The Definitive Guide Deeply Connected to The Woman Under Oath: Cult Guide

Dir: John M. Stahl

Faced with deciding between two suitors, James Brunton and Bob Standing, Grace chooses James. Aristocratic Mr. Brunton gives his son James a sumptuous wedding at home, which is interrupted when the father is suddenly shot through a window. Before he dies, Mr. Brunton speaks with James, making him promise not to apprehend the murderer. Later, the marriage is troubled when Grace is led to believe that James is involved with another woman, Helen, and is giving her money. Crushed, Grace leaves home and has a miscarriage after settling in another town. Meanwhile, James believes that she has run off with Bob. One day, James has a car accident and is taken to Grace's house nearby, where she cares for him. The mystery is solved with the arrivals of Helen and Bob, when it is revealed that Helen is actually James's sister, and that Mr. Brunton had abandoned Helen's mother Alice years before. Mr. Brunton knew that it was Alice who had shot him, and he wanted James to try to make up for his neglect of the mother and daughter. Bob then becomes interested in Helen, and James and Grace are reconciled.

Dir: John M. Stahl

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

Elliot Worthington falls in love with Myra, the maid in his sister's household. Myra is dismissed; Elliot finds her, proposes marriage, and returns home with his new bride. She is snubbed by his relatives and shocked by the hypocrisy of his wealthy friends. Disillusioned, she runs away: Elliot follows and saves her from being hit by a train when her foot gets caught in a switch.

Dir: John M. Stahl

When Rosamond, a convent girl, discovers that her mother is Baby Brabant, a notorious queen of Petworth's gambling house, her ideals are shattered and she denounces her mother's life. Following her daughter's departure, Baby leaves the gambler and resorts to opium in her remorse. Rosamond becomes a successful actress and falls in love with Ned, the foster son of a wealthy man, Brabazon, who advises Ned to treat her as a plaything, but he refuses to drop her. Brabazon then learns that Baby Brabant is his former wife and that Rosamond is his own daughter. Ned and Rosamond are united after her mother dies.

Dir: John M. Stahl

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

A man brings up, on Long Island, the illegitimate daughter of a deceased woman who'd been an art student in love with a married Parisian. Is a French man the daughter, now grown up, attracted to a descendant of that same Parisian as well?

Dir: John M. Stahl

Young Brierly struggles to save his father, Major Brierly, from the clutches of alcohol after the Great War. At the same time, he prepares Major Brierly's horse, which served bravely with the Major at the front, for the Kentucky Derby.

Dir: John M. Stahl

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

Just as Mr. and Mrs. James Randolph Emerson, Jr. are about to depart on their honeymoon, Lucille Emerson discovers her husband gazing at a photograph that bears the inscription, "With love to my husband, Grace." Too proud to question James about the photograph, Lucille is tormented by the image of the woman for many years. Finally Lucille becomes involved in a flirtation with another man, and when her husband learns of her infatuation, he becomes insanely jealous. Enraged, he is choking her when a small boy rushes into the room and collapses. James leaves Lucille, who returns the boy to his tenement home. While there, Lucille discovers that the child is James's son, born to a woman who died in childbirth. Finding that James has long forgotten Grace, however, Lucille is reconciled to her husband.

Dir: John M. Stahl

When Mary Graham's old school chum visits, Mary's husband becomes infatuated with his wife's guest and soon openly avows his love for her. Mary is powerless to stop the affair and confides to old friend James Livingston the expected arrival of their child. Hiding her pregnancy from her husband, Mary goes to the country, where her son is born. Learning that Robert is intent upon filing for divorce, Livingston demands that the unfaithful husband repay some notes which Livingston holds. Robert is unable to pay, and Helen threatens to leave him. In contrast, Mary offers to sell her jewels to help her husband, forcing Robert to realize her true worth. He begs his wife's forgiveness, and they are joyfully united as Mary proudly introduces her husband to their son.

Dir: John M. Stahl

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

Antoine de Tillois leaves his puritanical wife and in Paris becomes known as King Toto, leader of the bohemian set. Their daughter, Louise, spends 8 months of each year with her mother in Blois and 4 in Paris with her father, her sole concern being to see them reunited. Although Louise has fallen in love with Robert Le Rivarol, she vows not to marry until she accomplishes her aim; consequently, Toto pretends to reform and announces he is giving up his Paris life to return to his wife. Merinville, her accountant, and his nephew--both after Louise's money--discover that Toto has been corresponding with the Countess de Sano, his latest mistress; they try to blackmail Toto and scheme to get an annulment of Louise's marriage, but Toto thwarts their plot. When the countess absconds with her husband's secretary, Toto and his wife are happily reconciled.

Dir: John M. Stahl

A wealthy industrialist's wife gets into a big argument with him; to cool off, she goes on an ocean trip. He thinks she's left him for good, so he marries another woman. When his first wife returns, complications ensue.

Dir: John M. Stahl

Comedy about a negligent housewife who restyles herself as a flapper and almost loses her husband when an admiring friend is quite taken with her new appearance.