashamed that his son is a "slacker," discovers their whereabouts. The three are in the midst of a heated argument when the pitiful survivors of a ship destroyed offshore by a German U-boat come to the house seeking refuge. The mother and son realize the importance of the cause and the son enlists. At Christmas, all three sons come home, the eldest accompanied by his new French bride.