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 Six-Shooter Andy 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

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

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

A housewife poses as her sister, a notorious dancer, in order to fool her husband and teach him a lesson.

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 Her Sister from Paris 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

Kathleen, a young Irish woman, is in love with Kenneth Wayne but is prevented from marrying him by her guardian John Carteret. John is haunted by memories of his thwarted love for Kathleen's aunt, Moonyean.

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.

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.

Dir: Sidney Franklin

Puck is a music-hall dancer married to an abusive husband. One night the music hall catches fire. Puck is rescued by an Army officer and her husband perishes. Puck marries the officer and they begin a new life in India, until a man from her past finds her and makes demands.

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.