The Global Archive For Devotees of Three Weeks: Cult Guide

Dir: Bruno Ziener

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Harley Knoles

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

Jim McDonald, the foreman of a shipbuilding plant and head of the labor union, strives to combat the anarchistic propaganda being put forth by Klimoff, the leader of a Bolshevik gang whose goal is to disrupt the country with strikes and anarchy. Despite McDonald's efforts, a strike is called, resulting in chaos. McDonald's child is knocked down by runaway horses abandoned by their striking driver, and dies. Mob scenes take place in America, as well as in Russia. Eventually, the unrest is quelled with an armistice called between Capital and Labor for a year, during which time wages are to be increased to reflect the cost of living, and leaders are to work out a common plan for their mutual advantage. The strikers now realize that they have been pawns of the Bolsheviks and call off the strike, agreeing to the plan.

Dir: Dallas M. Fitzgerald

Confidence artist Flossie Golden attempts to fleece foolish but wealthy James Venable with a breach-of-promise suit. Venable's shrewd attorney, Richard Harding, outwits Flossie by proposing that she marry Venable and live on an allowance of $3,000 per year. Flossie is determined to get even with Harding for ruining her plans. In an attempt to con him, she poses as Innocence Page, but falls in love and marries him instead. Larry, Flossie's former accomplice, endeavors to blackmail her with her errant past, but Harding is already cognizant of the facts and Larry fails.

Dir: Alan Crosland

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

Nancy Price, who manages her own farm in Ohio, follows her cousin Eleanor Howitt to New York to check on her after the latter inherits a fortune and is persuaded by her father to live with him and his second wife Maude. Nancy is treated inhospitably by Maude and her social set when she discovers that they are encouraging Eleanor to spend money on jewelry and fancy clothes for all of them. One member of the group, George Tewksbury Reynolds, III, after trading insults with Nancy, becomes attracted to her, but she rejects him. After uncouth Archie Gore gets Eleanor intoxicated during a party and Nancy covers up for her, sacrificing her own reputation to protect Eleanor's, Eleanor is convinced to return home, and she resumes a romance with her reliable hometown beau, Sammy Wilson. Reynolds goes to Ohio to learn to be a farmer and is rewarded by Nancy's love.

Dir: Robert N. Bradbury

A simple country girl, brutally mistreated by her stepfather, awakens first the sympathy, then the love, of The Boy. The Spider, who lusts after The Girl, makes a bargain with the stepfather and takes her to the city where, kept prisoner, she is soon broken in health and spirit. Cast out and near death, she is taken in by The Boy. Following the demise of The Spider, The Boy takes her to church, where he prays, and after many hours she is restored to health.

Dir: F. Martin Thornton

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

In Paris an orphan cartoonist loves a man with a mad wife, who dies in time to prevent her marriage to a jilted Comte.

Dir: Alan Crosland

A wealthy young American, bred to class distinction and racial intolerance, enters First World War. In the course of his experiences in the trenches and being wounded, he comes to a recognition of the equality and brotherhood of men.

Dir: Maurice Elvey

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

A lady marries a horse trainer but withholds herself until her crippled brother is cured.

Dir: Alexander Butler

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

Dir: Alan Crosland

Wanting to impress the beautiful Bella Cavallo, whose stepfather Ferris forces her to act as a decoy in his Tenderloin gambling establishment, Richard Brettner commits a minor robbery. Judge Reverton pardons the love-struck young man but regrets his decision when Richard is arrested for murder. Through his physician, Dr. Comyns, the judge meets Bella and soon makes her his wife. The doctor, however, tells Reverton about Bella's profession, thereby causing him to distrust his new wife. Reverton returns home to find Bella planning a night meeting with Arthur Hallam, the murdered man's nephew. Expecting the worst, the judge soon realizes that Bella plotted only to beguile Arthur into a confession that he, and not Richard, committed the murder. Richard is released and the married couple is reunited.