Curated Recommendations Seeking the Same Brilliance as The Vanderho...

Dir: Robert G. Vignola

Anna, who lives with her harsh-tempered aunt, eagerly seizes the opportunity to join a traveling repertoire company. The girl and Darnton, the "villain" in the company, become deeply interested in each other, and because of Anna Darnton conquers his terrible craving for liquor. Later, when the troupe disbands in New York, Anna meets Rita. The girl makes the acquaintance of Marbridge, an agent of the worst type, and only her wit saves her from the man's clutches. Following a quarrel with Darnton, Anna foolishly consents to go autoing with Rita and the fast set with which the latter associates. The auto hurtles over an embankment and Anna alone escapes death. A reconciliation with Darnton follows. Anna obtains a position in the company in which Darnton plays the villain. The girl receives her great opportunity when the star, whom she is understudying, is injured on the opening night. Enwright, the manager, learns of the love between the new star and Darnton. Fearing lest sentiment affect their work, he sends Darnton to head the Chicago company. But the separation depresses Anna so greatly that Enwright orders Darnton to return. The player comes back unknown to Anna and suddenly appears before her at the next performance. The ensuing scene thrills the audience, which never for a moment suspects that the heroine and the villain are secret lovers. But the moment the curtain has descended Anna walks into Darnton's arms. Her lips meet his.

Dir: Robert G. Vignola

Dick, who thinks Elsie is a farmer's daughter, and Elsie, who believes Dick to be a hired man, fall in love with each other. While returning from a trip to the city shortly afterwards, Dick accidentally exchanges traveling bags with Spike, a burglar, on his way to rob the Dunbars' summer home. Pinkarter, a detective, witnesses the incident and trails Dick. Late that night, the young man sees Elsie apparently breaking into a cottage. The girl had accidentally been locked out of the farmhouse where she had been stopping, and therefore decided to return to her father's country home nearby. Ignorant of this, Dick believes Elsie a thief and follows her into the house, Spike also gets inside, and the three are presently bagged by Pinkarter and lugged to the village lockup. In his effort to establish his identity, Dick requests the detective to examine his travelling bag. When this is done, a fine collection of burglar's tools is brought to view. Thus Elsie is led to think her lover a thief. Although Dick eventually clears himself, this comes too late; Elsie's identity has been established by her father, who then took her home. Still in ignorance of each other's identity, the heartbroken lovers return to the city. Some time later Dick accompanies a friend to a dinner given at the Dunbar's home. To his intense surprise, the boy finds himself confronting Elsie. Still believing him to be a burglar, Elsie shouts for help. Dunbar is about to hand the luckless youth over to the police when the snarl is untangled, and the course of true love allowed to run smoothly.

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

Dir: Robert G. Vignola

Seventeen-year-old William Sylvanus Baxter has fallen madly in love with young coquette Lola Pratt. After he has spent all his money on the fickle girl, she runs off with an older man. Now heartbroken, William contemplates suicide until May Parcher, a friend from childhood, visits him and decides to fall in love with him.

Dir: Robert G. Vignola

A Russian refugee who masquerades as Zara, niece of Francis Markrute, comes to his home and marries Lord Tancred, a scion of the English nobility, after a long series of misadventures she makes a full confession to her supposed uncle and to her husband regarding her origin and her young son by a former marriage to a Russian prefect of police, whom an infuriated mob murdered for his cruelty. Tancred is stunned, but only for a moment. Overwhelmed with forgiveness he avows his undying love.

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

Dir: Robert G. Vignola

Audrey, an orphan, becomes the ward of a wealthy man, but when he travels to England, she is turned over to an unscrupulous couple who usurp her money and turn her into a slavey.

