The Definitive Guide Inspired by the Vision of The Temptations of S...

Dir: Herbert Blaché

A young profligate son of a wealthy merchant falls in love with the daughter of an inventor, who has devoted the best years of his life to perfecting the machinery of his employer's plants. After an accident has caused the death of the inventor, the merchant, none too scrupulous, lays claim to an unpatented invention. Not aware of his father's acts, the merchant's son is courting the inventor's daughter, but parental opposition is interposed. Offering his son a half interest in his business if he will renounce his love for the girl, the father is dumbfounded when his son refuses and decides he wants the girl more than the money. Ordered from home, the son secures a job as stevedore on the docks. The foreman takes a dislike to the boy and tries to browbeat him. After a quarrel, the boy accidentally pushes the foreman into the river, runs away and tells his sweetheart that he has committed murder. Detectives pursuing him, arrest and bring him to headquarters, where he is sentenced to Blackwell's Island. During his sojourn on Blackwell's Island, he learns that the man he is supposed to have murdered is alive, and, enraged at the injustice of his sentence, he breaks jail. In the meantime his young sweetheart has also discovered his innocence through a friendly attaché of the Governor's office, and with his assistance dashes to Albany, where the Governor is persuaded to issue a pardon for her young hero. The next and last scene discloses the happy couple in their own little home.

Dir: Herbert Blaché

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

Young Phyllis Shaw, tired of being poor, sets out to snag a rich husband. She meets a young artist named Jerry, who falls for her, but she rejects him because he's not rich. She then meets Kirke, who is exactly the type of man she's looking for, but with one problem--he won't marry her, but as his "kept woman" he will lavish her with money and gifts. What to do, what to do . . .

Dir: Herbert Blaché

When John Lowery, his wife Mary and their small son Billy journey to a Northern lumber camp to visit its owner, Clifford Beresford, Mary becomes infatuated with the lumberman and neglects her little boy. A Hudson Bay Company clerk named Nan McDonald, known as the "angel of the lumberjacks," forms such a strong attachment to the child that although he becomes seriously ill, Billy refuses to take his medicine unless Nan dispenses it. Watching over him late one night, Nan sees Mary steal from her room to keep a midnight appointment with Clifford, but when Mary falls down the stairs to her death, Nan maintains her silence for John's sake. Heartbroken, John asks Nan to return with him to the East as Billy's governess, but local gossips misinterpret her presence in John's house and he marries her. Informed that John still loves only his dead wife, the unhappy Nan allows Clifford to flirt with her, whereupon John learns the truth about Mary and opens his heart to the woman who really loves him.

Dir: Herbert Blaché

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

Strolling through the park one evening, Travers comes upon a woman about to throw herself in the lake. It is his sister. She tells him she was betrayed by a man who is her son's father, and she is about to end it all because she is no longer able to endure her destitution. Travers soothes her and promises to take care of her and her son. He furnishes an apartment for them and makes frequent calls there. On one of them he is seen and recognized by Mansfield, a clubman of his, who is infatuated with Mrs. Travers and uses this suspicious, though unconfirmed, incident to try to persuade her to give him her love. Mrs. Travers, made credulous by her insane jealousy of her husband, slightly encourages Mansfield, who, with the bravado of his sort, boasts at the club of his affair with her. Travers hears of this and is uncontrollable. He sends for his sister to come to his dressing room in the theatre, and Mansfield, hearing of it, brings Mrs. Travers to surprise him. Here is the big scene of the play wherein Travers demands of Mansfield an explanation of his conduct, and Travers' sister recognizes Mansfield as the man who deserted her. Travers attempts to kill Mansfield, who is saved by the police. Then Mrs. Travers, learning the identity of "the other woman," and ridden by remorse for the jealousy that has made her doubt her husband and lose his love, attempts to poison herself. She is saved, however, and reunited to her husband by a love whose constant light outshines the occasional flashes from her "green eyes."

Dir: Herbert Blaché

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Herbert Blaché

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of The Girl with the Green Eyes perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Herbert Blaché

A woman sold as a bride to the local Rajah is saved by her lover and his loyal tiger.

Dir: Herbert Blaché

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

An opium-addicted choirmaster develops an obsession for a beautiful young girl and will not stop short of murder in order to have her.

Dir: Herbert Blaché

Trotty Veck, the licensed messenger, reconsiders his promise to allow the marriage of his daughter Meg to Richard, after being advised by Alderman Cute that it is a sin for the poor to wed. After his day's labors, he meets William Fern with his infant daughter Lillian seeking shelter from the authorities, who have threatened to hang him. The kind-hearted little man takes them to his humble home for the night. Far after midnight, Trotty, seated by the fireside and soothed by the chimes, falls asleep and dreams. His dream first takes him to the belfry of the old church, where the spirit of the chimes chides him for having done something he should not, and endeavors to show that the consequences might be, by picturing the future. In this vision, Trotty sees his daughter Meg living in poverty and acting as mother to Fern's daughter Lil, now grown to girlhood, Fern, in prison for his demonstration against the rich, and Richard, a drunkard from disappointment. Sir Joseph Bowley visits the little home and offers to adopt Lil, but instead mistreats her so that she is compelled to escape, but finally, upon promise from Sir Joseph to free her father, gives herself up to him, only to be ejected in time from his fine home with an unfortunate infant. She goes back to Meg and dies from the effect of her ill-treatment, leaving the infant to Meg, who in turn is compelled to leave her home due to her poverty. Going to the bridge, Meg attempts to end all for herself and infant. At this point Trotty's dreams come to an end. He now realizes that the poor as well as the rich have a right to marry, and hastens to correct his error. This done, he goes to check Fern, leading one of his meetings. Knowing the influence little Lil has on her father takes her and induces Fern to give up his plans. Trotty and Richard are taken prisoners by Sir Joseph's servants and brought before this despot, who instead of compelling Trotty to submit to his terms, is himself forced to sign a document giving the poor their rights.

Dir: Herbert Blaché

A crooked promoter commits two murders in his efforts to gain wealth and influence. He is shot on the night of his election as governor and repents of his crimes on his deathbed.