The Definitive Watchlist Seeking the Same Brilliance as The Call of the Blood: Cult Guide

Dir: Louis Mercanton

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

A producer makes a star of the cockney waif who tried to rob him.

Dir: Louis Mercanton

A Princess learns that the captain of a ship she owns has struck a passenger, indirectly causing the passenger's death. The captain is immediately sacked although his action was in defense of her honor. Later, in Cyprus, the Princess meets a handsome man and they're mutually attracted. Only when he expresses contempt for the name of Princess Beatrice Doriani for costing him his job does she realize that this is the same captain she had sacked.

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Miarka, the Child of the Bear perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Dir: Louis Mercanton

Miarka, the granddaughter of Romany Kate, according to her grandmother, is to marry a gypsy chief-whereabouts unknown. Romany Kate, Miarka and her tame bear, live upon the estate of an old gentleman who tolerates Kate because of his interest in gypsies, and more particularly because he has a gypsy document which he cannot decipher. A gardener, in love with Miarka, robs the master and sets fire to the home, making it appear that Kate is the guilty one. She is convicted but later Miarka's pet bear kills the gardener and he confesses his crime before he dies. Kate, realizing Miarka is in love with the master's nephew, Ivor, takes her away. Later the master tells Ivor that he is not his nephew but was found at the gate when a babe. The document is deciphered by Kate and it discloses that Ivor is the chief whom Miarka had been destined to marry.

Dir: Louis Mercanton

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

A man becomes infatuated with who he believes is a pure and honest woman, not knowing she really is a siren that lures men to the gambling tables to lose all their money.

Dir: Louis Mercanton

An Englishman, Lord Wheatley, purchases an island over which reigns the supremely beautiful Phroso, thus disposessing her of her land. Revolted, the islanders, supported by an adventurer who desires Phroso, rise against the new master. The English are saved by the British governor, also under the spell of gorgeous Phroso. The latter, for her part, is not wholly insensitive to Lord Wheatley's distinction. The imbroglio still worsens with the meddling of a dark horse : the neighboring sultan.

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

Dir: Louis Mercanton

Comte Georges de Kerlor is convinced his wife has been cheating on him, and little Jean is not his own. He entrusts the boy to a criminal who already has a boy of his own. As he grows up with Claudinet, the two boys become inseparable.