The Essential Watchlist Similar Cinematic Experiences to The Eternal Temptress: Cult Guide

Dir: Emile Chautard

Habitual unfaithful husband, Jack Freeman begins flirting with the coquettish Effie McKenzie, and so breaks up her marriage. Blanche Gordon, a friend of Jack's wife Louise, then comes to see Jack several times in order to plead with him to give up extramarital affairs and accept the responsibilities that go with being a husband. Blanche's husband Tom, however, misunderstands these meetings and insists on a separation. When Jack is murdered, all of the evidence implicates Tom. At the trial, though, Blanche tries to take the blame for the murder, thereby making Tom realize that she really does love him. Just as Tom is about to confess in order to save Blanche, Effie's husband breaks down and admits to being the killer, after which Tom and Blanche are reunited.

Dir: Emile Chautard

Young Magda is stifled by the regimentation and provincial thinking of the small village she grew up in, and the result is that her parents throw her out of the house. Determined to make her own way, she heads to the big city to be a professional singer. There she falls in love with a cad named Kellner and marries him, only to discover that the marriage was phony and now she's alone and has a child to support. She's reduced to singing in seamy dance halls and even on the street until one day her former singing teacher hears her and takes her under his wing. Her problems aren't over, however--her father still wants nothing to do with her, and now her phony "husband" Kellner shows up.

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

Dir: Emile Chautard

The productions from Thanhouser's mature period, 1915-1917, clearly show the advancements that set the stage for the first cinematic golden age, the 1920s. Such advances are evident in this surviving shortened version of "Fires of Youth": detailed character development by veteran actor Frederick Warde (and in a smaller role, at least in the shortened version, by Jeanne Eagels), mature editing techniques, special lighting effects, intelligent story development, realistic use of locations, fluid dialogue inter-titles, complex staging and access to better cameras with the defeat of the Patents Trust. Acclaimed French stage and film director Emile Chautard was brought from Éclair studio in France to direct.

Dir: Emile Chautard

A reminiscence of her act ten years ago, recalling how she had secretly married Jean Roussel, flashes through the mind of Mathilda, daughter of Professor Stangerson, when her father asks her to become the wife of Robert Darzac, and how their wedding certificate could not be filed as her husband was imprisoned for passing counterfeit money. But she soon dismisses the horror upon the thought that Roussel must have been dead (she never having heard from or of him) and at last consents to the announcement of her betrothal to Darzac. Roussel, however, was still alive and soon learns of the engagement of Mathilda. By a subterfuge he manages to get a note to her telling her that he still loves her and begging her to flee with him to America. Mathilda was too frightened to answer, so Roussel in a jealous rage goes to the residence of Mathilda and hides in the yellow room occupied by her. Mathilda, who had been out walking with her father and fiancé, returned and feeling tired goes direct to her room, where she comes face to face with Roussel, who cautions her not to utter a word of alarm. But Mathilda was very much afraid and screams. In order to stop her, Roussel chokes her into unconsciousness and leaves her for dead. That evening as she joins her father he notices that she is unusually pale and advises her to retire early. She does and no sooner had the household retired when a shot comes from the room of Mathilda. Upon investigation the father finds that his daughter is lying unconscious upon the floor with a deep gash in her head, but no trace of her assailant could be found for the doors and windows were all locked from the inside. Professor Stangerson places the solving of the mystery in the hands of Rouletabille, a noted detective, and inspector Larson, They are given adjoining rooms in the Stangerson castle, and in his work of unraveling the enigma, Rouletabille finds under the bed of Mathilda a hair and a bloody handkerchief. Then Mathilda receives another letter from Roussel, which makes her change her room. At midnight the detective hears sounds coming from the yellow room, and stations Larson and the professor at both ends of the gallery, but no one is found. Previously the detective had caught a glimpse of a bearded man and has come to the conclusion that he must be in the house. He is also surprised to learn that Larson's hair is the color of that which he had found in Mathilda's boudoir. Larson, who was none other than Roussel, sends Mathilda another note and fearing the surveillance of Rouletabille, he invites the detective to supper in his room. He drugs the wine which is drunk by the detective, and as the latter is examining Larson's hair he notices a bad wound in the inspector's hand and then falls unconscious. Rouletabille's assistant brings him around, and after forcing from Larson the marriage certificate deliberately gives him a chance to escape. Then the detective gives Mathilda the unrecorded marriage document, the destruction of which means her freedom to marry Darzac. The mystery of the yellow room was cleared by the detective's remarkable deduction which shows that the deep gash in the head of Mathilda had been caused by a vision of her assailant and she, in a subconscious state, had discharged the revolver in self-defense and in falling had landed against a table, and the ugly wound in Larson's hand had been done when she had her encounter with him in the yellow room.

