Masterpiece Selection that Capture the Essence of The Three Passions: Cult Guide

Dir: Rex Ingram

Julian Randolph, a dishonest attorney whose specialty is furnishing phony jurors, is offered a judgeship if he clears Clifford Nordhoff, the brother of powerful politician "Boss" Nordhoff, of a murder charge. With the aid of his usual tools, Randolph succeeds and is given a position on the bench. Here he is expected to obey the commands of the men who secured his appointment, but Ranoldph falls in love with Laura Nelson, a girl of upstanding social position, and resolves to follow the straight path. He breaks off with Roxana Frisbee, an adventuress who had assisted him in his shady schemes, and refuses to hand down a decision in favor of the political machine. In the end, Randolph upholds justice, wins Laura as his wife, and has the gratification of seeing Roxana also go straight.

Dir: Rex Ingram

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

Guido Capanelli is an adventurer, his good looks and courtly bearing helping him through many successes. He has gained entrance to the best society, incidentally making the acquaintance of Princess Dione, whose father. Prince Paul Ragosin, is in feeble health. Prince Ragosin has expressed a wish that Princess Dione shall marry Feodor Strogoff, and on his death bed gains the promise from Dione that his wish shall be gratified. Feodor allows Guido Capanelli to be Dione's greatest source of sympathy in the hours of her grief, and in consequence, Guido so ingratiates himself with the Princess that she marries the adventurer, regardless of her pledge. Previous to Prince Ragosin's death Dione became interested in Katerina Vlasoff, a girl who is a street vendor of crude images and daughter of Peter Vlasoff, a drunken beast. When the girl returns home one evening without having made a sale all day Vlasoff sends her into the streets, threatening her with harm if she does not return with money to buy him wine. Katerina is accosted by Guido Capanelli, and; submits to his advances that she may have money to take home. She is so humiliated that she is glad to take her brother's advice to visit Princess Dione, the friend of everybody who is poor and in distress. Touched by Katerina's story, Princess Dione sends the girl to a convent, having gained Prince Paul Ragosin's consent to thus befriend the outcast. After Dione and Guido are married, Katerina returns from, the convent to make her home with her benefactress. Guido, under threat of exposing Katerina, demands a renewal of their relations and the deceitful couple start at once to plot against Princess Dione. When the Princess falls ill, they appoint themselves her nurses and in neglecting to administer medicines properly create a comatose condition that closely resembles death. The Princess is buried and Guido and Katerina establish themselves in control of her lands and fortune. When Dione had married Guido she received a book from Feodor Strogoff with an inscription in effect that he would always stand ready to befriend the woman he loved, but had discarded Slim for another. After the Princess is entombed, Feodor visits the sepulcher and discovers that Dione is alive, having simply been in a trance. Convinced, by what she herself witnessed of the treachery of her husband and Katerina, the Princess goes with Feodor to Rome, for the purpose of biding their time for vengeance. Guido and Katerina visit Rome and Guido becomes enamored of a famous beauty who has become the toast of the town. The woman is slow to accept Guido's advances, but finally tells him that a famous ring that has been buried with the Princess Dione will be the price of her affection. When Guido returns to the sepulcher to rob his wife's corpse, he finds the coffin empty. As he turns away from the tomb, he sees what he believes to be the ghost of the Princess. The apparition drives him insane and he runs to a nearby cliff and throws himself into the ocean. Katerina returns to the street from whence she came and Princess Dione and Feodor find happiness in marriage.

Dir: Rex Ingram

Frivolous young Marie de Severac is frightened into following a more virtuous path, when her father relates a story in which an equally frivolous woman is entombed alive.

