Top-Tier Alternatives Exploring the Legacy of The Wooing of Riley: ...

Dir: Robert N. Bradbury

Tom appears as a wandering fellow, strolling on the docks. The crew of a schooner see him and he is promptly shanghaied, the captain having first thrown the hero's canine pal into the water. He recovers from the beating given him on board the vessel, but swears he will not work. The only friend he makes is a lad on the boat who has also been forcibly taken on board. During a storm the hero starts a mutiny and is thrown overboard. He lands near a lighthouse and is befriended by the sole inhabitants, the keeper of the light and his daughter. The hero falls in love with the girl and later thinks he has lost her when the boy from the schooner suddenly appears. He turns out to be her brother.

Dir: Robert N. Bradbury

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of What Love Will Do perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Hoodooed Dale Pemberton, reporter, fails on many jobs and locates on farm with Gregory family. Amos Gregory is accused of murdering three scheming bankers who have disappeared. Dale clears up the mystery after many thrilling experiences and marries Gregory's daughter.

Dir: Robert N. Bradbury

Kincade shoots Baird and takes the map to his gold mine. Sutherland finds the dying Baird who tells him the mine's location. Kincade, having lost the map, now goes after the gold Sutherland has taken out of the mine.

Dir: Robert N. Bradbury

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

The story deals, as its name implies, with the rigid law of the Northwest and with Jack Meadows' efforts to set free the girl's father, who is the sheriff. The man has been wounded by outlaws and found in a dying state by Jack and his pal. The two set out to bring the criminals to justice. The girl at first misjudges Jack and believes him responsible for her father's disappearance. When he proves the respected deputy is in reality the leader of a band of liquor smugglers and captures the culprits, she changes her mind. Jack's identity as a government ranger is established.

Dir: Robert N. Bradbury

When Red Hawk Dugan and his men attack a small wagon train, Colonel Merriwell is killed and the young girl Isobel taken and raised thinking Dugan is her father. Fifteen years later the Colonel's son Jack arrives looking for Dugan whom he learned killed his father. As he hunts for Dugan he meets and falls in love with Isobel only to then learn Dugan is her father.

Dir: Robert N. Bradbury

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

A mysterious character lives in the desert and is reputed to have hidden wealth. A dance hall girl and a gambler frame a plot to rob him. They follow him to the desert where the girl pretends to be dying and is taken in by Tom. He falls in love with her and she with him, and eventually tells him of her plot. After a proof of her love, Tom forgives her and they are happy.

Dir: Robert N. Bradbury

Silent Jim Sutherland has a secret sorrow. At length a city financier, his daughter and her fiance all arrive to this Western town and engage Silent Jim as guide to look into some timber land. Silent Jim recognizes the girl's fiance as the man who killed his wife many years before and stole his gold. The truth is revealed in the same cabin that was once Silent Jim's home. An old Indian proves the statement and when the villain attempts to kidnap the girl, he meets his fate at the hands of the dog.

Dir: Robert N. Bradbury

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

Tom is a vagabond and crook, who ingratiates himself and two pals with a rich lumberman by means of a stolen letter of introduction. The atmosphere of clean living arouses a desire in him to go straight, so that instead of robbing the old man as they had planned, he tries to dissuade the other two. They, however, steal the payroll, and when Tom goes after them he is suspected. He brings back the money and marries the lumberman's daughter.

Dir: Robert N. Bradbury

The uncle of John Davis, killed on the mountains, leaves a will directing that Davis and his cousin, Hawke Morgan, shall be joint guardians of his adopted daughter, Ethel, and receive each a share in a valuable gold mine, the location of which is indicated on a map left, with the will, a certain proportion going to various charities. Hawke Morgan comes out West, and determines to get rid of Davis, and so acquire not only the entire fortune but also the girl who is in love with Davis. He at once sets out to accomplish the murder of Davis, and every stage of the story is packed with exciting adventure, the hero and heroine going through amazing adventures before their final happiness is secured.

Dir: Robert N. Bradbury

There is a legend that anyone who lives in solitude near the lake goes mad. Tom begins to feel the effects when he comes across a girl who has fainted in the desert. Taking her to his cabin he falls in love with her, but later believing she loves another, orders her from the cabin. She goes, but he learns the man was her brother and all ends happily.