The Auteur's Selection In the Shadow of Verdun: Looking at History: Cult Guide

Dir: Jerome Storm

Luther Green goes to war in France in 1917. When he comes back to his family home in New Jersey, he has a surprise following him: a beautiful French girl named Nina.

Dir: Martin Zickel

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Die Prinzessin vom Nil perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: René Plaissetty

A 'coward' resigns his commission and poses as an Arab to save his former comrades.

Dir: Donald Crisp

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

During the Civil War, young widow Rachel Hayne is among those "held by the enemy" when her old family home is within the lines occupied by the Northern troops. Protected by Colonel Prescott from looters and the unwelcome attentions of Surgeon Fielding, Rachel begins to fall in love with the gallant Yankee officer. Their romance is disrupted when Rachel's husband Gordon, long reported dead, is captured as a spy and condemned to death. When Gordon is wounded during an attempted escape, Rachel's loyalty impels her to try to save him by feigning his death. As Gordon's stretcher is carried through the hospital, Fielding demands an examination of the body, charging that Prescott is involved in a plot to smuggle the spy out of the hospital alive. General Stanton lifts the cover from the body, only to find that death has really come, freeing both Rachel and Prescott.

Dir: D.W. Griffith

Two orphaned sisters are caught up in the turmoil of the French Revolution, encountering misery and love along the way.

Dir: J. Gordon Edwards

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

Don Caesar de Bazan, a reckless nobleman, falls for Maritana, a gypsy dancing girl. When Maritana is insulted by a drunk, Don Caesar wins her love by coming to her rescue. The two go to Madrid, where the girl is summoned to dance before the Queen. Maritana also attracts the attention of King Charles. Don Jose, the prime minister, who secretly loves the Queen, plots to get Maritana for the King. To do this, he schemes to have Maritana marry a nobleman so she can enter the King's court. Don Jose chooses Don Caesar, who has been imprisoned and sentenced to death for dueling during Holy Week. Don Caesar agrees to marry the woman selected by Don Jose. After the ceremony, his wife believes he has been pardoned, but Don Caesar is sent to a firing squad. He is saved by a youth who has removed the bullets from the rifles. Eventually, Don Caesar wins the King's approval, and he is made prime minister.

Dir: Léon Poirier

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Franklin B. Coates

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

Shows James' joining of the Quantrill's raiders, a guerrilla force which fought against union sympathizers during the Civil War. James takes allegiance to the Black Flag, the raiders' banner. After the war he receives kind treatment from a judge concerning his acts of crime and later meets and falls in love with Zee, with whom he wishes to live a peaceful life.

Dir: Rex Ingram

An extended family split up in France and Germany find themselves on opposing sides of the battlefield during World War I.

Dir: Frederic Zelnik

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.