Visionary Picks Drawn from the Same DNA as Spiritisten: Cult Guide

Dir: Holger-Madsen

The princess is presiding at a reception being given in the old castle during the absence of her venerable father. The prime minister announces that the old soldier has again overcome his warring neighbors. The princess does not appear to be over elated, because she recalls that a young captain, whom she had once met in times of peace, might be among the dead or the wounded. Sure enough he is brought to a hospital, a wounded prisoner, and Elena volunteers to act as his nurse despite the protests of the prime minister. As he regains some of his normal strength he chafes under the restraint imposed upon him, and in her efforts to ease his lot, the princess issues orders that he may have use of the castle grounds. In his walks he frequently comes in contact with the princess, and while their intimacy ripens, the prime minister arrows more jealous. At length he clearly indicates his aversion to her companionship with an avowed enemy of her country, and in the name of the king seeks to restrict the captain from exercising in the grounds of the castle. The princess dismisses him and continues to secure an occasional tete-a-tete with the captain. He persistently pleads to her to help him escape from the confinement that is so galling to him and at length she accedes. She forwards to his apartments a rope ladder and a revolver hidden beneath a consignment of books. In the silence of the night he lowers his rope and makes his perilous descent to the foot of the walls. A sentry spies him, fires a warning shot, and engages the captain in a stern struggle. The captain manages, however, to break away; but soon he has a troop of cavalry on his track. He swims a river and rushes pell-mell through woodland country, but his mounted pursuers gradually gain upon him and, still weak from his wounds, he falls panting to the ground as they reach him. A court-martial quickly follows his recapture, and the dread verdict is summarily issued. Princess Elena sends for the prime minister, who has already signed the death warrant, and pleads to him to revoke it. He says he is ready to do so, but imposes, as a condition, that she should become his (the prime minister's) wife. She returns abruptly to her apartments and determines on a course which seems to her to offer the only possible way out for her and the man she loves. Under the cover of the night and closely veiled she steals to the prison and then gains admission to the cell in which the condemned man is crouched in an attitude of hopelessness. At first he thinks she is but a vision of his disordered mind, but when he folds her in his arms he understands the depth of love which has prompted her to come to him. She tells him that the chances of escape are too forlorn to attempt, and knowing that she cannot save him, she has decreed there is only one thing to do, to die together. She takes a paper knife, from her dress and hands it to him, but he recoils, and in an outburst declares that he will not die, but must go back to his country. His country comes first, and recognizing the inevitable, and the futility of their love, the princess rushes from the cell and secures a uniform of a prison warder. The captain kisses her and makes his escape. Later she is found on the floor of the cell, a victim of her own stiletto.

Dir: Holger-Madsen

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

Count Croisset proposes to the dancer Odette Blant, on condition she leaves the theater. Odette accepts, assuring herself that she will not miss dancing when she has become a countess. But one day, she receives an offer she can't refuse.

Dir: Holger-Madsen

The social storm after World War I divides the people. In the eye of the storm are three brothers fighting for the lower classes, each in his own way.

Dir: Holger-Madsen

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

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Holger-Madsen

An upperclass war widow marries again. The new husband is also an officer, and soon he has to go to the next war. At the outbreak, she's the only one who does not cheer about it. And the terrors of war soon bring almost all of her friends and relatives, among them generals and high government officials to the same conclusion: War does not pay.

Dir: Holger-Madsen

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Fange no. 113 perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Holger-Madsen

After losing his parents, who died from grief over their son's unjust sentence to jail, John Redmond obtains his release and devotes his life to the uplift and betterment of mankind. After preaching to a crowd one day he is accused of having served a term in jail himself. The leader of a gang and his followers are planning an act of burglary in a saloon. John Redmond happens into the same place, but he is mocked and leaves. One of the gangsters decides to lead an honest life and appeals to John for moral aid. The lay-preacher tells him his story: How in a quarrel one evening his sweetheart was killed by the bullet of a rival suitor, which was meant for him, and for which he was sentenced to jail. Through the intervention of this prison chaplain, however, the case was retried, his innocence was proven and he was set free. His first way was to his ill mother who, shortly after his return, died in his arms. Nellie, the reformed gangster's sweetheart, rejoices over his reformation, and the lay-preacher continues his life's vocation.

Dir: Holger-Madsen

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

A peace-loving prince and his followers dream of eternal peace. So far, they have been successful only within the realm. Is the vision of global peace just a naive dream, or will his followers be able to see it through?

Dir: Holger-Madsen

The members of the "Sidi" sect are informed that the Chancellor of State intends to submit to the Prince a bill calling for their persecution. Judith, the daughter of Samuel Hurst, a wealthy jeweler and member of the sect, is in love with the Prince, but is rebuked by her father for being in love with their persecutor. Gregory, a clerk in the employ of Hurst, whose infatuation with Judith is not reciprocated, discovers a letter from the Chancellor asking Hurst to call to do some work for him, and brands him a traitor at the meeting of the sect. A frenzied mob storms the old man's house, but the Prince himself appears and quickly disperses the crowd. That night, observed only by Gregory, Judith elopes with the Prince. Though ignorant of the fact, Samuel Hurst is denounced, but is promised exoneration if, through his daughter, he can influence the Prince to reject the bill. In this he succeeds and is exonerated. But the Chancellor orders his henchmen to gather all the soldiers they can rely upon. The Prince and Judith, realizing that the joy of life for them is ended, ascend the highest mountain peak, bid "Fare-Well" to the world, and leap to Eternity. The order for the expulsion is put into the effect that night, and as the vast numbers of the sect leave the country, Samuel Hurst comes upon the lifeless bodies of his daughter and her royal sweetheart.

Dir: Holger-Madsen

Family father Poul Berg is tempted by a dubious investment offer and retaliates so deeply that he takes his own life. His widow Ketty struggles to keep the family afloat.