Dir: Rex Ingram

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

Hector Brown, affectionately nicknamed "Humdrum" by the residents of Norwalk because his life is so monotonous, wants to marry Alicia Boothe. Humdrum's brother-in-law Ed Danforth spends all of his money on get-rich-quick schemes, however, so the young bank clerk is forced to support the entire Danforth family. After Danforth and bank president Carlos Tanner rob the bank in which Humdrum is employed, the bank is forced to close, and Humdrum goes to San Francisco to look for a job. In his absence, Alicia inherits a large sum of money and travels to the city to find her fiancé. There she meets Tanner, who takes her money, promising to invest it for her. Having been double-crossed by Tanner, Danforth tells Humdrum the truth about the bank robbery and goes to the police. Humdrum catches the steamer on which Tanner is about to depart, holds the crook until the police arrive, and returns to the Norwalk bank with the stolen funds. He and Alicia marry following his appointment as president of the bank.

Dir: Rex Ingram

Pretty Manhattan model Marion Buckley receives a marriage proposal from Warren Rogers, a wealthy department store owner, but is reluctant to accept it because of her affair with her employer Leon Kessler, who promised to marry her. Kessler agrees to keep quiet about the affair and Marion Buckley. All goes well until one day Kessler visits the couple and proposes marriage to Rogers' teenage daughter Ardath. Knowing that her husband knows nothing of she and Kessler's history together, Marion tells him of her previous affair with Kessler, with disastrous results.

Dir: Edward LeSaint

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Humdrum Brown 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: Rex Ingram

An American diplomat in China is murdered, and a wealthy Chinese friend of the family raises his daughter Mignon. When she grows up, she wants to return to the U.S. and is tricked into accompanying slave trader Foo Shai to New York. Once there, however, Foo Shai keeps her captive and abuses her. Local artist Lawrence falls in love with her, but he cannot free her from Foo Shai's clutches. It is up to her friend Chang to try to help her.

Dir: Wilfred Lucas

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

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: Rex Ingram

When millionaire John Saunders threatens to disinherit his son Wallace if he marries circus rider Queen Tina, Wallace elopes with Tina and becomes a trapeze performer. They lead a happy life until Tina dies giving birth to their daughter Alice. Years later, when the circus passes through Wallace's hometown, John, regretting his action, attends and witnesses Wallace's death by trapeze accident. Alice, now a circus rider herself, goes to live with John, who, despite Alice's antics involving her pet pig Rudolph, sliding down the stairs on a tray, and vaulting over the furniture, grows fond of her. When John tries to marry Alice to his sister's sissified son, she uses Rudolph to frighten him and his mother. After Alice and George Reynolds, whom she knew from the circus, fall in love and elope, John, thinking that George is after her fortune, is furious, but George proves his ability as a cartoonist and earns $1,000 a week to win John's admiration.

Dir: Rex Ingram

Bill Carson is sentenced to 12 years for housebreaking. He vows that he will, upon ending his term, have vengeance upon George Devereaux, the prosecuting attorney whose speech swayed the jury to conviction. Carson's little daughter Peggy is being raised by his pal Skinny McGee; the mother died of shock after Carson's conviction. When Skinny dies, the girl Peggy turns to picking pockets for a livelihood, Skinny having brought her to proficiency in this line as her only education. There is a scene pictured in the board rooms of a reform organization. Devereaux accepts a challenge that he cannot take a criminal and reform him by improved and beneficial surroundings. Peggy is brought into a police station on charge of picking pockets, and is chosen to be the one upon whom Devereaux shall practice his experiment. Taking her to his palatial home, Devereaux seeks for two years to train Peggy in the better way. His efforts are variously successful, and finally a young man proposes marriage to Peggy and is accepted. Upon arriving at the church Peggy discovers that she is in love with Devereaux, and flees from the wedding party in consternation. She decides to return to her old life, and departs from the Devereaux home without making her intentions known. About this time Carson ends his term of imprisonment. He seeks to conclude his vengeance by shooting Devereaux, and for that purpose waits for him to come from his house. Carson is hiding behind a tree, when he is recognized by Peggy and when, on the instant that Carson is about to fire a revolver at Devereaux, the girl throws herself before her father and receives in her own body the bullet intended for Devereaux. The story acquires its ending in the recovery of Peggy, the avowed reformation of her father, and the final picture shows Peggy once more established happily in the home where we are led to believe she will, in legal and ceremonial form, eventually become a permanent resident.