Deep Archive Finds in the Vein of Voltaire: Cult Guide

Dir: John G. Adolfi

The true story of Edith Cavell, a British nurse who served with the underground in Belgium during the First World War.

Dir: John G. Adolfi

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

In Washington, D.C., Betty Lansing renews her acquaintance with young Congressman Brandon Kent and a romance blossoms. Betty and her mother conduct whist games at their home, the proceeds of which are donated to charity, but at one of these parties, Drake, an embezzler, is arrested. Because Kent arrived during the party, Oakland, a rival for Betty's heart, visits the campaign headquarters of Johnson, who is running against Kent for the gubernatorial nomination, and reports that the congressman was involved in a gambling raid. When it becomes clear at the state convention that few delegates plan to vote for Kent, Betty, with the aid of suffrage leader Mrs. Ogden, mounts the platform and delivers a rousing speech exposing Oakland as a liar. Exonerated, Kent wins the nomination.

Dir: John G. Adolfi

Elaine Brooks marries Robert Ames, a member of the United States Department of Justice. The Germans, who are anxious to secure some papers that Robert possesses, employ Viola Durand to get to Robert through Elaine. Viola tricks Elaine into giving her the papers and also procures a letter that seems to establish Elaine as the traitor. George Blair, an official at the Department of Justice, finally tricks Viola into confessing her guilt, thus clearing Elaine's name.

Dir: John G. Adolfi

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

Effie Marchand refuses to marry a man she has never met, but who has been picked out by her mother, is exiled to boarding school Then, when sculpting teacher Jules Gerard asks her to pose for him, an always impulsive Effie quickly consents. During one of the modeling sessions, however, Jules tries to seduce her, and Effie is saved only when Al Tournay, a visitor to the studio, fights off the sculptor. Later, when Jules' latest nude statue looks just like Effie, who really only posed for the head, an outraged principal expels her. Effie then begins a romance with Al, and when they get married, Effie's mother takes the wedding as just one more sign of her daughter's impulsiveness. Mrs. Marchand soon finds out, however, that her new son-in-law is the man she had chosen for Effie long before, and so mother and daughter are quickly reconciled.

Dir: John G. Adolfi

An English aristocrat visiting Norway falls in love with Thelma, daughter of a Viking-like Norse landowner, and this first part is an idyllic story. He marries her and takes her to England. Society women, one of whom has been infatuated with the young man, are disappointed, because Thelma is not only beautiful but has pretty manners and is popular. There is a very melodramatic conspiracy to break her heart by making her suspect her husband. It works and she runs away back to her Norway home. Her husband follows and the happy ending unites the two in the old Norse homestead.

Dir: John G. Adolfi

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

Merilla, a mermaid, must save four humans to earn a soul and human body. She falls for Prince Hero but lets him unite with his true love after saving princess Leanda from villain Boreas, sacrificing her own love but gaining humanity.

Dir: John G. Adolfi

After running away from an orphanage, young Alicia Jones disguises herself as a boy and gets a job on a farm. She falls in love with Harry Deigan, a farmhand who knows her secret, but when the farm's owner finds out, he fires her. Alicia is forced to return to the city, where she meets a wealthy man who adopts her. He turns out to be Thomas Deigan, the half-brother of Alicia's love Harry Deigan. Harry finds out that Thomas is his half-brother, but also finds out something that could change his, Thomas', and Alicia's lives forever.

Dir: John G. Adolfi

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

June, a country girl, comes to New York to take care of her aunt's little girl Jane. In a squalid First Avenue tenement, she meets Frank, her old sweetheart from back home who had come to the city to make good. In the same house lives a band of thieves who steal a jewel and hide it in a slipper belonging to Mame, one of the members of the gang. One day Jane finds the shoe and begins to play with it. When she accidentally tears off the heel, the gem falls to the floor. Frank, recognizing it as the stolen jewel, rushes off to get the police. Meanwhile, the crooks discover the loss of the slipper and Mame learns that June has it. They all converge upon June just as the police arrive. The crooks are arrested, and June and Frank return home for their honeymoon.

Dir: John G. Adolfi

Harry Ogden - ne'er-do-well - is caught by a sheriff's posse and is about to be hung when he is saved by Betty, the daughter of a Kentucky Colonel, who is traveling in the West for his health. Ogden is addicted to a morphine habit and Betty, who is a doctor, hides him in their house and nurses him back to health. Ogden asks Betty to be his wife, and he is returning to his family home to get some money. The Colonel, mistaken for Ogden by Taylor, a rival for Betty's hand, is shot and killed by Taylor, who leaves evidence pointing to Ogden as the killer. Betty plans to turn him over to the law when he returns. Meanwhile, Taylor is killed by Choo, who is secretly in love with Betty, and she learns through Choo that Ogden is innocent of her father's murder.

Dir: John G. Adolfi

Schoolteacher Frances Angel finds herself attracted to wealthy rancher Jim McPherson but finds his rough-hewn ways objectionable, so when he proposes marriage she rejects him. Her father asks her to return to his home in the East, where her former boyfriend Chet Condon now holds the mortgage on the family home and is threatening to foreclose on it unless Frances marries him. When she also learns that her recently-widowed sister Jane is also moving back east with her newborn, Frances is torn between her duty to her family and her love for Jim.