The Definitive Watchlist Seeking the Same Brilliance as Une histoir...

Dir: Victor Heerman

In the gold fields of the Canadian Northwest, a man is falsely accused of a crime and determines that a lookalike is responsible.

Dir: Bertram Millhauser

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

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

Dir: Maurice Tourneur

Having endangered his life by foolishly gambling away funds entrusted to him by the Carbonari, an Italian secret society, London banker Bernard Huddlestone appeals to Northmour, an adventurer, for protection. Northmour takes Huddlestone and his daughter Clara to his castle in Scotland, offering them safety in return for Clara's hand in marriage. There Clara encounters Frank Cassilis, an old adversary of Northmour's, and falls in love. Trouble brews between the two men, but when the Carbonari discovers Huddlestone's hiding place and storms the castle, the fugitives band together to fight the avengers. Coming to the realization that only his sacrifice will appease the attackers, Huddlestone steps out and meets his death. Northmour, deciding that married life would prove too monotonous, gives up his claim on Clara to Cassilis.

Dir: William F. Adler

A travelogue/documentary including explorations of the fauna and people of Siam, New Guinea, and Java, with interpolations of an apparently fictitious encounter between the filmmakers and cannibalistic natives of Frederick Henry Island in the South Pacific.

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

Dir: Robert N. Bradbury

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: J.P. McGowan

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

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

Dir: George Beranger

John Fenton visits a fortune-teller to gain insight into his parentage. While there, a police raid occurs, and he climbs the fire escape to the apartment above. There he finds a girl standing over the body of a young man who has just shot himself. The girl, Belle Charmion, explains that her half brother, Gordon Brewster, had stolen some jewels from their uncle and, fearing that the police would capture him, had attempted suicide. Fenton conceals the brother in another room and impersonates him when the police arrive. Later, he and Belle take Brewster to his uncle's home. In the excitement, the jewels have been forgotten, and Fenton returns to search for them. By this time, the family butler, who is a member of an underworld gang, has tipped off his friends, who then steal the Fenton jewels. At the butler's home, a scuffle ensues; Fenton recovers the jewels and learns that he is actually a distant relative of the Charmions, having been kidnapped in infancy by a crook. With both mysteries thus resolved, Belle and Fenton become engaged.

Dir: Ludwig Berger

Spain at the beginning of the 1580s, at the time of Philip II. The troops of the king entered the village of Zalamea. Captain Don Alvaro is quartered in the house of Pedro Crespo and his two children. Alvaro is very interested in the proud daughter Isabel, who, however, shows him the cold shoulder.

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of The Adventures of Bob and Bill perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Dir: Cecil M. Hepworth

A soldier's tunic button, made from Aladdin's lamp, grants his wishes.

Dir: Aubrey M. Kennedy

Wealthy oil magnate Harry Mangin is in love with his competitor James Murdock's daughter Blanche. Mangin schemes to ruin Blanche's father so that the girl will be forced to accept his attention. However, Blanche loves "Sky Eye" Blake, an aviator at the adjoining U. S. aviation field. When Mangin is driven in desperation to muster his own private air force in order to destroy his rival's oil plants, "Sky Eye" takes to the skies to quell the riot. After several daring escapades, "Sky Eye" captures Mangin and wins Blanche for his bride.