Curated Recommendations Seeking the Same Brilliance as The Breaking...

Dir: Herbert Brenon

Miriam, a young Russian girl, has an unfortunate love affair and is threatened with disgrace by having a child out of wedlock. Her father induces Gregor Randor, a young musician, to marry her, by paying him a sum of money. The couple migates to the United States, where they are later followed by Miriam's family, including her younger sister Celia. A love affair develops between Gregor and Celia, and despite their efforts at secrecy, Miriam learns about it. Torn between her outraged pride and her love for her young son, she confronts her cheating husband and her sister--to no avail. So she decides to wreak vengeance on them.

Dir: Victor Heerman

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of The River's End perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

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

Dir: Herbert Brenon

Joan is loved by a young man of the village and they are married. In a few weeks the husband, a soldier, is sent to the war-front along with his three brothers. Word is received that her husband has been killed in battle and Joan's first impulse is suicide by she is pregnant and her prospective motherhood makes her realize her new responsibility. The military authorities start a movement to get the young women of the country to marry departing soldiers, so that the empire may have another generation of fighting men. Word is received that the King is to pass through their village and Joan organizes the women in a general protest against the war. She leads them all, dressed in black, in a long procession to meet the Monarch. The soldiers threaten to shoot her unless she turns the women back, buy Joan comes face-to-face with the ruler and kills herself, as her message from the women that they refuse to make another generation victims of a ruthless militarism.

Dir: F. Martin Thornton

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

In Paris an orphan cartoonist loves a man with a mad wife, who dies in time to prevent her marriage to a jilted Comte.

Dir: Herbert Brenon

Italian peasant girl deserts her fiancé for wealthy gangster and departs for America.

Dir: Herbert Brenon

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

In Paris, the beautiful orphan Henriette is kidnapped by the Marquis de Presles, a libertine, leaving her blind and defenseless friend Louise wandering the streets alone. While Mother Frochard, a beggar and thief, forces Louise to beg for her food, Henriette is rescued by the Chevalier de Vaudrey, who loves her. The chevalier's mother, the Countess De Liniere, discovers that Louise is her long-lost daughter and resolves to find her. In the meantime, Mother Frochard's son, a hunchback named Pierre, falls in love with Louise, and when his brother Jacques cruelly beats the girl, Pierre kills him. Just then, the countess locates Louise, and after the girl regains her sight, she is joined with Pierre. The countess then gives her consent to the marriage of her son and Henriette.

Dir: Herbert Brenon

When Marcel, a waif, saves master crook Burke from the police, Burke adopts the youngster and teaches him his profession. Years later, Marcel has become a master crook himself, working under the name of Michael Lanyard. His clever work baffles the Paris police, who dub him "The Lone Wolf". The Pack, a gang of criminals, notifies The Wolf that unless he joins them, he is marked for destruction. Lucy, an undercover agent masquerading as a crook to expose the gang, helps The Wolf escape. This inaugurates a series of adventures in which Lucy and The Wolf are pursued by the gang, finally making their escape to England by plane. The Pack follows, only to meet their death in a plane crash. Liberated from his tormentors, The Wolf vows to go straight and marries Lucy.

Dir: Herbert Brenon

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

A mermaid princess plans vengeance against a prince whose net killed her sibling. But upon meeting him, she develops romantic feelings.

Dir: Herbert Brenon

A French orphan girl is adopted by a wealthy British nobleman. The family lives happily, unaware that a plot is afoot to kidnap the girl and make away with the nobleman's fortune.

Dir: Maurice Elvey

A lady marries a horse trainer but withholds herself until her crippled brother is cured.