Cinematic Discoveries Resonating with the Themes of Spendthrift: Cu...

Dir: Raoul Walsh

A boy surrounded by violence grows up to become an infamous gangster.

Dir: Raoul Walsh

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of I'll Say So perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Hearing that the United States has just declared war on Germany, Bill Durham hurries to a recruiting station to enlist, but because he has flat feet, he is rejected. He falls in love with Barbara Knowles, whose guardian, August Myers, unknown to Barbara, is a German agent. When Bill learns that Myers plans to stir up trouble on the border of the United States and Mexico, he catches the train to New Mexico and routs out Myers' gang of bandits. Meanwhile, Myers has sent Barbara back to New York to be married to German spy Carl Vogel. Bill returns East and arrives at the church just in time to dispose of the German bridegroom and marry Barbara himself.

Dir: Raoul Walsh

Peasant girl Vania is assaulted by a duke who murders her lover and sends her away to London. There she becomes a famous actress. The Duke, seeing her perform but not recognizing her, hears that his son is wounded. "If anything should happen to my boy, I think it would kill me." That's all the motivation Vania needs to go to the front, find the one-armed paralyzed boy and marry him. Next she arranges to make love to his father just as the boy enters the room, causing the young man to blow out his brains.

Dir: Raoul Walsh

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

Karsten Bernick, last of the house of Bernick, whose shipyards are the mainstay of the town, is forced to return home from a Bohemian life to Paris to assume the management of the business which is nearly bankrupt. He breaks an engagement to Lona to marry Betty, her rich half-sister. With her fortune he saves the company and eventually comes to be known as a Pillar of Society. Then a certain Mme. Dorf, an actress, arrives in town and threatens o expose an episode in his history which occurred during his days in Paris. He persuades his brother-in-law, Johan, to take the blame for him. Johan agrees to do so for his sister's sake and then leaves for America with his sister Lona. Mme. Dorf dies and leaves her little daughter to Karsten's care. Karsten really fears to refuse the guardianship and wins new honors as an upright benevolent citizen. In the midst of his security in the community, Johan and Lona suddenly return, the former to clear his name, the latter, who still loves Karsten, to persuade him to establish his place as a Pillar of Society on a foundation of Truth instead of lies. Karsten defends himself vigorously on the grounds that a Pillar of Society must resort to subterfuge and deception in order to protect society which depends upon him. Johan falls in love with Karsten's little protégée, the daughter of Mme. Dorf, and renews his insistence that Karsten clear his name. Desperate, Karsten connives at their departure on an unseaworthy ship, but his plan reacts on himself, for his only child, Olaf, has run away and been discovered on the ship as a stowaway. The ship catches fire and there is a thrilling rescue of the little boy in a motorboat. Karsten is awakened to the truth of his position and at a reception given him by the townspeople as a tribute to their leading citizen, confesses the truth. Thus he learns that the Spirits of Truth and Freedom are the true Pillars of Society and not man, however powerful.

Dir: Raoul Walsh

A man is convicted unjustly of a crime and then subjected to inhumane torment in the Yuma Territorial Prison in the Arizona Territory, run by corrupt administrators.

Dir: Raoul Walsh

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

A Spanish soldier falls under the spell of a fiery gypsy girl named Carmen. His obsession with her leads to his ruin.

Dir: Raoul Walsh

Given a choice between traveling to South America as an emissary for his father's ammunition company and foregoing his weekly allowance, Billy Drake heeds his father's warnings and buys an ocean liner ticket. Before leaving, however, the movie-struck Billy spots a beautiful woman standing in front of a theater and imagines that she is a film star. To his delight, he finds the woman on board his ship, as well as Count Von Nuttenburg, a political troublemaker, who has stolen a movie camera, thinking that it is a new brand of machine gun. Von Nuttenburg shows the camera to Billy, who concludes that the count is a director and the ship is a set for a movie melodrama. When the boat lands at a port torn by revolution, Billy insists that the guns and soldiers are part of the show. Not until he and the girl are seized by the rebels and threatened with death, does he admit his error. By a clever ruse, he escapes from his captors and with the help of Federal troops, defeats the count and wins the heart of his pretty shipmate.

Dir: Raoul Walsh

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

Under promise of marriage, innocent Mary Ellen Ellis leaves her country home to accompany the experienced Walter Benton to the city. Mary Ellen finds herself in an underworld milieu, but she is able to influence burglar Bull Clark to reform, thus earning his undying gratitude. Clark is able to repay Mary Ellen when he rescues her from The Weasel, who has followed her to her apartment. When Benton returns and finds his wife and Clark together, a fight ensues between the two men in which Benton is killed by The Weasel. Clark is accused of the murder and sentenced to jail, but escapes and joins the Navy. Meanwhile, Mary Ellen is forced to live in shame until she is rescued by Jane Murray, an office assistant in an East Side infirmary. There Mary Ellen meets Dr. Graham, Benton's cousin, and the two fall in love. Fear of the doctor's scorn for her past life forces Mary Ellen to leave, and she is abducted by The Weasel and imprisoned in a vacant room. A newsboy informs the doctor of her whereabouts, and through the doctor's efforts Mary Ellen wins her freedom as well as his love.

Dir: Raoul Walsh

Lady Lou is forced by Hatfield, her cruel foster father, into the dance hall life at a brutal lumber camp. Through the efforts of a stranger who is secretly in love with her, Lou escapes to a neighboring camp where she meets and marries the lumberjack Conahan without telling him of her past. Lou's unsavory past is finally revealed in a confrontation with her foster father, and her husband turns from her in disgust. She is once again saved by the stranger's intervention when he tells Conahan the truth about the girl's life. After Conahan's and Lou's reconciliation, the stranger, no longer needed, wanders alone into the snow.

Dir: Raoul Walsh

When notorious bandit Leopoldo Juarez takes refuge in her house, pretty young Mexican girl Carmelita finds herself falling for him, and arranges to meet him at a nearby brook, but falls asleep soon after he leaves. She awakens to find American army officer William Jerome arriving at the house, looking for Jerome. Intrigued by the young officer, she tells him about her scheduled meeting with the bandit. Juarez finds out about it, and forces her to wear his hat and coat. Jerome mistakenly shoots her, is tried for murder and sentenced to be shot before a firing squad. However, everything isn't quite the way it seems to be . . .