Masterpiece Selection Resonating with the Themes of The Redeeming S...

Dir: J. Stuart Blackton

Loved by two men, frivolous Jasmine Grenfel is unable to decide between the bold Rudyard Byng and the more reserved Ian Stafford. Swept away by Byng's forcefulness, Jasmine agrees to marry him and the rejected Stafford goes to South Africa. Three years elapse, and Jasmine's unhappiness increases as her husband slips into dissipation and she is pursued by his private secretary, Adrian Fellow, who is also having an affair with Al'Mah, an exotic dancer. When Byng finds a love note written by Fellow addressed to Jasmine, he threatens to kill both his wife and secretary, but Stafford returns in time to prevent the tragedy. Later, Fellow is murdered and Byng finds a poisoned needle near the body, but before the murderer can be found, the Boer War breaks out and Byng goes to fight for his country. In battle, Stafford is killed and Byng distinguishes himself in the field, recovering from his former dissipation. Al'Mah, now a nurse, is fatally wounded and confesses that she killed Fellow. Jasmine, touched by the crucible of war, finally realizes that she has been responsible for her own unhappiness and makes a true commitment to her husband.

Dir: J. Stuart Blackton

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Womanhood, the Glory of the Nation perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

When the nation of Ruthania declares war on the United States, an army of enemy soldiers invades the U.S. and captures New York. But the American forces have prepared adequately for such an event, and hidden booby traps, trick fortifications, and remote-controlled bombs...

Dir: J. Stuart Blackton

After her father and two brothers are killed, Cynthia and her mother go to New York, where Cynthia gets a job in his office working for a wealthy stockbroker who's attracted to her.

Dir: J. Stuart Blackton

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

A tale set during the 1916 Irish Easter Rebellion against the British

Dir: J. Stuart Blackton

Big Steve and Little Lefty, a pair of hobos, are happily drifting through life until the First World War comes. They enter it and find their lives forever changed.

Dir: J. Stuart Blackton

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

The plot revolves around two rival towns in the Canadian Northwest, which are connected only by a bridge. Ingolby, a determined, idealistic engineer, is saved from destruction by the wild-eyed Fleda Druse, whose father is the local gypsy monarch.

Dir: J. Stuart Blackton

Helene Palmer and her husband Orrin have grown apart, and she becomes infatuated with bachelor Edward Wadsworth. With the outbreak of World War I, Orrin and Edward enlist, while Helene works as a Red Cross nurse in a small French town. Edward is wounded on a dangerous scouting mission near the town and Orrin carries him to safety. The enemy invades during the night, and Orrin rescues Helene as she is about to be overpowered by a German officer. The dying Edward, morally strengthened by his experience as a soldier, encourages the couple to reunite. Soon after, peace is declared.

Dir: J. Stuart Blackton

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

A young Englishman falls in love with the children's governess in his stepsister's home. His stepsister, however, cannot abide the class differential in the romance and sabotages it. The young man, in a state of boredom and depression, begins to invite into the house anyone who happens to pass by in the street.

Dir: J. Stuart Blackton

Keith, an artist, begins to go blind as a result of having fallen out of a tree as a child. His fiancé Dorothy, a wealthy heiress, had previously said that she thought blind people were "disgusting", and he refuses to see her. Dorothy plans to have her father, an eye surgeon, perform an operation on Keith that may help him regain his sight, but things don't go as planned.

Dir: J. Stuart Blackton

After the overthrowing of Duke Senior by his tyrannical brother, Senior's daughter Rosalind disguises herself as a man and sets out to find her banished father while also counseling her clumsy suitor Orlando in the art of wooing.