Top-Tier Alternatives Exploring the Legacy of The Silent Command: C...

Dir: J. Gordon Edwards

A gypsy girl with her foster-mother arrive in the French Capital where her beauty attracts the attention of the Apaches, and she becomes a member of their band. Her beauty attracts Claude Frallo, a scientist of note. She repulses him, as she has already fallen in love with Captain Phoebus. During a visit of the gypsy girl in the apartment of the handsome captain, Frallo kills the captain and makes his escape. Upon the arrival of the Gendarmes, Esmaralda is placed under arrest charged with the murder. Esmaralda is subjected to torture to make her confess, but is defiant, knowing that she is innocent. The bell ringer of the cathedral, Quasimodo, who secretly worships the Gypsy girl, becomes her protector. When Frallo visits the prisoner the bell ringer interferes. There is a struggle and the former is hurled from a parapet and killed. Again the girl appears before the tribunal. Put on the rack, she admits the murder of the captain. Just as Esmaralda is to be guillotined, the bell ringer gives the true version of the murder, implicating Frallo whom he killed. Quasimodo, the plucky bell ringer, who was Esmaralda's protector, and her liberator, becomes her husband.

Dir: J. Gordon Edwards

Francesca Brabaut, who married an artist against her father's advice, regrets her decision when her husband Antoine, in debt, sends her to his misanthropic uncle to plead for money. After Francesca refuses the uncle's offer to change his will if she will have sex with him, the uncle, declaring that he has misjudged women, decides to leave money to provide for Francesca and her child but dies of heart failure first. Antoine inherits a castle and title and deserts Francesca. Later, while posing in Florence for an American artist, Francesca meets the artist's sweetheart, American heiress Cecily Blaine, whose mother wants her to marry someone with a title. When Francesca learns that Antoine plans to marry Cecily, she threatens to expose him, but he convinces Cecily that Francesca and the artist are married. Cecily then consents to marry Antoine. After Francesca and the artist are sent to the galleys unjustly for theft, Antoine is exposed. When he tries to kidnap their child, Francesca shoots him, whereupon Cecily marries the artist.

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

Dir: J. Gordon Edwards

Maria Valverde, a young Spanish woman whose father has settled in the Philippines, arrives home from the convent where she received her education and is soon approached by Diablo Ramirez, a local plantation overseer who hopes to win her heart. Having met the handsome American army captain, Paul Winter, in Manila, Maria scorns Diablo's advances, and later, he is forcefully escorted from the house. Furious, Diablo organizes a group of rebels, who kill Maria's father and hold her a prisoner in her own home. When Captain Winter hears of the revolt, he rushes to Maria's aid but is himself captured. Reinforcements soon arrive from the American army post, and in the fighting, the house is set ablaze. Diablo is about to grab Maria when Captain Winter enters and shoots the rebel down. The Americans finally emerge victorious, and Maria wins her dashing captain.

Dir: J. Gordon Edwards

The story of Cleopatra, the fabulous queen of Egypt, and the epic romances between her and the greatest men of Rome, Julius Caesar and Antony.

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

Dir: J. Gordon Edwards

Faced with the tragic responsibility of choosing between the happiness of her 16-year-old daughter Pamela or saving the life of an innocent man, Marie Baudin's first impulse is to sacrifice all for her own. But she has second thoughts that bring complications to all.

Dir: J. Gordon Edwards

Bara is unusually cast as a nearly virginal nurse and actress. She does manage to get one man to blow his brains out before she reforms and marries an Episcopal priest.

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

Dir: J. Gordon Edwards

After squandering his entire estate, Roy Schuyler is forced by his creditors to marry wealthy Laura Reid. Her half-sister Ann tries to warn her of Roy's motives, but is kidnapped by Roy and incarcerated in an asylum before she can. Roy then tries to force Laura to sign a document which would accord him control of her estate. When she refuses, Roy, with the aid of Dassori, a traitor from Italy, brings Ann and Laura together. Ann dies and Laura, who closely resembles her, is placed in the asylum in her stead. Laura is finally saved when her cousin Marion bribes a nurse to allow her to escape and Dassori, with moments to live, confesses his part in the crime, thus establishing Laura's true identity. Justice is then served when Roy is driven to his death by his tortured conscience.

Dir: J. Gordon Edwards

Mary Doone (Theda Bara) lives in a tenement parish house run by Pastor Elliott Clifford (A. H. Van Buren). Mary joints the front as a nurse, and meets war correspondent Lloyd Stanley (Stuart Holmes), whom she had known from London. Stanley is about to take advantage of her when their hospital tent is bombed. Mary finds the body of a young girl in the tent. The young girl is Ethel Wardley (Madeleine Lee Nard), who is the niece of Lady Clifford (Lucia Moore), mother of Elliott Clifford. Mary assumes Ethel's identity and is received by Lady Clifford as her niece. Elliott falls in love with Mary. Stanley returns to London with Ethel, who has recovered from her wounds. Mary confesses what she has done, and despite Lady Clifford's pleas for her to stay, she returns to the parish house to work with children.

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Should a Mother Tell perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Dir: J. Gordon Edwards

When Herodias divorces her husband and marries his brother Herod Antipas, governor of Judea, the prophet John the Baptist protests and is imprisoned. Salome, daughter of Herodias and both niece and stepdaughter to Herod, dances seductively and wins the prize of anything she asks of Herod. The prize she asks is the head of John the Baptist.

Dir: J. Gordon Edwards

Elsie Drummond, the "Vixen," a spoiled nymphomaniac, takes pleasure in wreaking havoc on her sweet sister Helen. When Helen becomes enamored of Martin Stevens, a Wall Street businessman, Elsie turns on her considerable charms and woos him away. After Charlie Drummond, Elsie's shiftless brother, steals from Stevens and causes a scandal, Stevens is ruined financially and Elsie promptly leaves him. Through deliberate manipulation, Elsie then steals Knowles Murray, a young statesman, from Helen and succeeds in marrying him. Elsie and Murray move to Paris, forcing Helen to care for their alcoholic father. Six years later, Murray is called to Washington, D.C. and Elsie, now the mother of two children, renews her acquaintance with Martin Stevens, who has regained his wealth and position. As Murray is about to catch Elsie in Stevens' arms, Helen, to protect the children, supplies Elsie with an escape and an alibi. While Elsie continues in her deceptive ways, Stevens, finally wise to the Vixen, marries Helen.