The Auteur's Selection In the Shadow of The Heart of Wetona: Cult G...

Dir: Sidney Franklin

In Scotland, Stephan Blackmoore, a young husband and father struggling with the design of a new invention, visits his former employer, Angus Ferguson, to collect money owed him. Before Stephan's arrival, Angus is killed by his son, Bruce, in an attempted robbery. Stephan is imprisoned for the murder, but his wife, Jean, continues the work of perfecting his invention and remains faithful to him, despite being courted by a man of wealth and position. When she has all but given up, the real killer confesses, resulting in Stephan's release and his reunion with Jean.

Dir: Sidney Franklin

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

Beverly Calhoun of New Jersey accompanies her cousin Oscar to claim the throne of the tiny kingdom of Graustark. When Oscar has a skiing accident, Beverly takes his place as Prince Oscar.

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 The Probation Wife perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Dulcy (Constance Talmadge), a devoted but scatterbrained bride, tries to improve her absent husband's finances by inviting two of his business prospects to dinner. Though at first thoroughly confusing the deal, she does get her husband a bigger share than he bargained for.

Dir: Sidney Franklin

Distraught young Ann Carter is saved from committing suicide by Hayden Masters, but he turns out to be a vicious criminal who wants to make her his partner-in-crime. Fearful of what might happen to her if she doesn't marry him as he asked, she accepts, but on their wedding night he is arrested for burglary and thrown into prison. Broke and alone, Ann gets a job as a secretary to a wealthy executive, whose son Donald falls for her. When she hears that Masters has been killed in a failed prison escape attempt, she accepts Donald's proposal--then Masters shows up, very much alive.

Dir: Sidney Franklin

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

A free-spirited girl is caught between her love for her husband and her attraction to a handsome adventurer.

Dir: Sidney Franklin

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

A Chinese mandarin hopes to regain favor with the Emporer by betrothing her to him, but he doesn't know she's secretly married to the American consul and pregnant.

Dir: Sidney Franklin

A chorus girl hopes to rise to stardom and thus accepts the advances of a wealthy man. But she becomes fearful of her reputation and safety. In an attempt to escape the rake's attentions, she hides out with a disparate group of men who room in a house called "The Barn." There she learns that there is more to life than that found on the stage.

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.