The Recommended Vault Parallel to the Artistry of Speed Wild: Cult ...

Dir: Harry Garson

Following a night of particularly wild dissipation, Charles Meredyth decides to cure his son, Gallop, of his convivial habits, tells him that he has killed a taxi driver, and offers to help him escape. Gallop lands in a small southwestern town whose only inhabitants are its founder, Granville Truce; his daughter, Pauline; and a gang of Mexican bandits. Gallop discovers that Truce has developed a rust remover from cactus oil and markets the product. While routing the bandits, Gallop puts the town on the map and a ring on Pauline's finger.

Dir: Harry Garson

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

A beautiful French actress is the unwitting force behind the suicide of one of her admirers. A scandal erupts, threatening to destroy her reputation.

Dir: Harry Garson

After robbing a small suburban bank, a gang of outlaws led by Bill Kilgore hides out in the neighboring town of Red Rock. Failing to interest Carmen Harroway by his rough romantic attentions, Kilgore forbids the terrorized townspeople to patronize her small confectionery store. A stranger, Bob Vincent, appears in town and, after becoming friendly with Carmen, inexplicably joins Kilgore's gang, passing himself off as a forger. Kilgore and Vincent plan to rob a mail train, but, just before the appointed time, Kilgore kidnaps Carmen, and Vincent, who tries to help her, is knocked out in a fight. Kilgore ties him to a handcar and sends it down the line toward an oncoming train, but Vincent frees himself and stops the train, thus averting the robbery. Kilgore and his gang are captured with the help of Vincent, who turns out to be the president of the robbed bank. He retrieves the stolen bonds and asks Carmen if she would like to become a banker's wife.

Dir: Harry Garson

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of The No-Gun Man perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

John Craig, while rummaging through an old trunk, is reminded of his first sweetheart, Mary Ellen Anderson. A flashback shows their childhood together, their association while working on a local newspaper, and her assistance in preventing swindler Stuffy Shade from framing John as the perpetrator of a fraudulent oil venture. John ultimately discovers oil on the land in question and becomes the town hero. His dream ends when his wife, Mary Ellen, enters the attic with their two children.

Dir: Harry Garson

Michael Faversham, a puritanical minister determined to stomp out immorality, orders one of his parishioners, Rose Gibbard, to confess in public that she is the mother of an illegitimate child, knowing that it will bring shame and condemnation to her. Meanwhile, he is consumed with desire for another of his parishioners, the lovely Audrey Lesden. One day the two of them find themselves alone on a deserted island, and the attraction of Faversham and the married Audrey for each other is too difficult for them to resist. Complications ensue.

Dir: Harry Garson

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of An Old Sweetheart of Mine perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Following the robbery of the Inspiration Gold Mine, Circus Lacey drifts into the border town of Esmeralda, where he saves Ethel Slocum from the unwanted advances of Red Lucas, a notorious gunman. When Ethel later also refuses to submit to the sheriff's demands, the sheriff frames her father for the mine robbery. Circus saves Pa Slocum from mob violence and captures one of Red's hired gunmen, thereby discovering the secret den of the bandits. Circus is surprised there by Red and forced to surrender, but he escapes, returns to town in time to prevent a bank robbery, proves that the sheriff is one of Red's hirelings, and wins Ethel for his wife.

Dir: Harry Garson

Marta Estevan is ready to leave the convent where she has been reared. Dona Luisa Artega, mother of Rafael and the young girl's guardian, arranges a marriage between the two, because she thinks that Marta's influence will rescue her son from the wild life he is leading and make a man of him. Marta rescues the American Bryton, when he is attacked by Indians, and falls in love with him. Rafael's mother sends Bryton away by telling him that the girl has entered a convent for life, and after telling Marta that Bryton had been killed on the trail she exacts a vow from the girl that she will marry her son. Marta marries Rafael. Bryton comes back after the marriage and after Marta has found out the true character of her husband. The story moves on from this point to a happy ending, but with much action of tense and strenuous nature in between. - Moving Picture World, May 15, 1920.

Dir: Harry Garson

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

Wealthy contractor Michael Arnold hires civil engineer Jerry Foster to work on a dam under construction in the West. Michael hopes to enter high society and encourages his daughter, Alice, to marry Lafayette Van Renselaer, a fashionable young aristocratic. Alice is attracted to Jerry but mistakes his friendship with Kathleen O'Toole for love. Lafayette abruptly ends his affair with Kathleen when he has an opportunity to wed Alice, and accuses Jerry of trifling with Kathleen's affections. Meanwhile, Jerry discovers that Swazey, a bullying foreman, has been building the dam with inferior cement. Jerry defeats him in a fight, after which Swazey runs amok, releasing water from the reservoir and causing a flood. Lafayette drowns, but Jerry saves Alice and wins her love.

Dir: Harry Garson

Phillip Griswold kidnaps his brother William's daughter for ransom, and frames Christmas tree peddler Pietro Balletti for it. In the course of hunting for Pietro, William accidentally kills the Italian's daughter.

Dir: Harry Garson

Norma Harvey, a newspaperwoman who devotes much of her time to relieving the sufferings of slum children, still loves her childhood sweetheart, Craig Dunlap, a lawyer who tries to cover up his wife's kleptomania by bribing a witness at her trial. Dunlap, however, is exposed and disbarred. While working in the slums, Norma encounters him in a disreputable dive and takes him to her home along with little Mazie, a blind orphan. Two gossipy neighbors declare her morally unfit, and the child is removed from her custody. On Norma's advice, Dunlap decides to give his wife another chance, but he demands a divorce when he finds her rough-housing with friends. She refuses, but when he threatens to allow her to be arrested for the theft of a fur, she consents. After proving her worthiness, Norma regains the child and finds happiness with Craig.