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

Dir: Herbert Brenon

Gennaro, the son of Lucretia Borgia, lives unaware of the identity of his mother, who has married the Duke of Ferrara. After Lucretia's brother is killed by five conspirators, the fathers of Gennaro's dearest friends, Lucretia tortures the old men to death. Later, Gennaro and his companions journey to Lucretia's domain, and she sees her son for the first time. The Duke, who believes him to be her lover, poisons him, but Lucretia administers the antidote in time and saves his life. Then she schemes to poison her sons' five friends for their fathers' mistake. She succeeds in poisoning them all at a dinner at which Gennaro is an uninvited guest. In dismay, she pleads for him to take the antidote, but he refuses and in a fury avenges his friends by stabbing Lucretia. As he lies dying, he learns that she was his mother.

Dir: Herbert Brenon

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

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

Grace Leonard, a typical woman of the New York stage, beautiful but old in sin, seduces William Craig, who becomes a thief in order to shower luxuries upon her. He is sentenced to prison and emerges five years later as a sad-faced, gray-haired man, entirely cured of his mad passion for La Valencia. But she sees him and her old passion is stirred, caring not that since his release from prison he has fallen in love and married a good woman who knows nothing of his past. When William is not swayed by her fascinations, Grace threatens to expose his past life.

Dir: Herbert Brenon

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

A dramatization of the Russian revolution and the influence upon the Russian royal family of the famous "mad monk," Rasputin.

Dir: Herbert Brenon

The secret marriage of a farmer and servant girl in an English household leads to a child born that is not believed to be legitimate.

Dir: Herbert Brenon

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of The Fall of the Romanoffs 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

To a rooming house which has fallen on hard times comes The Stranger, an unknown but gentle man who is given the back room on the third floor. His arrival marks a change in the lives of all the boarders, from the girl resisting her parents' pleas that she marry the lecherous Mr. Wright, to an architect and a pianist, both of whose dreams are near destruction from their own discouragement.

Dir: Herbert Brenon

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

Back from a crusade, the hero of Sir Walter Scott's novel fights for courtly love and Saxon honor.

Dir: Herbert Brenon

In her third picture, Bara is the wife-vampire.

Dir: Herbert Brenon

A sultan agrees to help a wicked witch destroy a mysterious young lady if the witch will bring his young son back from the dead with magic.