Editor's Top Picks Sharing the Atmosphere of Sleeping Fires: Cult Guide

Dir: Hugh Ford

Although she loves humble Ralph Benham, Lydia marries the wealthy Dr. Gilmore at the request of her guardian aunt. After a few years, Gilmore becomes involved with Mrs. Stracey, a family friend, but is discovered and confronted by Mr. Stracey, who is killed by Gilmore during an ensuing fight. To protect her son Ned, Lydia agrees to lie to the authorities about Gilmore's whereabouts and is counseled on her trial testimony by a sympathetic Ralph, who, by coincidence, is the prosecutor in the case. In court, Lydia repeats her protective lies, but her story is thrown into question when her servant testifies that Ralph visited Lydia on the night of the murder. Suspicious, the judge demands that Ned be called to the witness stand, but unable to allow her son to lie under oath, Lydia finally confesses. Faced with a severe sentence, Gilmore commits suicide, and Lydia suffers a nervous breakdown but is cared for tenderly by Ralph and his sister.

Dir: Hugh Ford

Lost film about the son of a Papal guard who gets involved in Italian politics and incurs the enmity of the corrupt Prime Minister, which leads him to discover the hidden secrets of his family's past - and present.

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

Dir: Hugh Ford

Zaza is a music hall star in Paris. She meets Bernard Dufrene and a flirtation develops into an intense love on her part. She is in despair when she discovers that he already has a wife and child. To visit them and announce herself as the mistress of the husband and father is her first idea, but the charm of the child restrains her. She cannot strike the blow and passes off her visit with an improvised excuse. She dismisses Bernard and returns to the stage, where she gains real fame as a dramatic artist. Once more he seeks her, but again the memory of the child saves her to her better self. Moving Picture World 1915.

Dir: Hugh Ford

A poor boy named Tom Canty and Edward, the Prince of Wales exchange identities but events force the pair to experience each other's lives as well.

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

Dir: Hugh Ford

Richard "The Imp" Audaine is a clever but dissolute orphan whose guardian and friends are trying to lead him from the path of ruin and back to his senses.

Dir: Hugh Ford

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

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

Dir: Hugh Ford

Sapho, whose real name is Fanny Legrand, is the daughter of poor people, her father being a coachman, and her early home is little more than a hovel in the slums of Paris. She is one of the quaint girl flower-sellers on the streets of Paris, earning a few sous daily, which she is compelled to give toward the support of the family. It was while selling her wares in one of the big restaurants that she is first seen by Caoudal, the famous sculptor, who recognizes her wonderful beauty and persuades her to pose for him. The luxury of his studio awakens in her an unsuspected love for the beautiful things of life. One step leads to another, and it is not long before she becomes the most talked of and sought after model of Paris. She is content to live in this way, reveling in beauty and the admiration of her friends and Caoudal himself, until Dejoie, the poet, moved by her beauty, writes verses to her which make both himself and her still more famous, winning her away from Caoudal. The poet is too old to hold the attention of the young girl, who craves young society and admiration, so when she meets handsome young Flamant, she lightly tells Dejoie that he is "too old" and gains the friendship of the younger man. Flamant is an engraver and finds himself hard put to it to gratify the expensive whims of Sapho, but as he is really very fond of the handsome model, he manages to forge a name and obtain money under false pretenses. His ruse is discovered, and as the gendarmes come to lead him away to prison, Sapho receives an invitation to a ball to take place that very evening. At the ball she appears as "Sapho" and there meets for the first time the student, Jean Gaussin, with whom she falls in love. It is a case of love at first sight on both sides and the two are very happy, and Sapho is learning to express the better side of her nature when Jean is shocked by accidentally learning of her past life. It is the "beginning of the end." Jean finally weds a little country girl, and Sapho, rather than return to her old life, turns Red Cross nurse and consecrates the rest of her life to that noble work.

Dir: Hugh Ford

A writer bets a friend that he can write a 10,000-word novel in 24 hours. The friends takes the bet, and gives him the keys to his Baldpate Inn, which has been closed for the winter, so he can write in complete seclusion. Things start heating up, though, when a succession of people who also have keys to the inn begin showing up.

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of When We Were Twenty-One perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Dir: Hugh Ford

Felicia Hindemarsh is not made to pay the price of her early indiscretions. She pays for supposing that these indiscretions could be hidden, and it is the hiding of her identity behind that of her cousin, Mrs. Dane, which is condemned.

Dir: Hugh Ford

The statue of Niobe comes to life through the dream of a hen-pecked old man.