The Recommended Vault Parallel to the Artistry of The Unknown: Cult...

Dir: Alexander Butler

In Alberta, Canada, a Cornish emigrant unmasks a rustler posing as the girl's "blind" father.

Dir: Tod Browning

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

A slum girl is forced to steal for a living. After she swipes a rich society's matron's necklace, she hides out at the home of a man who turns out to be the socialite's former fiance.

Dir: Tod Browning

Roma Wycliffe, a high-spirited girl bored with the lavender-and-old-lace atmosphere of her Aunt Henrietta's estate, discovers that her grandmother was a gypsy and decides to become one herself. Wearing gypsy clothing, she runs away to New York, where she is arrested on the suspicion that she is Gypsy Nan, a thief. Mrs. Roberts, whose poodle had attracted Roma's attention, intercedes for the girl and, promising to care for her, takes her to her lavish home. Young John Roberts falls in love with Roma, but the "gypsy" imagines him too stodgy. To win her love, John declares himself the leader of a band of gypsy thieves and then hires a gang of ruffians to prove his claim. When the thugs actually rob a bank, John has them arrested, and Roma, realizing the darker side of gypsy life, marries John.

Dir: Tod Browning

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

Jacala, a strong-willed, temperamental ranch girl, inherits her father's millions and moves from Montana to New York, determined to earn a place in society. There she meets and is strongly attracted to Kenneth Hyde, but believing him to be a worthless man-about-town with a neglected wife, she hires Tony Dewey to pose as her fiancé. Tony wants a wealthy wife, and when his attentions toward Jacala are sternly rebuffed, he spreads scandalous stories about her. Jacala learns that Kenneth's supposed wife is actually his sister, and he, in turn, believes her claims that Tony's stories are untrue. With Kenneth, Jacala retreats from the superficial society life she had once coveted.

Dir: Bruno Ziener

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Tod Browning

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

Stella Schump is a shop girl and very devoted to her mother, who desires her to marry. Stella befriends her shoe store co-worker Cora Kinealy, who invites Stella to a party to meet the hero of a munitions plant fire. The young man does not attend, and Stella is pressured into over-drinking. She wanders into the street, is picked up by a detective, taken to night court, and sentenced to ten days in jail. Stella writes to her mother, and the shock of the news causes her mother's death. Upon release, Stella is relieved of her job and without a home. While wandering the streets, she is picked up by a man and taken to a Salvation Army home. The man is John Gilley, the munitions plant hero. The two find happiness together.

Dir: Tod Browning

Doris Standish's father insists upon her marriage to aging millionaire Cyrus W. Hopkins, but just before the wedding, the young woman runs from the house and leaps into a parked car, ordering the chauffeur to drive her quickly away. The driver is Jimmy Nevin, who, because Hopkins financially ruined his father, has agreed to help a gang of crooks in their plot to steal the bride's jewels and wedding presents. Realizing that Doris is not Mary Butler, his accomplice, Jimmy offers to accompany her home, but when she refuses to return, he takes her to the thieves' hideout. Mary and her henchmen try to rob Doris, but she escapes and notifies the police. Doris, her father and Hopkins return to the hideout just before the police arrive to arrest all of the thieves but Jimmy, who has grown extremely fond of the runaway bride.

Dir: Tod Browning

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Eva, wo bist du? perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Peggy Desmond, the daughter of an Irish magistrate, loves Captain Neil Dacey, but is pursued by Terence O'Malley, the nephew of Squire O'Malley, a wealthy landowner. Although the squire offers to pay off the Desmonds' debts if Peggy were to marry Terence, Peggy refuses. After Neil invokes the name of Rory O'More, the "Will o' the Wisp," a legendary Irish Robin Hood, Peggy dresses up as a highwayman and robs Squire O'Malley, then gives the purse to one of the squire's poor tenants. As the local law officer, Neil is assigned to capture the bandit, but is robbed himself by his clever incognito sweetheart. When the squire turns up dead, Neil, whose gun is found next to the corpse, is arrested and jailed. To free her love, Peggy disguises herself once more as a highwayman and forces Terence to confess to the murder at gunpoint. Once released, Neil deduces that Peggy is the bandit and makes good on her promise to marry the man who succeeded in unmasking the "Will o' of the Wisp."

Dir: Tod Browning

Eleanor Hamlin, a forlorn little orphan living with her grandparents in Cape Cod, is adopted by a wealthy New Yorker, Beulah Page, and her friends. Beulah does not love Eleanor, but her friends -- particularly Peter Bolling, a man she has chosen for herself -- are captivated by the girl. To get Eleanor out of the way, Beulah sends her to an upstate finishing school, but the plan backfires when Eleanor returns a refined and radiant young woman. Realizing that Peter is in love with Eleanor, Beulah tells her that she is engaged to him, and Eleanor sadly returns to her old Cape Cod home. Peter follows her but she eludes him, and although Beulah's deception ultimately is revealed, Eleanor informs her benefactors that she wishes simply to remain their child.

Dir: Tod Browning

Gudrun works in the American wheat country as a hired girl to Mrs. Hawes. Charley Holt, the son of a rich family, takes the Swedish girl to a dance where she is snubbed by his mother and sister. Furious by his elitist relatives, Charley marries Gudrun and gets a menial job as a mill worker. A child is born, but Gudrun's life is unhappy because Charley becomes an alcoholic. After five years of marriage Charley dies in a saloon fight. Gudrun then buys a small farm and works the wheat fields. When tramp Martin O'Neill comes to the farm, Mary feeds him and he works for her. Martin later saves Gudrun and her child from a burning barn but is suspected of starting the fire himself and narrowly escapes a lynching. Finally, it is disclosed that the fire was actually started by Heine, a jealous rival, and Gudrun and Martin are married.