Cinematic Discoveries Resonating with the Themes of West of the Wat...

Dir: Rollin S. Sturgeon

Fearing former suitor James Armstrong, Louise Newbold accompanies her husband William on a trip to the Colorado Rockies. While riding a mountain trail, Louise and her horse fall over a high cliff. Her injuries are so severe that she begs her husband to kill her to end her suffering, and, out of love, he does so--and blames Armstrong for being the instrument that drove Louise to take the dangerous trip. Five years later, Armstrong meets Enid Maitland and falls in love with her, and they go on a camping trip with several acquaintances. While out fishing, Enid is caught in a sudden violent storm and is rescued by a mountain man: William Newbold, who has become a recluse. But the snow imprisons them in his camp for the winter. The spring thaw brings Armstrong and others searching for Enid, and Newbold recognizes Armstrong as his old enemy.

Dir: Rollin S. Sturgeon

A professor's daughter craves excitement and sends her father on a treasure hunt. The captain leaves him to die on the island and returns for his possessions and the girl. Dick saves her father from the island and comes to her rescue.

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

Dir: Rollin S. Sturgeon

A girl's father cannot afford a train ticket, so he ships his daughter by Wells Fargo & Co. Express. He loses his money to a villain and cannot claim his "shipment." The villain attempts to claim her, but the Wells Fargo agent foils the plot and claims her himself.

Dir: Rollin S. Sturgeon

Far away, in the timberlands of the North, where the purity of woman is placed above all else, lived Josephine Adare, a kind, honest soul, whose face plainly bore an expression of deep sorrow and anxiety. Up to this, God's Own Country, came a man, Philip Weyman, to spend a year in that region. The man meets the woman and falls in love with her. He begs her to confide in him her great sorrow, which he sees she is constantly thinking of, but she tells him that she cannot do so. Seeing that he is persistent, and really anxious to help her, she asks him if he would be willing to follow her wherever she goes, doing whatever she asks of him, asking no questions and with the hope of no reward but her undying gratitude. Owing to his great love for her, he consents, knowing that he will be working for a just cause. Through the long, bitter, northern winter, he travels with her, knowing neither where he is going nor what he is going to do. To aid her plans, they are married, but it is a marriage in name only. She then takes him to the home of her father, John Adare, a rugged woodsman, where she tells him to pose as the father of an infant which she shows him. For a moment, his faith in her wavers, when he sees the child, but his manhood conquers and he determines to stand by his promise. Then, on one eventful day the infant dies. After the baby's death Philip notices unusual activity about the camp, and suspects that Josephine's enemies are about. Though he knows not who they are, he longs to fight them, but Jean Croisset, Josephine's half-breed protector, who has also been assisting her in her trouble, tells him that he can do nothing but wait for orders from her. He is tempted to cast caution to the winds and search for them himself, but his better judgment prevails and he realizes that he must be satisfied with anxiety and inactivity. Josephine's ferocious wolf-hounds have grown to love Philip as they love their mistress. These terrible beasts, though born for fighting, have big hearts in their savage breasts, and at a word from one whom they love, would tear an enemy to pieces. One day, Josephine, who is known throughout the neighborhood for her kindness and love of children, is called to another village to tend a sick child. Jean follows to protect her, and Philip trails him with the dogs. Philip learns that she was kidnapped by Lang, who, Jean tells him, is responsible for all her troubles. Philip rouses all the honest woodsmen in the neighborhood, who love Josephine for her kindness, and they set out to rescue her. They also enlist the aid of a tribe of Indians in their cause. After traveling for some time, the rescue party traps the villainous gang in its lair, "Devil's Nest." Here Lang and his gang barricade the doors and windows and prepare for the attack. A battle ensues, and Lang's followers, seeing they are being beaten, try to escape but find themselves hemmed in. In the midst of the battle, Jean is shot, and, knowing he is about to die, calls Philip to his side. He tells him how, a year before, Josephine's mother had fallen into Lang's clutches while her husband was away, and of the birth of the child, which Josephine had claimed as her own to shield her mother's honor. The story told, the faithful half-breed dies, with a parting injunction to Philip to kill Lang and destroy the incriminating papers in his possession. During a lull in the fighting, Lang tries to escape through a window with Josephine. His action is seen by Philip, who rushes over to protect her. In the struggle which follows, Lang manages to gain the upper hand, and reaches for his knife to end Philip's life. Seeing his danger, Josephine releases the dogs, with a command to kill. As though they knew the sorrows of their mistress, the shaggy beasts leap upon the struggling forms, single out Lang and kill him with their merciless fangs. Philip informs her that he knows all, and that she need no longer fear for her mother's honor, as he has destroyed the papers. She tells him that she has always loved him, and Philip looks forward to a happy future, in God's country with the woman of his choice.

