The Global Archive Complementing the Tone of The Great Reward: Cult...

Dir: Francis Ford

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Francis Ford

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

Patsy, a chorus girl, falls in love with a doctor. A gangster turns his attentions to Patsy when his own girlfriend is burned in a fire, scarring her face, and manages to convince Patsy that the doctor is planning to abandon her, which is not true. Hurt, angry and disillusioned, Patsy retreats to the country, and when the doctor finds out the truth, he goes after her to win her back. Unfortunately, the gangster also goes after her, and he has his own plans for the doctor.

Dir: Francis Ford

Quiet and fair-minded Jack Bliss traces his missing father to Hell's Hole, where he meets Helen Turner and Jack Hall, the leader of an outlaw gang rendezvousing at Hell's Hole. Hall kills Helen's father but fails in his attempts to get rid of Bliss and Helen, and Bliss, single-handed, takes on the gang while the neighboring ranchers, settlers, and herders unite to clean out the outlaws. They arrive in time to save Bliss and Helen and to hear Hall's confession to the murder of Bliss's father.

Dir: Francis Ford

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

While waiting in a hotel lobby for instructions from his government, Ludwig Schumann, an agent of the Black Legion, is enchanted by Marion Washburn, the daughter of a Texas senator. As he is about to speak to the girl, Schumann is stunned to see a young American enter who could be his double. The American is James Walbert, whom Schumann's contact mistakes for the agent. The contact passes to Walbert a photograph of a woman spy, Wanda Bartell, whom the agent is to meet aboard a steamer. Walbert realizes the mistake and determines to protect his country. After overpowering Schumann, Walbert rushes to the steamer where he meets Wanda. Also aboard are Marion and her fiancé, Herbert Cornell, a Washington fop who is trying to prove his earnestness by transporting secret plans to New York. Arriving in New York, Wanda and Walbert report to the Black Legion headquarters where they are instructed to procure Cornell's plans. Wanda succeeds in drugging Cornell, but Walbert intervenes, seizes the plans and returns to headquarters, intent upon smashing the organization. He is greeted by Schumann, who has exposed the spy, and is hopelessly outnumbered until the police arrive, having been summoned by Marion.

Dir: Francis Ford

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Francis Ford

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Who Was the Other Man? perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

While visiting Egypt, Mrs. Graham steals a famous jewel called "The Eye of the World" from a mummy's sarcophagus and returns to the United States, planning to use the gem as collateral for a loan. Kah, the priestess in charge of protecting the tombs of Egyptian nobility, is soon on her trail , determined to retrieve the gem. Mrs. Graham's lovely daughter, Betty, agrees to marry a suitor for money to prop up her father's failing business. When the bridegroom is murdered on the couple's wedding night, and the body disappears, Phil Kelly decides to lend a hand in solving the crimes.

