The Essential Watchlist Similar Cinematic Experiences to Shadows of...

Dir: Wilfred Lucas

Brian O'Farrell (Snowy Baker), is an English 'new chum' who takes a job at an Australian cattle station. He is teased by station hands because of his appearance (including spats and a monocle) but he soon impresses them with his skills at riding and boxing. The station manager, John MacDonald (Wilfred Lucas), takes O'Farrell to Sydney to meet his daughter Edith (Kathleen Key) who is working in the slums. Edith is kidnapped by criminals after witnessing a crime but O'Farrell rescues her. It is later revealed he is the owner of the station.

Dir: Colin Campbell

Zora, a girl of French origin, is raised by a wealthy Bedouin family after her mother Valerie dies while eloping with another man. Zora feels such great longing for the French artist Adrien that she accepts the offer of another artist, Raoul, to take her to Paris with the stipulation that if Adrien rejects her, she must give herself to him. Jan, the chieftain's son who is in love with Zora, follows the two to Paris. There Zora realizes that Adrien does not love her and discovers her real love for Jan. However, she feels bound to honor her pact with Raoul and is about to succumb to his advances when her father appears and recognizes Raoul as the man who destroyed his home years earlier. In the ensuing fight between the two men, Raoul is killed, thus freeing Zora to accept Jan's love.

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

Dir: Charles Horan

While working as a flower girl in Devlin Maddox's nightclub, Nellie Vaughan meets wealthy young Pelton Van Teel and falls in love. Maddox, desirous of using Nellie to blackmail Van Teel, spreads a rumor that she is his mistress. This makes Nellie uncomfortable, and she demands that Van Teel marry her immediately, to which he agrees. Meanwhile, Van Teel has been losing money gambling to Maddox, who threatens to break up the marriage by producing a worthless check that the young husband has written. Venturing to Maddox's apartment for a showdown, Nellie pulls a gun and demands the check, accidentally shooting Maddox when he throws a lamp at her. Maddox plans to charge Nellie with assault, but when the police arrive, his butler, actually a detective employed by the elder Van Teel, exposes Maddox, who is then arrested, clearing the path for the couple's happiness.

Dir: Bruno Ziener

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Man's Plaything perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Dir: Edward Dillon

Her education in a French convent school completed, plain Justine Spencer returns to New York. There she is shocked to discover that her mother Dodo is a flamboyant musical comedy actress with many male admirers. Dodo, on the other hand, is dismayed to find Justine priggish and dowdy. One of Dodo's suitors is Billy Ferris, who, in a fit of jealousy, murders her and slays himself. Out of pity, Cosmo Spotiswood, another admirer of Dodo, marries Justine, but soon tires of his platonic marriage and leaves for Europe. Upon his return, Cosmo finds Justine transformed. Under the tutelage of Dodo's maid Loti, she has bobbed her hair and donned fashionable apparel. Thus changed, Justine is surrounded by suitors. Stung by jealousy, Cosmo falls in love with his sophisticated wife.

Dir: Harley Knoles

Jim McDonald, the foreman of a shipbuilding plant and head of the labor union, strives to combat the anarchistic propaganda being put forth by Klimoff, the leader of a Bolshevik gang whose goal is to disrupt the country with strikes and anarchy. Despite McDonald's efforts, a strike is called, resulting in chaos. McDonald's child is knocked down by runaway horses abandoned by their striking driver, and dies. Mob scenes take place in America, as well as in Russia. Eventually, the unrest is quelled with an armistice called between Capital and Labor for a year, during which time wages are to be increased to reflect the cost of living, and leaders are to work out a common plan for their mutual advantage. The strikers now realize that they have been pawns of the Bolsheviks and call off the strike, agreeing to the plan.

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Eva, wo bist du? perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Dir: Maurice Elvey

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

Dir: Robert F. Hill

Criminals steal a death ray that concentrates the rays of the sun. The inventor's daughter and a government agent try to retrieve it.

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

Dir: Robert F. Hill

Jim Crosby has shifted for himself since his early childhood. He has become a gangster, feared by all his companions because of his strength. In a fight, which he enters for his sister's sake, he is arrested and sent to jail for a term of months. In the meantime Ann Payton, a society girl, has rented a saloon which she has turned into a mission. She is engaged to be married to Temple Vaughn, her father's young secretary, but decides to wait a year before marrying. The day that Jim is released from prison he gets mixed up in a brawl, and knowing that the police are just waiting a chance to arrest him again, he seeks refuge in the old saloon, a former hangout. Ann takes him in and shelters him from the police. Vaughn has been leading a fast life and has become involved with a woman by the name of Costello and a gambler called Johnson. He loses heavily, and to pay the debt forges a check. Jim, who has been given a position in the bank, recognizes Johnson when he comes to cash the check. He discovers that Vaughn is not able to meet the check, and in lieu of settlement Johnson forces Vaughn to invite a number of his wealthy friends to his house for a game of cards. Jim overhears the two planning the card party and, knowing Ann's love for Vaughn, he decides to get the check and so prevent any further blackmail. At the party Vaughn stands seeing his friends fleeced as long as he can and then accuses Johnson of cheating. Then a figure appears at the door, holding a pistol. He rifles all their pockets, taking the money on the table and the forged check. But in robbing Vaughn, Jim slips in his pocket the forged check. Jim is caught while trying to make his escape and is sentenced to a term in prison. Some time later Vaughn finds in his pocket the forged check and realizes that Jim has committed the crime only to save him. He offers to take all the blame, but Jim will not listen. After his marriage Vaughn again gets connected with Johnson and his mistress. There is a quarrel and Johnson is arrested for running a gambling house. In prison he meets Jim and tells him that the first thing he does upon his release from prison will be to kill Vaughn. Later they are both released on the same day. Jim goes at once to warn Vaughn who arrives a few moments after and who accuses Jim of paying attention to his wife. Jim tries to warn him, but Johnson steps out from behind a screen and shoots him through the heart. In the last scene Jim and Ann are seen together, establishing another mission in the Bowery. It is left to the spectator whether or not Jim will ever succeed in overcoming the great social gap which lies between them.

Dir: William Parke

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.