The Global Archive Complementing the Tone of The Phantom Fortune: C...

Dir: Robert F. Hill

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Robert F. Hill

When Jane is abducted by Arab slave traders, Tarzan comes to her rescue, only to see her kidnapped again by Queen La of Opar. To save Jane, Tarzan must battle both the queen's minions and William Clayton, who seeks Tarzan's family title.

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

Dir: Robert F. Hill

Newlywed Nila Drew is cured of thrill-seeking when she is finally rescued by her husband after being kidnapped, stuffed into a mummy case, and shipped to an Egyptian who calls her the Queen of Pharaoh and threatens to put her back into the tomb. Her husband, Arthur, arrives in time to save her and reveals that it was all a trick to cure Nila of her desire for excitement.

Dir: Robert F. Hill

This serial deals with the attempt of a master detective, a man of science, to overcome an equally brilliant inventor who is a criminal and whose warped mind caused him to seek to overthrow society, his genius making him the leader of a band of anarchists. The action hinges on the fight of these two for the possession of a secret invention by which radio messages may be recalled from the air. The success of the criminal right at the start succeeds in nearly electrocuting the detective so that he has only a few months to live.

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

Dir: Robert F. Hill

A young man who believes, because everyone else believes, that he is a half-breed Indian, meets and falls in love with a circus woman who is heiress to a fortune but does not know it. The man's love is reciprocated, but he is restrained by the supposed barrier of blood. His greatest enemy is his own half brother, who also is a suitor for the hand of the circus performer. The hero avoids all the traps his enemy lays for him, and when his and his sweetheart's identities are cleared up the two are married.

Dir: Robert F. Hill

Jim Crosby has shifted for himself since his early childhood. He has become a gangster, feared by all his companions because of his strength. In a fight, which he enters for his sister's sake, he is arrested and sent to jail for a term of months. In the meantime Ann Payton, a society girl, has rented a saloon which she has turned into a mission. She is engaged to be married to Temple Vaughn, her father's young secretary, but decides to wait a year before marrying. The day that Jim is released from prison he gets mixed up in a brawl, and knowing that the police are just waiting a chance to arrest him again, he seeks refuge in the old saloon, a former hangout. Ann takes him in and shelters him from the police. Vaughn has been leading a fast life and has become involved with a woman by the name of Costello and a gambler called Johnson. He loses heavily, and to pay the debt forges a check. Jim, who has been given a position in the bank, recognizes Johnson when he comes to cash the check. He discovers that Vaughn is not able to meet the check, and in lieu of settlement Johnson forces Vaughn to invite a number of his wealthy friends to his house for a game of cards. Jim overhears the two planning the card party and, knowing Ann's love for Vaughn, he decides to get the check and so prevent any further blackmail. At the party Vaughn stands seeing his friends fleeced as long as he can and then accuses Johnson of cheating. Then a figure appears at the door, holding a pistol. He rifles all their pockets, taking the money on the table and the forged check. But in robbing Vaughn, Jim slips in his pocket the forged check. Jim is caught while trying to make his escape and is sentenced to a term in prison. Some time later Vaughn finds in his pocket the forged check and realizes that Jim has committed the crime only to save him. He offers to take all the blame, but Jim will not listen. After his marriage Vaughn again gets connected with Johnson and his mistress. There is a quarrel and Johnson is arrested for running a gambling house. In prison he meets Jim and tells him that the first thing he does upon his release from prison will be to kill Vaughn. Later they are both released on the same day. Jim goes at once to warn Vaughn who arrives a few moments after and who accuses Jim of paying attention to his wife. Jim tries to warn him, but Johnson steps out from behind a screen and shoots him through the heart. In the last scene Jim and Ann are seen together, establishing another mission in the Bowery. It is left to the spectator whether or not Jim will ever succeed in overcoming the great social gap which lies between them.

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

Dir: Robert F. Hill

Jack Foley, a tough policeman who patrols the city's worst beat, loses his nerve when he believes he has hurt Tillie Miller, the girl he loves, but he recovers his confidence after he finds that her injury was inflicted by Spike Kennedy, a gangster. He beats up Spike, thereby permanently cleaning up the neighborhood.

Dir: Robert F. Hill

Reformed criminal Boston Blackie is outraged when a judge refuses to grant a pardon for a dying friend. He hires Norine, his now-dead friend's daughter, to get to the judge through his son Rudy. However, things don't work out quite as Blackie had planned.

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

Dir: Robert F. Hill

John "Jack" Norton (Jack Mulhall), before the war a society playboy and fop, returns from the trenches of World War One a two fisted American who finds his father, Raymond Norton (William Welsh), in jail, charged with theft of funds from the bank in which he was the president. The money, placed there by the American authorities for the Kingdom of Thorwald, and Princess Elise (Margaret Livingston), is on the way to collect it. John lets his father think he is still the playboy he was before the war, but secretly dons his old 'Doughboy" uniform and sets out after the gang that framed his father.

Dir: Robert F. Hill

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.