The Recommended Vault Parallel to the Artistry of The Magnificent B...

Dir: Robert Thornby

Susie is the daughter of a very good bricklayer. The lad who loves her is a very rich lad, as all lads should be, but, alas are not. To win her, he poses as a hod-carrier, certainly an unromantic disguise for a wooer. His mother has social aspirations for him, with Newport as a base of action, but what cares he? He loves the bricklayer's daughter. Is it not simple? It is. Simple, but sweet. Later Susie gets rich by means of a legacy, and the bricklayer's family moves into opulent quarters. Then sweet Susie is elegantly-gowned, but no happier. What are mere dollars to sweet Susie? The main situation in which Susie figures is one of finance. Seeing that dollars mean unhappiness, she plans to induce her father to invest in the stock market and to let him believe that he has lost all. This scheme succeeds in bringing the picture to its ideal end, and Susie marries the lad who posed as the hod-carrier. - Picture Play Magazine 1917.

Dir: Robert Thornby

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

Jill Cummings and her sisters Marguerite and Jane are left penniless when their father dies. To provide for the family, Jill accepts a sales position in a department store, where she attracts the attention of her unhappily-married boss, George Hemingway. Desperate to escape her difficult circumstances, Jill accepts Hemingway's proposal that she live as his mistress and subsequently is kept in high style in a large, beautiful house. Some years later, Hemingway dies, and with the fortune he leaves her, Jill tours Europe. There she becomes engaged to Harry Adams, but when George Hemingway, Jr. appears to act as best man in the wedding, Jill is forced to confess her past to Harry. The two separate for a year to think things over, and when Harry returns, he suggests to Jill that they live together "in a happy way." Jill leaves him and continues her life alone.

Dir: Robert Thornby

Newt Spooner's determination to kill Henry Falkins. who has denounced Newt and sent him to prison, grows deeper rooted with the years. It seems that the red-branded hatred in his mind has seared its impression upon every fiber of his being. And then Minerva Rawlins enters his life. The change in Newt's nature does not come in a flash. Despite the influence of the girl he loves, he still cherishes his hatred. Fate throws the two men together in the Philippines. Amidst battle and bloodshed the vision of Minerva follows Newt. His opportunity to slay Henry Falkins occurs, but the influence of Minerva reaching out even across miles of salt ocean, stays his hand at the eleventh hour. How Newt's final stage on the upward path he has set himself to follow is reached, is depicted dramatically. The last barriers with which Newt has steeled his dark hatred are swept away and a woman's power saves him from himself and the vengeance of the law.

Dir: Robert Thornby

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

According to old Mr. Barry's will, if his son Jim fails to marry, the vast Barry estate will revert to the O'Maras. When one night Jim, an irresponsible drunk, falls down the stairs and is given until morning to live, Mrs. Barry, in order to protect the property from the O'Maras, pleads with Molly Shawn to marry her son. Molly, although in love with Barney Malone, agrees out of a sense of indebtedness to the Barry family, and the two are married. Much to everyone's surprise, Jim recovers and Molly pines for her sweetheart Barney until it is discovered that the priest who performed the ceremony was really a criminal who, to escape the law, had disguised himself in priests' robes. Overjoyed, Molly is disentangled and now free to marry Barney, the man she loves.

Dir: Robert Thornby

A feud over boundaries between the McKinstry and Harrison families, both from Kentucky, but squatting in California in search of gold, has caused Cressy McKinstry to show disdain for Joe Masters, a cousin of the Harrisons, even though she secretly loves him. Nellie Dabney, who left her husband Ben for city-bred John Ford but then was deserted by him, returns and is rejected by Ford, who is now the schoolteacher of the settlement and is attracted to Cressy. After Ben fights Ford and takes Nellie back, Cressy schemes with Ben for him to buy the land in her name. A San Franciscan representative of the legal owner arrives to take possession and provokes a fight at the boundary line which leaves Joe with a bullet in his arm. Cressy proves that the land belongs to her and Joe, who she will soon marry, and the families are reconciled.

Dir: Robert Thornby

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

As Nan Lorimer's mother lies dying, she makes Nan promise to take care of her younger sister Masie. Unfortunately, Masie falls for the shady Dr. Thornton and travels secretly around New York City to meet him. One night she is rescued during a subway accident by wealthy John Harwood, a miner, who falls in love with her and marries her. Although the two are deeply in love, John begins to neglect his wife for his mining business, and soon Masie begins to see Dr. Thornton again. Complications ensue.