Dir: Robert G. Vignola

Fifi is seen as Pierrot in a French play that is a failure despite her effort to put ginger into the rest of the cast. Among the few in the last audience was Cartouche, a veteran, who had become an actor when his wounds no longer allowed him to follow Napoleon. Through Cartouche's efforts Fifi is employed at the Imperial theater in Parts. He takes her to his lodging, determined to protect her. Fifi fails to understand how much Cartouche is doing for her, and when he gives her money to buy clothes she purchases a toy dog sailed Toto. The veteran buys a lottery ticket and gives it to Fifi. The ticket bears the winning number and Fifi finds herself in possession of a fortune. Cartouche decides Fifi must be educated. He applies to his old general, who suggests that Fifi be sent to the home of Louis Bourcet, an attorney who lives alone with his mother. Instead of putting her money in the bank Fifi hides it and startles the Bourcet family by her extravagance. They decide she has even more money than they thought and Louis begins to see in the wealthy Fifi a very acceptable wife. He makes love to the girl, and she accepts his proffer. Then she sets about to make him break the engagement by squandering her money, realizing she is in love with Cartouche. Accordingly she buys the most impossible things, scandalizing the Bourcet family into a complete renunciation by giving the remainder of her wealth to a charitable benefit for old soldiers. Ejected from the house by the angry Mme. Bourcet, Fifi returns to the Imperial, where she demands more money for her services because she has been publicly thanked by the General for her donation to charity. She tells Cartouche she loves him, but the old soldier refuses. to permit her to "throw herself away" upon him until Fifi gets an inspiration of her own.

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

Dir: Robert G. Vignola

Society debutante Vivian Tyler is engaged to marry Count Belloto, then meets Dr. Robert Keith, whose work in uplifting the poor has attracted wide attention, she is strongly attracted to him and asks permission to work in his sanitarium, where the poor of the city receive treatment free of charge. There she meets Aggie May, a woman arrested as a streetwalker, and because she wears a locket bearing Dr. Keith's picture, Vivian assumes that the doctor has been responsible for the woman's downfall. Later, Aggie kills herself, and although Vivian witnesses the act, to avoid a scandal she hurries away before the police come. Dr. Keith is arrested for Aggie's death, the locket providing evidence of guilt. Just as he is to be convicted, Vivian rushes into the courtroom and gives the testimony that clears the doctor.

Dir: Robert G. Vignola

When rich civil engineer Robert Penfield goes to a small Quaker town in Pennsylvania to supervise a job, he meets Patience, who soon falls in love with him, but Robert is engaged to Edith, who plans to marry him for his money only. To remain close to Robert, Patience returns with him to the city to take a job as his mother's secretary. After Robert and Edith's wedding, and following the birth of their child, Patience takes care of the baby much more enthusiastically than Edith does; in fact, Edith is preoccupied with Paul Dunstan, a former suitor who wasn't rich enough to marry her, but who has since inherited a fortune. Finally, the couple elope, but they both die when Paul's yacht sinks. After the accident, Robert realizes that he loves Patience, and marries her.

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

Dir: Robert G. Vignola

Amina loves Rudolph and turns the powerful Count Wolfenstein down when he proposes to her. In a jealous rage, Wolfenstein throws Rudolph into a dungeon. Meanwhile, Hertzog, "The Black Crook," has a deal with the devil: he must hand over to Satan one soul each year or find himself banished to Hell. With only 24 hours left before the year ends, Hertzog focuses all of his attention on Amina and Rudolph, believing them to be weakened from despair and therefore easy prey.

Dir: Robert G. Vignola

Kate Tarleton grows up on a Southern plantation and becomes engaged to her guardian, Dr. Robert Manning, a famous surgeon. When Robert, Kate, and her younger sister Mary Lou visit New York, where the doctor wishes to conduct medical experiments, the superstitious Kate goes to the home of a fortune-teller named Stella Hill. Stella, whose principal business is white slave trafficking, drugs Kate and forces her to work in a "den of vice," run by Stella and her accomplice Jimmy Bristol, where she contracts syphilis and goes insane. Robert, Detective Ellis, and a lawyer named Billy Meredith rescue Kate, who recovers her sanity but remembers nothing of her bondage. Robert uses Stella and Jimmy in his experiments and through them discovers a cure for Kate's illness. District Attorney Scott is questioning Robert about the propriety of his experiments when Kate enters and sees Jimmy. Her memory suddenly returns, and she narrates her story to Scott, clearing Robert's name.