Editor's Top Picks Sharing the Atmosphere of The Lady of the Dugout...

Dir: W.S. Van Dyke

In the land where the Sun hangs low and the hungry wolves shadows play ominously over the everlasting snow, Joe Mauchin meets Jeanne Verette. He is a trapper, come down to the little post of Mead's Pocket, a vicious mining town, for supplies. She, the daughter of a saloonkeeper who compels her to "drum up trade" among his maudlin patrons. Joe falls in love with Jeanne. A brute of a man seeks to interfere and in the resultant struggle falls dead. Joe and Jeanne flee to his camp miles away and a year's happiness follows. Then the trapper finds Constable McKenzie of the Mounted Police half dead in the snow. Joe revives the officer and carries him to his cabin. Straightway McKenzie arrests the trapper for the saloon death. A desperate fight ensues between the two and the constable, overpowered, flees for aid. He is last seen in the woods, staggering from the effects of a wound, and with a pack of wolves slowly drawing in on him. Joe, in the cabin, draws to his arms Jeanne who is shyly clutching a newly made bit of baby clothes. It is that for which Joe had fought.

Dir: W.S. Van Dyke

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

A minister's son trains to be a champion boxer.

Dir: W.S. Van Dyke

Some of the most sanguinary feuds in America have been fought out, not in the mountains of the south, but on the deserts of the great west, where cattlemen and sheepmen often dealt out death to each other with the aid of their old friends, Winchester and Colt. Such a feud is in progress between the men of the desert when Jack, a nomadic cowboy, wanders into the scene. He is outspoken against the outlawry, and the sheriff, in jest, hands him his badge and asks him if he can do any better. Jack accepts the challenge and arrests one of the most recent slayers. The latter's companions immediately storm the jail and rescue him. In the fight Jack is desperately wounded. May, a girl of the ranch, finds the cowboy half dead and hides him in an isolated hut while she nurses him back to health. The feudists discover Jack's hiding place and attack him. He and the girl escape, and while Jack holds a narrow canyon against his pursuers the girl dashes across the desert in search of aid. Jack's life seems as good as lost when May returns with the opposing feudists, who save him. The wedding between Jack and the girl on the battleground reconciles the feudists and restores order on the desert.

Dir: W.S. Van Dyke

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

Out of the elite and civilized east into the rough and primitive west there comes a little party which judged the desert must be larger than all New York, and their trail a little longer than the Gay White Way. Ruth Harkness, who has inherited the Flying W ranch from a relative, heads the timid little band. A prim and conventional aunt and uncle and Willard Masten, her fiancé, all dolled up according to his Fifth Avenue tailors ideas of the west, accompany her. Headlong the little party plunges into the meshes of a conspiracy of two cowboys to mulct the girl of her holdings. Rex Randerson, a happy-go-lucky ranger with a clear-gray eye, steps in to frustrate the plot, and incidentally falls in love with Ruth. This enrages Masten, who joins the conspirators and extends their plot to include Randerson's death. The girl and the ranger are caught in their "death trap'' and count themselves lost, but the fearlessness of Rex in a single-handed battle with the villains saves the day. Ruth thanks him by consenting to become his bride, and an old-fashioned cowboy wedding ends the dark adventure.

Dir: W.S. Van Dyke

Tom Bain was born with a tongue so glib that his parents, early in his career, predicted he would be a second Chauncey Depew. In college it developed until he was capable of selling Liberty Bonds in a poor house. But Tom was ambitious to be an inventor and so built a tunneling machine that "would start at one side of a mountain and propel itself through to the other without man's assistance." His gift of gab sold the rights to the machine to a big manufacturing firm, but they soon found it worthless and instead of building machines, Tom was placed on the payroll as a salesman. And then, after an exciting series of adventures, Tom finally wins the hand of Peggy, whom he had met and courted in his college days. The wedding occurs in a hospital where the couple meet accidentally as patients.

Dir: W.S. Van Dyke

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

Mollie Andrews is a little New England school teacher who goes out to Rawhide, Montana, to "teach the west" its manners. She is of romantic nature, and the picturesque statue and habits of Dan Clark impress her deeply. She marries him. Clark is a bad man at heart. He treats Mollie brutally after the first blush of honeymooning; then slays one of his own kind, and escapes across the border to Canada. The year that passes teaches Mollie some things about mankind she never knew before. One was to appreciate Constable Calhoun, of the Royal Mounted Police, who occasionally called on her, as a real friend. But though their mutual regard for each other ripens finally into love, Mollie remains true to her husband. When he turns up again she exacts a promise from Calhoun, on the strength of his love for her, that he will not harm Clark until the latter strikes the first blow. The beast within Clank still runs amok, however, and he attacks the policeman, unjustly accusing him of undue attentions to Mollie. A struggle ensues in which Clark falls dead. Thus Mollie is released from her marriage vows, and her future brightens with Calhoun awaiting her.

Dir: W.S. Van Dyke

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: W.S. Van Dyke

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Gift o' Gab perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Jack Derry accidentally becomes involved in a mystery surrounding Glory Billings, when fate makes him her rescuer in a kidnapping episode.

Dir: W.S. Van Dyke

Following a streak of hard luck at the racetrack, Boots and his pal, Push, are down to their last dime. Boots saves a drunken young man named Kendall from being robbed of his considerable winnings at the roulette table and later drives Kendall back to his small hometown. There Boots meets Pert Barlow and decides to stay near her, taking a job in her father's store. Old Barlow owns a broken-down racehorse named Gold Heels, which Boots buys from him and trains for the big race. At the local orphanage, a child dies because of the dilapidated condition of the building, and Pert raises enough money to build a new orphanage. Old Barlow takes charge of the money, but it is stolen. Boots is accused of the crime and sent to jail. He is sprung by his pals, loads Gold Heels in a horse-trailer, drives to the track, and watches his horse win the big race. Kendall is exposed as the real thief and Boots is reconciled with Pert, whose father gives them his blessing to be married.

Dir: W.S. Van Dyke

Tex Hartwell comes to the aid of an old cobbler by protecting him from the blows and insults of Jim Mackey, a skinflint banker. Mackey orders his hired guns to get Tex, but Tex is too quick for them. On the strength of his fast draw, Tex is hired as a trail rider by Dee Winch, being given the job of keeping diseased cattle off Winch's grasslands. Mackey's men later stampede a herd of infected cattle onto Winch's land, and Tex is fired in disgrace. Fanny Goodnight informs Tex that Mackey is the leader of the cattle runners, and Tex forces him to sign a confession to that effect. The old cobbler later kills Mackey, Tex is cleared with the cattlemen, and he and Fanny decide to ride a trail of their own together.