Dir: Robert Thornby

The Highlanders and Lowlanders are sworn enemies until Lieutenant Kemper, the son of Brigadier Kemper, the leader of the militaristic Lowlanders, is held hostage by the Highlanders until his father's army has retreated to its own boundaries. Much to his surprise, the lieutenant is treated with kindness and consideration by his captors, especially by Boyadi and his beautiful daughter Nathalia, whom he learns to love. Thus, instead of obeying his father's command to escape at an appointed time when the Lowlanders plan to violate their pledge and storm the fortress, he keeps his promise to his captors and remains a prisoner. The Highlanders, inflamed by the Lowlander's broken word, are about to kill the lieutenant when news comes of the approach of another foe and, hailing the Kempers as saviors, the two former enemies unite to defeat this new foe.

Dir: Robert Thornby

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

Bradford Stewart, a young American surgeon studying in Germany, is dining in Cologne with a German friend, Ritter Bloem, a philosopher and a patriotic German. The latter is called away by German officers, and on his return announces to Stewart that war has been declared. After Bloem's departure, Trapadoux, chief of the French Secret Service maintained in Germany, who has been listening to their conversation, accosts Stewart, claiming to be one of the German police agents, inspects his passport, and learns to which hotel he will go in Aachen, which is his next destination. Frau Schanne, the proprietress of the Holmer Hof, secretly maintains French sympathies, but her servant, Hans, is a German spy. In Stewart's absence from his room, Trapadoux brings Frau Schanne a package, the contents of which he instructs her to place in Stewart's baggage to avert police suspicion during their later moves. Upon his return to his room Stewart finds in his luggage a lady's slippers, silk hose and dainty lingerie. The door of his room is opened and Little Comrade hurries in, embraces him fondly and calling him husband. Outside the door Hans listens, perplexed and a little suspicious, but had he not seen the lady's garments in Stewart's belongings? Perhaps, after all, she is his wife. After making sure of Hans' retirement, Little Comrade explains to Stewart that she is a French spy fleeing from Germany with secrets stolen from the German officers with whom she has been wont to flirt in Alsace-Lorraine; that even now they are on the watch for her and that if she is brought back, death will be the penalty. Stewart consents to help her, and watches while she forges an addition to his passport, adding to his own name and description, the description of herself as his wife traveling with him. Together they pass the gauntlet of police inspection and board the train for Brussels. At the frontier the train is held up and all passengers inspected. The police inspector stationed there holds Stewart and his "wife" for the coming of a German' officer from Metz to identify Little Comrade. One of the French spies on the frontier summons Trapadoux, who comes in the guise of the officer from Metz, and after inspecting Little Comrade, states that she is not the woman spy they feared. In the morning they arrive at the Belgium camp, where they are welcomed, but a few hours later the Belgians muster in battle against the German invaders. Little Comrade and Stewart are wounded, and while Stewart goes for a stretcher for her, she is captured by a genuine officer from Metz, who takes her to German headquarters and denounces her as a spy. Bloem, who is in command is unable to persuade her to confess. When Stewart discovers Little Comrade gone, weak from loss of blood, he becomes unconscious for several days. Upon regaining consciousness he learns that Little Comrade has been captured, so he concentrates his energies on delivering to General Joffre the papers she confided to his keeping. In gratitude, General Joffre bestows on Stewart the ribbon of the Legion of Honor, but overwhelmed by his loss and weak from this last effort, Stewart is borne away delirious. At the German headquarters, Bloem finding Little Comrade obdurate, is about to pass sentence upon her when she begs him to send her last words of love to Stewart. Finding that Stewart is her lover, Bloem, whose life was once saved by Stewart, refuses to condemn her, claiming that there is not sufficient evidence, and sends her back to "her American husband." There follows a joyous reunion in the hospital between Stewart and Little Comrade.

Dir: Bruno Ziener

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Robert Thornby

Young Celeste Janvier ( Bessie Love ) lives in an East Side tenement with her immigrant grandfather, a humanitarian and socialist. Like her kindly grandfather, Celeste also has a kindhearted soul, and her friendly nature has earned her the nickname, " the little sister of everybody." When several unpleasant men try to court her, Celeste turns them down. Meanwhile, Hugh Tavers Jr., ( George Fisher ) whose father owns a factory, has died suddenly. The young Tavers poses as a laborer in order to understand why the workers want to strike. He meets and falls in love with Celeste, who works at the factory, and he secures a better job for her. Celeste learns that anarchist Ivan Marask ( Hector Sarno ) plans to kill Travers, she hurries to warn her employer and is shocked to learn that he is the poor laborer whom she loves. Marask comes to respect Travers, who agrees to improve working conditions for the factory workers, and finds lasting contentment with the lovely Celeste.