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

Dir: Emile Chautard

Adventuress Stefanie Paoli forsakes her lover, humble fisherman Gabriel Barrato, for the arms of a nobleman, the Marquis de Mohrivart. Upon learning that Stefanie has wed another, Gabriel kills himself and his brother Benedetto swears revenge. Stefanie goes to France with the Marquis where they run an exclusive gambling club. Years pass and they have a son, Charles, who is sent to England for his education. Charles, ignorant of his parent's method of living, marries Rose Verney, the daughter of an upper class British family. Meanwhile, Benedetto has acquired wealth and visits the Mohrivart tables in Paris. Although enthralled with Stefanie's beauty, he attacks the woman on whom he has sworn revenge. In attempting to save his wife, the Marquis is killed. Benedetto is sentenced to life in prison, and soon after, Stefanie, learning that her son is dying, visits his family in England. After Charles death, she refuses to leave, threatening to invoke an old French law which would declare her granddaughter's birth illegitimate unless the Verney family supports her. Stefanie is prevented from victimizing her son's family when Sir Horace Welby, a former lover, falsely informs her that Benedetto has been freed and is seeking her life. Terrified, Stefanie disappears and leaves the Verneys in peace.

Dir: Emile Chautard

Vivacious little Gilberte, known as Frou Frou, is the daughter of M. Brigard, a retired merchant, who has as his companion in a life of gaiety, Comte Paul de Valreas, a much younger man. Both the Count and Henry de Sartorys are in love with Frou Frou, and when De Sartorys asks for the hand of Frou Frou, M. Brigard refers him to Louise, the elder daughter, who is in charge of the household. To Louise, who loves de Sartorys, comes the first anguish of her life, when he confides his love for Frou Frou. However, she confers with her little sister who agrees to marry De Sartorys. Paul also asks for Frou Frou's hand, but Brigard refuses, stating he is too jolly a companion to be trusted as a son-in-law. Five years pass, and although Frou Frou adores her son Georgie, the calm role of a homemaker does not suit her, and on one of Louise's visits she realizes her own place has been usurped, as both De Sartorys and Georgie go to her for advice. Paul still loves Frou Frou, but she fights against her growing attraction for him, and begs him to go away. Finding she is no longer necessary for the happiness of her husband and son, after a furious tirade against Louise, she leaves and joins Paul in Venice. Paul's mother receives her, and the next day, De Sartorys, who has followed, finds her, and despite her pleas, fights a duel with Paul, in which Paul is killed. Out of the loneliness and sorrow of the ensuing months her soul is chastened, and she returns to ask her husband one last favor, that she be allowed to die in the house she entered as a bride. Although Louise also pleads for her he at first refuses; but when Frou Frou, formerly so light-hearted and care-free, pleads on her knees, he can no longer deny her, and the two meet in a tearful embrace. Her life closes with a semblance of happiness, as she gives to Louise the two that are closest to her, her husband and son.

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

Dir: Emile Chautard

When a judge is financially ruined by Peter Brownley, a Wall Street millionaire, his daughter seeks revenge by getting a job in the tycoon's office. She manages to discover information that she believes her father can use to recover his swindled money and do to Peter what he did to her father. However, she meets and falls in love with Robert, the son of the man who ruined her father. Complications ensue.

Dir: Emile Chautard

Robert Hendricks, who is a rich young bachelor, becomes infatuated with Myra, a beautiful, but evil, dancer of a New York dancing resort. He invites her to his apartment, where his attorney calls unexpectedly. Hendricks sends Myra in an adjoining room and receives the lawyer, who comes to tell him that he is leaving for Europe and wishes to turn over $20,000 in unregistered securities, as the balance of the estate of Hendricks' father, of which he was trustee. Myra pricked her ears at this, and peeking through the portieres, saw Hendricks place the securities in a concealed wall-safe. After the departure of the lawyer, Myra comes out of seclusion and Hendricks tells her to remain in his rooms until his return, as he wishes to speak to his broker at once regarding the bonds. The moment Hendricks leaves the apartment, Myra phoned to her pals a band of crooks, telling them to hurry there for a rich haul. They were just taking the bonds out of the safe as Hendricks returned. In the fight that ensued, one of the crooks, Myra's lover, was accidentally killed by Myra's own hand. When Hendricks realized the full significance of the situation, rather than turn the girl over to the police, magnanimously allows the girl to escape. The years pass and Hendricks becomes a serious reformer, forceful and effective. He is sent for as the head of his society to clean up the fearfully immoral conditions prevailing in an Alaskan mining camp. Unknown to Hendricks, Myra is the sinister influence of the camp, where she conducts a dance hall. The mystery of the place is the presence there of a beautiful unsullied young girl known as Velma. She is supposed to be Myra's niece. Despite the vicious conditions surrounding her, Velma is innocent of evil, with the pure heart of a young girl. Hendricks falls in love with her, but Myra has already promised the girl to the bully of the camp, a huge, uncouth ruffian, who has "struck it rich" and who can pay Myra's price for Velma. Father Harrigan comes to the assistance of the good little girl and is pleased to learn of her true love for Hendricks. However, to prevent Hendricks marrying the girl, Myra reveals her identity to him, who hitherto had not suspected it, and declares that Velma is his own daughter, the offspring of their illicit relationship years before. Driven half mad by the hideous lie, Hendricks sets out in pursuit of the bully who has carried off Velma after a desperate fight in Myra's dance hall in which the woman is fatally wounded. Eventually he comes to grips with the ruffian. The bully goes to a fearful death, while fate unravels Hendricks' tangled love and he gathers Velma in his arms after her true identity was revealed by the dying Myra.

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Forget-Me-Not perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Dir: Emile Chautard

The story of Nathan Hale, an American soldier and spy from his days as a teacher to his eventual capture and execution.

Dir: Emile Chautard

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.