Editor's Top Picks Following the Footsteps of Under the Black Eagle...

Dir: W.S. Van Dyke

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Wilfred Lucas

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

Brian O'Farrell (Snowy Baker), is an English 'new chum' who takes a job at an Australian cattle station. He is teased by station hands because of his appearance (including spats and a monocle) but he soon impresses them with his skills at riding and boxing. The station manager, John MacDonald (Wilfred Lucas), takes O'Farrell to Sydney to meet his daughter Edith (Kathleen Key) who is working in the slums. Edith is kidnapped by criminals after witnessing a crime but O'Farrell rescues her. It is later revealed he is the owner of the station.

Dir: Maurice Elvey

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

Dir: W.S. Van Dyke

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

Mollie Andrews is a little New England school teacher who goes out to Rawhide, Montana, to "teach the west" its manners. She is of romantic nature, and the picturesque statue and habits of Dan Clark impress her deeply. She marries him. Clark is a bad man at heart. He treats Mollie brutally after the first blush of honeymooning; then slays one of his own kind, and escapes across the border to Canada. The year that passes teaches Mollie some things about mankind she never knew before. One was to appreciate Constable Calhoun, of the Royal Mounted Police, who occasionally called on her, as a real friend. But though their mutual regard for each other ripens finally into love, Mollie remains true to her husband. When he turns up again she exacts a promise from Calhoun, on the strength of his love for her, that he will not harm Clark until the latter strikes the first blow. The beast within Clank still runs amok, however, and he attacks the policeman, unjustly accusing him of undue attentions to Mollie. A struggle ensues in which Clark falls dead. Thus Mollie is released from her marriage vows, and her future brightens with Calhoun awaiting her.

Dir: W.S. Van Dyke

Jack Derry accidentally becomes involved in a mystery surrounding Glory Billings, when fate makes him her rescuer in a kidnapping episode.

Dir: William Parke

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

Bruce Wendell, the son of West Virginia coal mine owner James Wendell, graduates from West Point and prepares to lead a fighting unit to the front during World War I. As his father lies dying, however, he convinces Bruce to remain at home and guard the mine. Bruce's fiancée Ann Blair assumes that he is a coward and breaks off their engagement, but her brother Bobbie remains Bruce's loyal friend. Meyer, a German agent, persuades railroad president Parrish to refuse to transport Wendell's coal, but when Bruce adamantly refuses to close the mine, the spy's men decide to blow it up. While Ann is being abducted by Meyer, Bobbie is buried in an explosion at the mine. Bruce rescues Bobbie and then sends a plea to Lieutenant Parrish to rescue Ann. Meyer and his gang are captured and Ann renews her vow of love to Bruce.

Dir: Harley Knoles

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: W.S. Van Dyke

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

Out of the elite and civilized east into the rough and primitive west there comes a little party which judged the desert must be larger than all New York, and their trail a little longer than the Gay White Way. Ruth Harkness, who has inherited the Flying W ranch from a relative, heads the timid little band. A prim and conventional aunt and uncle and Willard Masten, her fiancé, all dolled up according to his Fifth Avenue tailors ideas of the west, accompany her. Headlong the little party plunges into the meshes of a conspiracy of two cowboys to mulct the girl of her holdings. Rex Randerson, a happy-go-lucky ranger with a clear-gray eye, steps in to frustrate the plot, and incidentally falls in love with Ruth. This enrages Masten, who joins the conspirators and extends their plot to include Randerson's death. The girl and the ranger are caught in their "death trap'' and count themselves lost, but the fearlessness of Rex in a single-handed battle with the villains saves the day. Ruth thanks him by consenting to become his bride, and an old-fashioned cowboy wedding ends the dark adventure.

Dir: Edgar Jones

A mail-order bride arrives at a Maine lumber camp but doesn't like her prospective husband.

Dir: Edward LeSaint

When famous opera singer Elinore Duane undergoes an operation on her throat, she has a series of ether-induced visions. In one, she is transported to ancient Rome where she appears as a much-admired woman in love with Paul, a young heretic, and at odds with Lutor, the high priest. To save her love, she poisons Lutor with her ring. After several other visions which involve variations on this love triangle, Elinore awakens to discover that Lutor is actually her doctor, Sascha Jaccard, and that Paul is the son of a friend who has come to visit the recovering prima donna.