Masterpiece Selection Resonating with the Themes of The Hand Invisi...

Dir: Harry O. Hoyt

Margaret has given up her stage career to marry inventor Jerry Benson. Jerry fails to impress oil executive William Graves with his idea, but Margaret has better luck when she catches Graves' attention and she both makes the sale and becomes the object of Graves' obsession. Profits from the invention make the Bensons wealthy; however Graves schemes to steal Margaret from Jerry by swindling them out of their money and getting Broadway floozy Gloria to break up their marriage.

Dir: Harry O. Hoyt

Author Noel Graham goes to the little village of Mondon, where his ancestors lived, for solitude to write. While searching for a lost puppy, Noel meets Rhona Allerton, who is visiting her guardian, Lewis Moffat, a writer in his declining years. Realizing that he needs inspiration to write a passionate romance, Moffat, with the help of old Benson, a former derelict now in his service, encourages the blossoming love affair between Rhona and Noel, while planning to destroy it later and analyze their suffering. After Noel proposes and Rhona accepts, Moffat makes each believe that the other loves someone else. After Rhona returns to New York heartbroken, Moffat writes his book, but cannot finish because of his failing strength. Noel completes the book, and it turns out to be better than anything Moffat had previously written. After Noel prevents a burglary in Moffat's house and saves Benson's life, Benson tells him about Moffat's scheme. Declaiming Moffat and the book as false, Noel burns it. Moffat dies, and Rhona returns to marry Noel.

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

Dir: Harry O. Hoyt

Quiet Dick Vernon, who lives in a cheap New York City boardinghouse, spends his vacation at his Uncle Galt's home in the small town of Boonsburg. Dressed in city fashions, Ben is harassed by gossips and chased by young women while he searches for the kind of simple country girl he has seen in the movies. Dick believes Mazie Chateaux is such a girl, unaware that she performs with a burlesque company that is briefly stranded in Boonsburg. When Uncle Galt unexpectedly inherits a million dollars, he gives Dick a large sum on the condition that the young man enjoys the high life when he returns to the city. However, Dick retreats to his quiet existence until his uncle visits, expecting to have a good time. During an all-night party, Dick has another encounter with Mazie. In the morning, Uncle Galt finds her in the apartment innocently preparing breakfast, and insists that she and Dick marry, which they do.

Dir: Harry O. Hoyt

Just out of jail and vowing to go straight, gentleman crook Boston Blackie (played by Raymond Glenn) undertakes the reformation of a pretty blonde (played by Corliss Palmer), who has stolen a necklace from a cabaret dancer (played by Rosemary Cooper). When he learns that the jewels belong to the girl's philandering father, Boston Blackie saves the day by performing one last job: replacing the necklace in its owner's safe.

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

Dir: Harry O. Hoyt

A lost submarine discovers a secret island where dinosaurs still live.

Dir: Harry O. Hoyt

Bruce Armstrong (MacDonald) is quite wealthy. He is also a drinker, a gambler, and pretty much worthless as a human being. For some reason, successful dancer Marilyn Merrill (Bow) sticks by him. In spite of this, he gambles with her boss, and when he loses, he writes bad checks. In order to avoid jail, Armstrong gets involved in diamond smuggling.

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

Dir: Harry O. Hoyt

Madame Adele, a faded Parisian theatre star, mentors young American performer Marie Duval, allowing her to revive Adele's former glory. Together they regain stardom in Paris, one reclaiming it and the other achieving it anew.

Dir: Harry O. Hoyt

John Wyncote's father dies, leaving him a bankrupt business. He instructs the family attorney, Thorden, to sell the business and all of his father's other interests. One of the now bankrupt company's investors, facing financial ruin, kills himself, leaving a son and a daughter, both of whom blame the Wyncote family for their loss and vow to take their revenge on them.

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

Dir: Harry O. Hoyt

The marriage between Donald and Flora Brookes is under pressure. Donald has eyes for a new girl, innocent at first, but more and more affectionate. But the new girl is unstable and dramatic.

Dir: Harry O. Hoyt

A young woman believes that an actor committed the murder for which her brother has been imprisoned, and she gets her newspaper-reporter fiancé to accompany her in following the suspected killer aboard a ship headed for South America. While they're at sea, disaster strikes and the ship is sunk. The three of them, plus the actor's friend, are washed up on a deserted island. Complications ensue.