Editor's Top Picks Following the Footsteps of The Midnight Patrol: ...

Dir: Irvin Willat

Joel Shore is made captain of the whaling schooner formerly headed by his courageous and admired brother, Mark, who was lost at sea. Accompanied by his bride, who suspects Joel to have a cowardly heart, they set sail for a whale hunt.

Dir: Irvin Willat

The Zeppelin's Last Raid concerns the conflict of a youthful commander of a German airship engaged in bombing raids, whose sweetheart is a member of a rebel group working to overthrow the German Kaiser towards the end of World War One.

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

Dir: Irvin Willat

Hung Chin Chung, a philosopher of noble birth, is deported from Hawaii to his native China, where he faces certain death at the hands of his enemies. American millionaire Henry Drew offers to reprieve Hung, if the young philosopher becomes his indentured servant for the next twenty years. Rage at his humiliation and inability to marry as a free man smolders in Hung throughout his servitude. Toward the end of his indenture, Hung sails to San Francisco, California, with Drew and his wife. Also on board is Drew's business associate, Ralph Coolidge, who is in love with Mary-Will Tellfair, the millionaire's stenographer. Shortly after their arrival, Drew is stabbed to death, and suspicion falls on Ralph, the owner of the curious Chinese dagger that is identified as the murder weapon. However, subsequent events lead Hung to confess to the crime.

Dir: Irvin Willat

Molly Townsend, engaged to Luis Riccardi, learns from Capt. John Locke half an hour before the wedding that Riccardi is a thief and a smuggler. Locke, Riccardi's rival for Molly, persuades Molly to sail away with him in his boat bound for South America. He is thrown overboard by the cutthroat crew, and crew leader Jordan nearly makes her his victim before Locke, who has saved himself, rescues her. Riccardi and Jordan, who murdered a man in the Townsend home and stole a diamond necklace, are both jailed.

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

Dir: Irvin Willat

A mutual attraction develops between Roger Wainright, a wealthy New York idler visiting his Florida estate, and Gale Brenon, daughter of a federal revenue agent. During a raid on a fashionable gambling resort, Mr. Brenon is killed, and suspicion is focused on Roger, who escapes to Gale's home. She helps Roger escape into the swamp but joins the search for him when she learns of her father's death. Gale weakens when she finds Roger, but he decides to surrender. Ultimately, Mildred Van Buren exposes Deputy Brown to be Brenon's murderer.

Dir: Irvin Willat

During World War I, a professional thief known as The Lone Wolf is assigned to steal a cylinder with important information from behind the German lines and bring it to Allied intelligence headquarters. However, German agents set out to stop him, headed by the man who was responsible for the death of the thief's sister.

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

Dir: Irvin Willat

A German-American naval officer takes revenge against the German submarine commander who brutalized his wife.

Dir: Irvin Willat

Marie Dubois, deeply in love with young lawyer Claude Lescuyer, entrusts her honor to him, but shortly before the birth of their child, he abandons her. In order to legitimize her daughter Claudine, Marie weds Flambon, the brutal owner of a Paris café. Eighteen years later, Flambon orders Claudine to work in the café, where she falls in love with Gaston, a waiter. Because Flambon owes a large sum of money to Jean, the café's former proprietor, he promises him the hand of his daughter in marriage. Claudine refuses to part with Gaston, which so enrages Flambon that he beats the girl and nearly kills Marie. To save her mother's life, Claudine shoots her stepfather and is subsequently tried for murder. The prosecutor, Claude Lescuyer, learns to his shame that the defendant is his own child, and in the courtroom, he names himself as the guilty man. The jury exonerates Claudine, and she is united with Gaston.

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

Dir: Irvin Willat

When Adam Larey, a young mining engineer, shoots his brother Guerd in a quarrel and wounds the sheriff in escaping from town, he seeks refuge in the desert and is saved by Dismukes, an old prospector. After severe hardships, he stumbles on the home of the Vireys, the parents of his sweetheart, Ruth. Virey, who believes his wife is unfaithful, starts an avalanche which destroys both himself and his wife. Adam informs Ruth of the tragedy, and she urges him to return to atone for his past. He finds his brother has sustained only a minor injury, and thus he is free to marry Ruth.

Dir: Irvin Willat

Nance Pelot is bravely trying to support herself and her father Joe, the town drunk, by playing piano in an unsavory roadside inn owned by Larry Shayne. Chet Todd, the son of a shop owner, is in love with her, but her reputation has been sullied by her profession, so Chet's mother disapproves of her. Nance inherits a small farm from her mother, and when Shayne discovers that the property is valuable, he plots to cheat her out of her inheritance. After a series of misadventures, including a revival meeting and a blinding snowstorm, Joe stops drinking and Chet rescues the farm from Shayne. When Nance sells the property, she gains a respectable income, as well as the respect of the community and her future mother-in-law.