Cinematic Discoveries Resonating with the Themes of The Glorious Fo...

Dir: E. Mason Hopper

Diana Gordon a socialite, falls madly in love with Dr. Paul Russell, her husband Keith's best friend. Russell, however, is in love with Keith's sister Marjorie, who is spending the winter with the Gordons. Overhearing Russell's proposal to Marjorie, Diana is extremely jealous and when alone with the physician, throws herself into his arms. At that moment, Gordon enters the room, and to protect Diana's reputation, Russell takes the blame and is banished from the house. Sometime later, polio sweeps the city and Russell becomes an expert in treating the disease. The Gordon's young daughter is stricken and Diana summons the physician, but Gordon forbids him to enter their home. In order to save her child, Diana reveals the truth to her husband and sister-in-law. All are then reconciled and the little girl recovers.

Dir: E. Mason Hopper

Yano is a small delivery boy for his uncle, who keeps a curio shop in Chinatown. His loves are Tama, his sweetheart, and Bengi, his dog. Bengi is seized by dog catchers, but is rescued by Letty Stanford, for which Yano promises his fealty. Later Letty is kidnapped by Germans because of her war activities, and it is Yano who goes to her rescue and gets her free in spite of his diminutive size. The Little Japanese has paid his debt.

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

Dir: E. Mason Hopper

Colonel Dabney Mills, whose Southern plantation is heavily mortgaged, makes a trip to New York hoping to borrow money from James Adams, his granddaughter Anna Belle's husband. When the colonel arrives, he learns that Adams's entire capital is tied up in a big stock deal, and that he is therefore unable to lend the colonel any assistance. While Adams is away, one of his business partners entrusts the colonel with $5,000 to retain for his grandson-in-law. Desperate, the colonel speculates in cotton on the tip of an old friend and loses the money. Conscience-stricken, the colonel returns to his plantation determined to take his life, but Adams, successful in his deal, arrives just in time to prevent the tragedy.

Dir: E. Mason Hopper

Abby Lou is the niece of the crabbed old antique dealer, Richard Cobb. Old Richard Cobb has a son who possesses all the qualities that his father seemingly was born without. This son, Tom Cobb, loves Abby Lou and is working on his great invention, a kettle that will not boil over. Finances are the only drawback to its successful achievement. Tom approaches wealthy old Joseph Snow for assistance but is turned down. Snow, though a hard man in money matters, in private life is also an unsuspected follower of Romance. In his home he has a secret chamber from which through the eyes of his portrait he can observe what goes on in his absence. Snow sees Abby in the antique shop and his charity offering of money to the ragged little girl is scorned. It amazes him; for the first time in his life his money is refused. It puzzles him and that night he decides on an eccentric test. The next day Abby Lou is notified that she is the heiress to deceased Snow's wealth. The lawyer takes her away to the mansion and she is surrounded by the parasitical Mrs. Rollins and her son Percival, relatives of Snow. Percival is in love with Marguerite D'Arcy but is as poor as a church mouse. Snow from his point of observation through the eves of his picture watches Abby set up Percival in business, secretly finance Tom's invention to success, reinstate his old and faithful employee Mace, and seemingly make everyone happy with his money. A new understanding of life and its meaning comes to Snow and the night of the mask ball Snow steps through the secret panel in costume, masked and apparently a guest. Then the denouement happens in a marvelously happy way and the Spirit of Romance, her mission finished, disappears forever.

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

Dir: E. Mason Hopper

Quartus Hembly, a man without a conscience, is the ruler of the town of Copper City, having made himself rich at the expense of his workers. When Donald Keith, a young lawyer, arrives in town, a hidden spring within him is touched after Hembly viciously kicks his dog. Keith refuses to leave town and warns Hembly that he will fight to see that the people get their rights. Keith's only ally is Thora Erickson, the daughter of Hembly's henchman. Keith's opportunity to topple Hembly presents itself when he rescues Bill Wheeler, who, out of gratitude, confesses that it was Hembly who dynamited the log jam years earlier. With the lawyers and the courts in the palm of his hand, Hembly is acquitted, but the townspeople are so outraged that they capture Hembly and tie him to the whipping post. He is rescued by Keith, who forces a full confession for all Hembly's crimes and then allows him to leave town. Keith is then made district attorney, Thora becomes his bride, and Copper City becomes a decent place in which to live.

Dir: E. Mason Hopper

Young engineer Tom Morley is building a railroad through Imperial Valley. Tom's father also wants the job and tries to persuade his son to give up the work, but Tom refuses. Tom falls for a society girl named Alice Hale, who marries him to bring prestige to her family. Initially, Alice plots against Tom, but Tom wins her over and they work together to defeat those who are plotting to destroy Tom's work.