Dir: Francis Ford

Episode 1: "The Broken Coin" Kitty Grey, a reporter, leaves her office for lunch. On her way to the restaurant she sees in an old curiosity shop half of a broken coin, inscribed in Latin. The name "Gretzhoffen" attracts her attention, and she buys the coin. On her way out of the shop she drops the papers she is carrying, which are picked up and handed to her by a foreign-looking man, who had been watching the coin before Kitty came along. Kitty goes on her way and the man enters the shop to buy the coin. He is told by the proprietor that the young lady who just left the shop bought it. Kitty, thinking she has material for a good story, forgets about lunch and goes to her room for an old article she has written regarding the poverty-stricken Kingdom of Gretzhoffen, and with the aid of a Latin grammar, translates the inscription on the coin, which reads: "Underneath flagstone of north corner torture cham he found treasures valuable s the kingd Gretzhoffen Mi." Tis arouses her imagination to such an extent that she hurries back to her office and asks the editor to give her three months to go to Gretzhoffen and locate the other half of the coin. In the meantime the mysterious looking foreigner has followed Kitty to her home, entered her room while she was at the office and ransacked everything in general, looking for the coin which Kitty, at that moment, had in a chamois bag around her neck. He leaves, disgusted. Everything ready for her departure, Kitty goes aboard the boat, where she comes face to face with the foreigner. After dinner Kitty falls asleep in her stateroom, after making sure that the half coin is safe. She awakens suddenly to glimpse the profile of a man at the porthole of her compartment. He disappears as she sits up. Realizing something is wrong, Kitty, after making sure no one is watching her, takes the coin, her passport and other valuables from the bag and hides them in her stocking. After another cautious survey she returns to bed. Sometime later she is awakened to find a hand holding her chamois bag disappear through the porthole. She runs to the porthole just in time to see the form of a man disappear around the bow of the boat. Realizing the bag contained only her handkerchief and an American half-dollar, and that the coin is safe in her stocking, Kitty locks the porthole and retires for the night. She sees no more of the strange foreigner, and arrives safe in Gretzhoffen. On investigating, with the help of the American Consul, Kitty finds that the Kingdom of Gretzhoffen is a very poor little principality, ruled by a puppet king, Michael the Second, who is under the power of a supposed friend, Count Frederick. Frederick, in reality, is the pretender to the throne occupied by the puppet, and uses Michael, under the guise of friendship, to further his own plans and to ascend to the throne of Gretzhoffen. The financial straits of the little kingdom are due to the fact that gold scripts and jewels belonging to Michael's father, the old King Michael the First, have been missing since the death of the old king, and the only clue to the missing valuables is half of a broken coin, inscribed in Latin, and given to the present king by an old servant of Michael the First's on his, the servant's, deathbed. Michael, the puppet, has, after a fashion, tried to locate the other half of the coin. Count Frederick, knowing of the coin and its value, procures it, through the aid of his valet and accomplice, Grahame, and determines to find the other half, dethrone Michael, and ascend the throne, a rich ruler of Gretzhoffen. Thanking the consul for the information, Kitty bids him good-day and strikes out for the hotel. In the meantime, Roleau, the foreigner who followed Kitty on her trip and is, in reality, a hireling of the unscrupulous Frederick, reports to his employer with the bag he has obtained from Kitty on board the liner. Frederick is greatly angered at finding the bag minus the precious half coin and beats the cringing Roleau. Frederick, quickly forgetting Roleau, sets about to find another way to get the coin. Kitty, in a taxi on her way home, sees a man stagger from the back door of a fashionable house, trying to cover his blood-stained face with his coat sleeve, and stopping her car near the man, she gets out and tries to help him.

Dir: Francis Ford

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

Ralph Avery and Robert Young, who are partners in a munitions factory, are both in love with Molly Carson. When the government investigates their company for stealing secret wartime plans, Ralph hides the evidence in Robert's desk, which leads to his conviction for treason and a twenty-year prison sentence. While Robert is incarcerated, Ralph steals one of Robert's formulas and becomes wealthy. He also marries Molly, who gives birth to a daughter named Lucille. As a grown woman, Lucille learns what her father has done from her mother, whose dying wish is that Lucille make amends to Robert, who eventually is able to take the formula to Europe to aid in the war effort.

Dir: Francis Ford

Frederick Fielding secretly marries his neighbor, Marguerite Quinn, and gives her his signet ring, even though her mother and father are enemies of his parents. The young groom then travels to the coral-rich island of Crimson Shoals, which is owned by his father, Thomas. Years later, Frederick, a prosperous owner of the island, grieves upon learning his wife has died, but is soon preoccupied with the theft of its coral reserves. Suspecting foreman Jack Quinn, Frederick and Thomas sail for the island. Helen, a member of Frederick's crew, falls in love with Jack and discovers that Rex Burke, the company auditor, is responsible for the theft. After a series of adventures and fights, Jack drops a charge of dynamite from an airplane, destroying the submarine Rex used to steal the coral. Frederick notices that Jack is wearing Marguerite's signet ring, and realizes that they are father and son, enabling Jack and Helen to continue their romance.

Dir: Francis Ford

Tex Henderson, a Western woman, excels at horse riding to the extent that the cowboy she loves rejects her as being too mannish. When the government opens up land for settlement, Tex joins the land rush, and her expert quick riding outwits others trying to stop her. She makes her land stake, after which the cowboy changes his mind and marries her.