Masterpiece Selection Resonating with the Themes of Some Pun'kins: ...

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: Alexander Butler

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

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

Dir: Jerome Storm

Ben Trimble, a country boy visiting the city, becomes involved with a safecracker and finds himself sliding into a life of crime. But chance provides him with an opportunity to redeem himself.

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.

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

Dir: Jerome Storm

Bill Henry Jenkins is a country boy on the lookout for a good career. He faces numerous obstacles, including losing his sales job when his bicycle is lost. A bigtime poker game turns out to be the key to Bill Henry's success.

Dir: Jerome Storm

Mary Manning lives in a cabin in the Wisconsin woods with her invalid mother, her uncle, and her stern grandfather; her own father, Paul, disappeared 18 years earlier. When Paul, who became a derelict, finally returns home, his father turns him away, but Mary retrieves the prodigal and leads him to his wife, who bids Mary take care of him and then dies of shock. Aware of the pain that Paul caused her mother and preoccupied with handsome Tom Gale, Mary neglects her father, and he soon resumes his drinking. When Paul visits a notorious dance hall, however, Mary remembers her promise to her mother and goes after him, but both are arrested in a raid. In court, she tries to assume the blame for Paul's presence in the dive, but Judge Michael Burke refuses to believe her. In his chambers, the judge effects a reconciliation of the family, after which Tom asks for Mary's hand in marriage.

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

Dir: Jerome Storm

A rural youngster uses the strength he has developed handling egg crates in a shipping office to carry him to success in the boxing ring.

Dir: Jerome Storm

Cuthbert Trotman wants to be a writer. He becomes the protege of wealthy Harry Travistock, who shows him the ways of the big city. But Harry's girlfriend Anita begins to take more of an interest in Cuthbert than in Harry.

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

Dir: Jerome Storm

Roxie Kemp works as a lion tamer in a circus managed by her father. To fulfill a promise to his dying wife, Nat Kemp sends his daughter to an upper-crust boarding school where she befriends Marjorie Trent. When Roxie visits Marjorie's aristocratic family, she and Marjorie's brother Owen fall in love, though Mrs. Trent, suspicious of Roxie's background, is cold to her. When Kemp's circus comes to town, Roxie prevents the audience from rioting by filling in for the superstitious lion tamer, who refuses to go on. Mrs. Trent recognizes and rejects Roxie until Mr. Trent reveals that he is part-owner of the circus, whereupon Mrs. Trent accepts Roxie into the family.

Dir: Bruno Ziener

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.