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

Dir: E. Mason Hopper

Florence Burgess, a singer in the Cafe Fanchon, supports her lame sister, Frances, but keeps her struggle secret. Oscar Morse, a theatrical manager, is attracted by Florence's beauty and talent, and offers her an engagement. When they meet he demands the usual payment his girls have to make, and is refused. The café has been closed, she is out of work and decides to trick Morse. She gets him drunk, and he signs a paper she has substituted for the contract he planned. Florence the next day admits her deception and Morse, fearing publicity, accepts the situation and stars Florence in "The Green Goddess." She makes a big success, her stage name being Flo Burke. At a little country hotel where she has gone to rest after the first year's work, she meets Fenton, the minister, whose efforts closed the Fanchon, but he does not recognize her. He tells the story of his mission work, she becomes interested, they fall in love, he not knowing that she is the actress, Flo Burke, the register showing Miss F. Burgess. She finally keeps her secret, saying she is the sister of the actress. Fenton is preaching, Florence hears him, determines to give up the stage, but Morse demands the payment of a large forfeit, and she is bound to the stage. Frances, who has been sent to a sanatorium, starts with her sister for New York, the train is wrecked, and Fenton, when the bodies are brought in, finds one bearing cards which tell him it is Flo Burke. Another woman, not dead, has cards of Florence Burgess. Florence sees in a paper in the hospital the announcement of the death of Flo Burke, and sees that it means her escape from the stage. She marries Fenton, but is full of remorse over her deception, and plans to use her money, which had come to her through her own will, which had left it to her sister, for the work of Fenton. Morse goes to the church rectory to see Fenton about a problem play, sees Florence, she denies knowing him, he returns to his office, finds a diary she had kept, and it reveals her secret. He returns, demands full payment of the contract forfeit, and Florence is up against a dilemma. If she gives the money to Morse, she must explain to her husband; if she gives it to her husband Morse will drag her back to the stage. Seeking a way out of the labyrinth, she promises Morse to read the play, and advises Fenton to favor it for production by Morse. He comes to the house, meets Fenton instead of Florence, who overhears her husband praising the play, and decides to give her husband the money. Morse flies into a rage, threatens to denounce her, but Fenton stops him; there is a fight, Morse accidentally shoots himself with his own pistol, and with her husband's love safe Florence feels that she has escaped from the labyrinth.

Dir: E. Mason Hopper

The valet of Lord Harold Varden, on a secret mission to our Government, has been murdered. Dick Holloway, a reporter, detailed to the story, calls on Lord Varden just as the latter feels the effects of poison administered to him. He takes the place of the nobleman when his American cousins come for him, and not only saves his lordship's papers, but captures the spies detailed to get them.

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

Dir: E. Mason Hopper

Charlotte Carter, a young songwriter, moves to New York and settles in the city's Bohemian quarter. When Peter Ladislaw, one of her admirers, confesses that he has forged a number of checks and is in danger of arrest, the good-hearted girl promises to help him. Olga Grey, a dishonest schemer, convinces Charlotte to marry wealthy arts patron Gerard Townshend, who has been injured in an auto accident and is near death. Charlotte consents and the two are wed, but following an operation, Gerard recovers. Ashamed, Charlotte confesses that she married Gerard for his money, and he forgives her. Olga and Peter try to frame them for a divorce, but the couple, now deeply in love, rid themselves of the crooks and begin their marriage again.

Dir: E. Mason Hopper

"Tough Luck" Baxter, returning from a prospecting trip, meets Happy Jack Clarke, a former citizen of Baxter City, a boom town which became a ghost town when the gold petered out. A game of cards decides that Clarke will go back to Baxter City with "Tough Luck" in search of ore. Meanwhile, the Firefly, a New York music hall entertainer out of a job, is ordered by her parasitic husband Bert Wilcox to perform at the dance hall in Baxter City. Upon her arrival, she finds the town deserted and strikes out on the open trail. Overcome by the desert, she is rescued and brought back to Baxter City by Danny Ward, a former Yale athlete. Together, "Tough Luck," Clarke, Danny and Firefly organize a family and strike gold. Danny, having fallen in love with Firefly, proposes to her on the very night that her worthless husband comes to town. Wilcox loots the assayer's office, is caught, convicted, and thrown out of town. Out of loyalty, Firefly accompanies him. Danny follows them and finds Firefly abandoned in the desert by Wilcox who has stolen her money and water. Justice is served when Wilcox perishes in a den of rattlesnakes, thus freeing Firefly to return with Danny to Baxter City.