Must-Watch List in the Vein of Society Doctor: Cult Guide

Dir: George B. Seitz

A young heiress of an American gun factory is threatened by a masked man after her father was murdered. This criminal might be a member of her family or a German agent, who wants to get information about the factory's products, perhaps his mystery has a combined solution - we will probably never know...

Dir: George B. Seitz

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

Lost film serial. Only about 2-minute fragmentary segments of this serial about World War One remains.

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: Dallas M. Fitzgerald

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

Confidence artist Flossie Golden attempts to fleece foolish but wealthy James Venable with a breach-of-promise suit. Venable's shrewd attorney, Richard Harding, outwits Flossie by proposing that she marry Venable and live on an allowance of $3,000 per year. Flossie is determined to get even with Harding for ruining her plans. In an attempt to con him, she poses as Innocence Page, but falls in love and marries him instead. Larry, Flossie's former accomplice, endeavors to blackmail her with her errant past, but Harding is already cognizant of the facts and Larry fails.

Dir: Robert N. Bradbury

A simple country girl, brutally mistreated by her stepfather, awakens first the sympathy, then the love, of The Boy. The Spider, who lusts after The Girl, makes a bargain with the stepfather and takes her to the city where, kept prisoner, she is soon broken in health and spirit. Cast out and near death, she is taken in by The Boy. Following the demise of The Spider, The Boy takes her to church, where he prays, and after many hours she is restored to health.

Dir: Harley Knoles

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

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.

Dir: Edward LeSaint

When famous opera singer Elinore Duane undergoes an operation on her throat, she has a series of ether-induced visions. In one, she is transported to ancient Rome where she appears as a much-admired woman in love with Paul, a young heretic, and at odds with Lutor, the high priest. To save her love, she poisons Lutor with her ring. After several other visions which involve variations on this love triangle, Elinore awakens to discover that Lutor is actually her doctor, Sascha Jaccard, and that Paul is the son of a friend who has come to visit the recovering prima donna.

Dir: George B. Seitz

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

Episode 1: "The Violet Diamond" Pearl Standish, bored with society and longing for excitement, is held up by a masked man who demands the violet diamond of The Daroon. He tells her that her father bought the diamond from a villainous priest in Arabia who stole it from its rightful owner. The masked man, Nicholas Knox, has been given three days to recover the diamond or die at the hands of the Secret Order at the head of which is a priestess who stops at nothing to gain her end. The only man that might know something about this diamond is Richard Carslake, her father's former secretary. In spite of the knowledge that her father and he had a disagreement, she requests him to give her what information he has concerning the violet diamond. Just then Knox enters, Pearl points to him and says, "There is the man who has the gold setting in which the stone belongs." Immediately Carslake moves toward the door. Locking it and drawing his revolver, he demands the setting for the diamond. Searching Knox he finds the setting and is about to escape when through the window comes the priestess, accompanied by two of her spies, who sneak behind Carslake and knock the revolver from his hand. In the struggle which follows, Knox recovers the setting. After a struggle Carslake escapes and Pearl finds herself alone with Knox. Wishing to know the identity of the mysterious woman who helped him, Pearl asks Knox. "I can tell you nothing," is his reply. "Well then if you can tell me nothing, I want you to hand over that apparently much-valued setting for the violet diamond," Pearl assures, covering him. Assisted by her butler, Pearl secures this setting, but the spies come to Knox's assistance again and Pearl is attacked by an Arab. In a struggle with him on the stairs, she is hurled over the rail but catches on to the chandelier and falls to the floor. Knox is finally overpowered by the butler. Standing by a window, Pearl discovers a knife stuck in the wall. Pearl pulls this knife from the wall and discovers a note on it. "Fifteen days are allotted to you to return the violet diamond or die," it reads. "What is this mysterious diamond, the possession of which means such dangers?" is the question which will bring audiences back for the next chapter.

Dir: George B. Seitz

Our hero's fiancée, who has broken off their engagement, agrees to make a trip around the world, starting absolutely naked, without money or help of any sort from others in order to prove his worth to her.

Dir: Alexander Butler

In Alberta, Canada, a Cornish emigrant unmasks a rustler posing as the girl's "blind" father.