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

Dir: Rollin S. Sturgeon

Bettina Vanderpoel, the charming daughter of New York millionaire Reuben Vanderpoel, departs for England to visit her sister Rosalie, who is married to Sir Nigel Anstruthers, an impoverished English nobleman. Arriving at their dilapidated estate, Betty finds that Nigel not only has wasted Rosalie's fortune, but has treated his wife and their little son cruelly. Betty promptly repairs the estate with her own money and then introduces her sister into English society. In the process, she meets Lord Mount Dunstan, a proud but penniless nobleman who lives in the adjacent estate. Although strongly attracted to Betty, Dunstan avoids her so as not to appear a fortune hunter. An epidemic breaks out among the farmers, and Betty, hearing that Lord Dunstan has died, goes riding late one night to forget her sorrow. Sir Nigel finds her in a deserted hut and tries to attack her, but Lord Dunstan appears, rescues her, and finally confesses his love. Soon after, Sir Nigel contracts apoplexy and expires, thus freeing Rosalie.

Dir: Rollin S. Sturgeon

Abel Manning, an attorney, has spent the greater part of his life waiting for "something big." Joan, his daughter, is teaching school and is of great financial assistance to her father. Senator Kitwell is to hold a big political rally, and Manning is elated because he is to give the address. Geoffrey Daniels returns home for the election, bringing his college chums. He sees Joan and is interested. As Joan's father is making his speech, Geoffrey plays a joke on him, incurring Joan's contempt. In the meantime the Mexicans are scheming for a new government and Gonzales goes to Washington to use his influence in securing an American consul his gang can influence. Kitwell wins, and Manning, believing Kitwell's promise to do something for him, goes to Washington. He is given nothing, however, his funds diminish and Joan finally joins him. Geoffrey is appointed to install wireless stations at some valuable mines in the Mexican country, Gonzales, promising Kitwell an interest in the mines if he will send a consul who will recognize their new government. Kitwell, believing Manning the right man, appoints him, and the latter views this as his great opportunity. As Gonzales endeavors to rope Manning into their scheme, the real man in the old attorney rises against the traitors and he puts Gonzales out of his office. As he is sending a cable to Washington for help, Manning is seized by Gonzales and his men, the cable instrument demolished and Manning threatened with death if he does not join the Mexicans in their revolution. Geoffrey learns of the situation, and that Joan has been taken to Gonzales' ranch, rushes to the rescue just as a company of American marines land and after overpowering the Mexicans, the marines put Manning upon a box and he delivers an oration with great intensity. His loyalty has won for him at last the recognition he has so long coveted.

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of God's Country and the Woman perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Dir: Rollin S. Sturgeon

Realizing that it would be difficult to support a wife on his meager income, struggling physician Jack Stilling loses his love, Faith Channing, to the wealthy James Winthrop. After Faith and Winthrop marry, they begin to drift apart as Winthrop becomes consumed with his pursuit of social ambition. When her husband falls under the spell of fashionable Hortense Filliard, Faith determines to bear him a child in order to win him back. The infant dies soon after its birth, however, and Faith falls into a deep depression, forcing Stilling to prescribe morphine for her. Winthrop, spurred on by Hortense, conceives of a plan to addict Faith to the drug and then file for divorce. His plans backfire, however, when he becomes a slave to the drug and dies in a fit of delirium. Stilling intervenes in time to spare Faith the ravages of addiction, and the doctor and the woman he never ceased loving prepare for a new life.

Dir: Rollin S. Sturgeon

When Amos Divine is retired with a meager pension, his spoiled wife Christina castigates him, but their optimistic daughter Mary Beth, who longs for a musical career, helps them economize. Meanwhile, composer Richard Warner arrives from Vermont, but his hopes of selling his ballads are dashed by publishers who want cheap, trashy melodies. Mary decides to rent the attic room, and Richard, hearing her play, takes it. After Richard accidentally starts a fire while raptly composing, Mary begins to fall in love. Penniless, Richard starts to asphyxiate himself, but Mary brings him biscuits and encourages him to persevere. After Mary finds Richard's song, "The Rainbow Girl," dedicated to his "Loved One," he explains that he cannot marry his sweetheart until he has made good. Mary jealously says that she too has a sweetheart, "Snookums," but they have quarreled. After Mary secretly sells Richard's song to a publisher, Richard, seeing her cry, sends flowers from "Snookums" to effect a reconciliation. When Mary reveals that there is no "Snookums," Richard confesses that Mary is his "rainbow girl," and they embrace.

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

Dir: Rollin S. Sturgeon

How the lust for power influences and drives lives and destiny.

Dir: Rollin S. Sturgeon

Mary Melville marries rich playboy Claude Varden to please her invalid mother. On the night they are to depart for a South American honeymoon, Mary's mother becomes seriously ill and Mary decides to stay home and taker care of her. Varden goes on the trip anyway, as he owns some mines in South America. However, Tom Nelson, the husband one of the many married women Varden has had affairs with in the past, is stalking him and follows him on board the ship. On the ship Varden meets the beautiful and rich Nitra Ruiz and her brother Ramon. Deciding that he doesn't want to be married to Mary anymore, he proposes to Nitra. However, his plans don't quite work out the way he had wanted them to.