Hidden Genre Gems In Alignment with the style of The Enchanted Hill...

Dir: Edward LeSaint

When famous opera singer Elinore Duane undergoes an operation on her throat, she has a series of ether-induced visions. In one, she is transported to ancient Rome where she appears as a much-admired woman in love with Paul, a young heretic, and at odds with Lutor, the high priest. To save her love, she poisons Lutor with her ring. After several other visions which involve variations on this love triangle, Elinore awakens to discover that Lutor is actually her doctor, Sascha Jaccard, and that Paul is the son of a friend who has come to visit the recovering prima donna.

Dir: Irvin Willat

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

When cowboy Nick McCredie notices in a second-hand book an inscription to "Emily, the prettiest girl in school," he writes to her and learns that she is a lonely Eastern farm girl living with her grandmother. Instead of sending his own picture to her, Nick encloses a photo of his handsome friend Pen Walton. After Nick sees Walton stealing two horses, Nick agrees to keep quiet, when Walton promises to reform. Meanwhile, Emily's grandmother dies, and her new guardian tries to force her to marry him. She writes to Nick, who proposes by letter. Nick meets her, but identifies himself as "Andy," and when she says she would be disappointed if Nick was not as handsome as his picture, he shows her the way to Walton, and rides off alone. After Walton rustles another horse and plants Nick's glove as evidence, he abducts Emily. She escapes, and riding the stolen horse, she leads the rest to the ranch in time to stop Nick's hanging. After the real identities are revealed, Nick and Emily marry.

Dir: Harley Knoles

Jim McDonald, the foreman of a shipbuilding plant and head of the labor union, strives to combat the anarchistic propaganda being put forth by Klimoff, the leader of a Bolshevik gang whose goal is to disrupt the country with strikes and anarchy. Despite McDonald's efforts, a strike is called, resulting in chaos. McDonald's child is knocked down by runaway horses abandoned by their striking driver, and dies. Mob scenes take place in America, as well as in Russia. Eventually, the unrest is quelled with an armistice called between Capital and Labor for a year, during which time wages are to be increased to reflect the cost of living, and leaders are to work out a common plan for their mutual advantage. The strikers now realize that they have been pawns of the Bolsheviks and call off the strike, agreeing to the plan.

Dir: Robert N. Bradbury

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

A simple country girl, brutally mistreated by her stepfather, awakens first the sympathy, then the love, of The Boy. The Spider, who lusts after The Girl, makes a bargain with the stepfather and takes her to the city where, kept prisoner, she is soon broken in health and spirit. Cast out and near death, she is taken in by The Boy. Following the demise of The Spider, The Boy takes her to church, where he prays, and after many hours she is restored to health.

Dir: Bruno Ziener

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: William Parke

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

Bruce Wendell, the son of West Virginia coal mine owner James Wendell, graduates from West Point and prepares to lead a fighting unit to the front during World War I. As his father lies dying, however, he convinces Bruce to remain at home and guard the mine. Bruce's fiancée Ann Blair assumes that he is a coward and breaks off their engagement, but her brother Bobbie remains Bruce's loyal friend. Meyer, a German agent, persuades railroad president Parrish to refuse to transport Wendell's coal, but when Bruce adamantly refuses to close the mine, the spy's men decide to blow it up. While Ann is being abducted by Meyer, Bobbie is buried in an explosion at the mine. Bruce rescues Bobbie and then sends a plea to Lieutenant Parrish to rescue Ann. Meyer and his gang are captured and Ann renews her vow of love to Bruce.

Dir: Alexander Butler

In Alberta, Canada, a Cornish emigrant unmasks a rustler posing as the girl's "blind" father.

Dir: Irvin Willat

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Eva, wo bist du? perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

A fur smuggler's daughter asks to accompany him on his trip to the US to sell his furs. She falls for Robert, a young man who has recently been dumped by his girlfriend for a rich man. She and Robert fall in love, but her father suddenly takes her back to Canada to avoid tax agents. Robert searcher for her for a year, and when he finally finds her, he must fight both her father and her father's gang for her. Complications ensue.

Dir: Irvin Willat

Wu Fang rules the Chinese underworld with the aid of crooked politician Jim Murdock, who shields the criminal from the police in exchange for a share of the profits. When Wu Fang kills Sergt. Joe Duncan, however, Patrolman Terence Shannon decides to conduct a raid. Wu Fang, who is expecting to receive a large shipment of opium, kidnaps Chinatown mission worker Patsy O'Connell and threatens to harm her if the police interfere in the drug smuggling operation. Although Terence is attracted to Patsy, he places duty before his own feelings and goes ahead with the raid but is captured by Wu Fang. Patsy and Terence are about to be thrown into a rat-infested pit when Officer Michael O'Shea and his men arrive, and in the ensuing battle, Wu Fang is killed and Murdock arrested. Chinatown having been made safe, Patsy agrees to be the wife of the new police chief, Terence.

Dir: Irvin Willat

Alain de Montcalm is the son of a French trading post proprietor. When a murder and kidnapping occur, Alain pursues the abducted girl and her captor across the far northern wasteland of ice.