Top-Tier Alternatives Exploring the Legacy of The Forbidden City: C...

Dir: Sidney Franklin

Josephine, a seemingly happily married mother, comforts her friend who has just found out that her husband is cheating on her with her own story: raised in an infamous dive and taught to steal money from her customers, one night she meets a well-known novelist and his wife who are "slumming" and who give her a sum of money in order for her to leave her surroundings, but her guardian takes it from her. She is eventually sent to a reformatory but escapes and finds the novelist, now divorced. She determines to once and for all escape the life she's in and offers herself to the novelist in exchange for a promise of marriage. Complications ensue. When the place is raided, Jo is sent to a reformatory, but she later escapes. So that she will not have to return to the reformatory, Harrison marries her "in name only," with the idea that after a few months they will divorce. When Nina, now unhappily married, starts pursuing Harrison, his friend Huntley McMerton helps Jo make Harrison jealous, whereupon he declares his love. Jo suggests that her friend should act similarly.

Dir: Sidney Franklin

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

With her marriage on the verge of breaking up, a young wife attempts to win back the love of her husband and child.

Dir: Sidney Franklin

Bob Anderson and his bride Mary depart for a country inn on their honeymoon, but on the road they are robbed of all their valuables, including her wedding ring. The hotel clerk, who refuses to believe that they are married, allows them to sleep in the parlor but regards them with suspicion. Before dawn, Bob hears a scream; rushing into the room he discovers that a woman has been murdered. The police arrive and arrest him, after which he is tried, convicted, and sentenced to death. Having learned that further crimes have been committed in the hotel, Mary and her father set a trap for the criminal, whom they discover is the hotel clerk. After he confesses his guilt in the murder case, Mary tries frantically to reach the governor in time to prevent Bob's execution but is informed that it is too late. At that moment, Mary awakens and realizes that it was all a dream.

Dir: Sidney Franklin

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

Paul Ellison, who falls in love with Elsa, exchanges identities with his twin, Arthur, because he feels himself responsible for his brother's downfall, and assumes guilt for a murder. Five years later Elsa meets Arthur, whom she believes to be Paul, and they become engaged. In Rangoon, Paul is recognized by Elsa and Craig, a gambler. Though Paul confesses to the crime, Craig, in his dying moments, admits he is the real murderer. Elsa and the two brothers are then reconciled.

Dir: Sidney Franklin

Originally a Broadway play by Willard Mack, Lenore Ulric played the lead on Broadway and she reprises her role in this film. At the Wutchi Wum trading post, in the peaceful Loon River Valley, deep in the Canadian Northwest comes a story of love, vengeance and sacrifice. Following the death of her father; Rose lives at the trading post where she soon falls in love, but when her new love is in trouble, in her quest to keep him safe; Rose discovers that she is capable of much more than she thought.

Dir: Sidney Franklin

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

The storyline is loosely-based on Buffalo candy-maker August Merckens' opera-singer daughter Baroness Platon Von Wrangel, who married the Russian leader in the fight for restoration of the Russian monarchy.

Dir: Sidney Franklin

A spoiled young rich girl is forced by misfortune to fight for survival in the slums and alleys, where she becomes involved with all manner of unpleasantness.

Dir: Sidney Franklin

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

Susan Allenby's (Enid Markey) father is killed during a robbery staged by Bannack's corrupt sheriff Tom Slade and his men, leaving her to care for her eight brothers and sisters. Andy Crawford and his father William take the orphans in, but after Andy's father is killed, the young prospector vows to avenge his death and clean up the town. Learning that Slade's deputy, Ned Skinner, is his father's murderer, Andy orders his arrest, but Slade ignores Andy, who finally kills Skinner in a duel. While Andy's vigilante committee is searching for the outlaws who held up the stage, Slade imprisons Susan in the saloon. Informed of the kidnapping by the children, Andy returns and rescues her, killing Slade in the process. The appreciative townspeople then name Andy the new sheriff, and Susan happily agrees to become his wife.

Dir: Sidney Franklin

After the half-breed daughter of a Comanche chief falls for a young engineer who deserts her, she turns to a white Indian agent who marries her.

Dir: Sidney Franklin

A fresh young beauty becomes an old maid waiting for her suitor to return from the Napoleonic wars. When he returns, clearly disappointed, she disguises herself as her own niece in order to test his loyalty.