Editor's Top Picks Following the Footsteps of The Primrose Path: Cu...

Dir: Edgar Jones

A mail-order bride arrives at a Maine lumber camp but doesn't like her prospective husband.

Dir: Frank Beal

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

During a raging Montana snowstorm, Doctor Jim Barnes collapses at Esther Anderson's cabin door. Esther offers Jim refuge, but when he discovers that their food supplies are running dangerously low, he braves the journey into town in order to replenish them. On the way, he is overcome with exhaustion and fails to return. Esther, unaware of Jim's condition and abused by her stepfather, joins a theatrical troop and leaves home. Time passes and Jim finally finds Esther, but a vindictive member of her troupe accuses her of having an affair with the manager and Jim believes the accusation. He leaves and Esther goes to New York City where she becomes engaged to a jealous artist, although she still loves Jim. Sam Tuttle, a long time friend, is aware of Esther's continuing love, and so brings Jim to New York City in time to save Esther from an unhappy marriage.

Dir: Harry O. Hoyt

Steel magnate Rodney Graham divorces his wife, Alice, after she suffers an injury that renders her unable to give him an heir. He pursues debutante Katherine Dale, whose fiancé, Dick Allen, died on the eve of their wedding. With the help of Katherine's ambitious mother, Rodney persuades her to marry him. Katherine dies after giving birth to Rodney, Jr., and the elder Graham's stepbrother, Arthur Haynes, angrily predicts the magnate's sad demise. Rodney devotes himself to raising his son, who later falls in love with Arthur's' daughter, Ruth. Although he objects to the match, Rodney is persuaded by Alice to allow it. Upon discovering that his son was actually Dick Allen's child, Rodney plans to disinherit the boy, but is paralyzed by a stroke before he can change his will. He attends the wedding in a wheelchair and dies soon after.

Dir: Harry O. Hoyt

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

Author Noel Graham goes to the little village of Mondon, where his ancestors lived, for solitude to write. While searching for a lost puppy, Noel meets Rhona Allerton, who is visiting her guardian, Lewis Moffat, a writer in his declining years. Realizing that he needs inspiration to write a passionate romance, Moffat, with the help of old Benson, a former derelict now in his service, encourages the blossoming love affair between Rhona and Noel, while planning to destroy it later and analyze their suffering. After Noel proposes and Rhona accepts, Moffat makes each believe that the other loves someone else. After Rhona returns to New York heartbroken, Moffat writes his book, but cannot finish because of his failing strength. Noel completes the book, and it turns out to be better than anything Moffat had previously written. After Noel prevents a burglary in Moffat's house and saves Benson's life, Benson tells him about Moffat's scheme. Declaiming Moffat and the book as false, Noel burns it. Moffat dies, and Rhona returns to marry Noel.

Dir: Harry O. Hoyt

Quiet Dick Vernon, who lives in a cheap New York City boardinghouse, spends his vacation at his Uncle Galt's home in the small town of Boonsburg. Dressed in city fashions, Ben is harassed by gossips and chased by young women while he searches for the kind of simple country girl he has seen in the movies. Dick believes Mazie Chateaux is such a girl, unaware that she performs with a burlesque company that is briefly stranded in Boonsburg. When Uncle Galt unexpectedly inherits a million dollars, he gives Dick a large sum on the condition that the young man enjoys the high life when he returns to the city. However, Dick retreats to his quiet existence until his uncle visits, expecting to have a good time. During an all-night party, Dick has another encounter with Mazie. In the morning, Uncle Galt finds her in the apartment innocently preparing breakfast, and insists that she and Dick marry, which they do.

Dir: Colin Campbell

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

Zora, a girl of French origin, is raised by a wealthy Bedouin family after her mother Valerie dies while eloping with another man. Zora feels such great longing for the French artist Adrien that she accepts the offer of another artist, Raoul, to take her to Paris with the stipulation that if Adrien rejects her, she must give herself to him. Jan, the chieftain's son who is in love with Zora, follows the two to Paris. There Zora realizes that Adrien does not love her and discovers her real love for Jan. However, she feels bound to honor her pact with Raoul and is about to succumb to his advances when her father appears and recognizes Raoul as the man who destroyed his home years earlier. In the ensuing fight between the two men, Raoul is killed, thus freeing Zora to accept Jan's love.

Dir: Wilfred Lucas

Brian O'Farrell (Snowy Baker), is an English 'new chum' who takes a job at an Australian cattle station. He is teased by station hands because of his appearance (including spats and a monocle) but he soon impresses them with his skills at riding and boxing. The station manager, John MacDonald (Wilfred Lucas), takes O'Farrell to Sydney to meet his daughter Edith (Kathleen Key) who is working in the slums. Edith is kidnapped by criminals after witnessing a crime but O'Farrell rescues her. It is later revealed he is the owner of the station.

Dir: Edward LeSaint

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

When famous opera singer Elinore Duane undergoes an operation on her throat, she has a series of ether-induced visions. In one, she is transported to ancient Rome where she appears as a much-admired woman in love with Paul, a young heretic, and at odds with Lutor, the high priest. To save her love, she poisons Lutor with her ring. After several other visions which involve variations on this love triangle, Elinore awakens to discover that Lutor is actually her doctor, Sascha Jaccard, and that Paul is the son of a friend who has come to visit the recovering prima donna.

Dir: Harry Southwell

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Charles Horan

While working as a flower girl in Devlin Maddox's nightclub, Nellie Vaughan meets wealthy young Pelton Van Teel and falls in love. Maddox, desirous of using Nellie to blackmail Van Teel, spreads a rumor that she is his mistress. This makes Nellie uncomfortable, and she demands that Van Teel marry her immediately, to which he agrees. Meanwhile, Van Teel has been losing money gambling to Maddox, who threatens to break up the marriage by producing a worthless check that the young husband has written. Venturing to Maddox's apartment for a showdown, Nellie pulls a gun and demands the check, accidentally shooting Maddox when he throws a lamp at her. Maddox plans to charge Nellie with assault, but when the police arrive, his butler, actually a detective employed by the elder Van Teel, exposes Maddox, who is then arrested, clearing the path for the couple's happiness.