Top-Tier Alternatives Exploring the Legacy of The Black Pirate: Cul...

Dir: Albert Parker

Melia Nobbs, a young Canadian woman, supports both her invalid father Ambrose and brother Henry. When Henry faces arrest for helping himself to his employer's cash, Melia steals the amount from the star of the theater where she has been dancing, and offers it to her brother provided that he will enlist in the army. Henry agrees and goes off to war, making Ambrose proud of his son, but when Ambrose learns that his daughter has been arrested for theft, he disowns her. Melia does not reveal the reason for taking the money and is sent to prison. Meanwhile, Henry fights bravely in France and returns home minus an arm but wearing the Victoria Cross. He finds his sister, weak and worn from overwork, in the prison hospital. Seeing her brother with his medals, Melia realizes that her sacrifices for him and her country have not been in vain, and that in her own way, she has served her country.

Dir: Albert Parker

Young Anne (Winifred Allen) who lives with her stern uncle, is considered strange by the gossips of her village because she spends much of her time in the woods, where she has imaginary conversations with her deceased mother. When Jimmy (Dick Rosson), a crook is wounded after a robbery, he eludes the sheriff by hiding in a deserted mansion, unaware that the mansion is said to be haunted. The spirit haunting the mansion is Anne, who befriends Jimmy and frightens away his pursuers by pretending to be a ghost. Soon, the young couple begin a romance, safe within the walls of the haunted house.

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

Dir: Albert Parker

A young woman at a crossroads is shown what her future would be like for each choice.

Dir: Aubrey M. Kennedy

Wealthy oil magnate Harry Mangin is in love with his competitor James Murdock's daughter Blanche. Mangin schemes to ruin Blanche's father so that the girl will be forced to accept his attention. However, Blanche loves "Sky Eye" Blake, an aviator at the adjoining U. S. aviation field. When Mangin is driven in desperation to muster his own private air force in order to destroy his rival's oil plants, "Sky Eye" takes to the skies to quell the riot. After several daring escapades, "Sky Eye" captures Mangin and wins Blanche for his bride.

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

Dir: Albert Parker

In a prologue, Douglas Fairbanks appears in a chef's outfit mixing a cake with action, mystery, adventure, romance and comedy, seasoned with pep and ginger. The finished cake is The Knickerbocker Buckaroo. The story begins as buoyant Teddy Drake, expelled from his exclusive Fifth Avenue club for playing practical jokes and leaping over furniture, decides to reform his selfish impulses. Anxious to do "something for somebody," he boards a train bound for the Southwest. After helping an old woman off the train, Teddy takes the wrong train and meets Manuel Lopez, a Mexican bandit, going to visit his sick mother. To hide Lopez from a crooked sheriff, and because Teddy left his shirt in the first train, Teddy exchanges clothes with him. At the border town of Sonora, the sheriff chases Teddy along the roofs until, seeing a girl in jail, Teddy lets himself be arrested. Learning that the girl, Rita Allison, has money hidden that the sheriff wants to steal, Teddy escapes. After Lopez saves him from a lynching, Teddy finds the money, holds off the sheriff's gang until a U.S. Marshal arrives, and then returns to New York with Rita, now his fiancée.

Dir: Albert Parker

Marcia Grey is wrongly convicted on trumped-up evidence of a German. After serving her term, she rebuilds her life and marries well. The German then attempts to blackmail her into helping the German cause during WWI.

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

Dir: Albert Parker

On her way to New York City to complete her art education, Eleanor Gates meets Mr. Harrington, a broker, and the two become friends. When her work meets with great success in Greenwich Village, Eleanor consults with Harrington on investments. Bored with his wife, Harrington begins to fall in love with the fascinating young artist, and she returns his affections. After the death of the Harrington's' baby, Mr. Harrington completely neglects his wife, who soon realizes that he is having an affair. Unaware that Eleanor is the other woman, Mrs. Harrington confides in her, and Eleanor experiences a change of heart. After learning that Eleanor is Harrington's mistress, Mrs. Harrington denounces her, whereupon Eleanor castigates the wife for failing to provide her husband with sympathetic companionship. Mrs. Harrington resolves to become a better wife, while Eleanor returns to the sweetheart she left in the country.

Dir: George B. Seitz

The adventures of a gentlemanly crook of astonishing resourcefulness.

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

Dir: Victor Heerman

In the gold fields of the Canadian Northwest, a man is falsely accused of a crime and determines that a lookalike is responsible.

Dir: Maurice Elvey

A Royalist and his unknown son seek vengeance on his murdered wife's brothers.