Masterpiece Selection Resonating with the Themes of When a Woman Strikes: Cult Guide

Dir: Roy Clements

A novice learns to drive on a rental Ford to impress a girl.

Dir: Roy Clements

Jack Hardy, Sr., sends his son West to make a man of him. Jack falls in love with Miss Benson, ranch secretary. Taunted by the girl, he breaks an intractable horse to prove his courage. When Tex Fuller and his gang try to get Jack, Deerfoot, his half-breed brother, takes the missiles intended for his brother. Jack fights the gang and brings them to justice. But Miss Benson is not yet won. She thinks of the girl back East to whom Jack was engaged. Jack's father arrives and announces that he is engaged to the Eastern girl. Miss Benson surrenders.

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of The Desert's Crucible perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Dir: Roy Clements

"King Spruce" is personified in John Barrett, lumber magnate of the North woods. His domineering character is shown when his daughter Elva falls in love with a school teacher, Dwight Wade. Barrett conspires with his foreman, McLeod, to entice Wade away to the lumber camps, and finally decides to accompany the gang of men himself. He starts in to eject and burn out all "skeeters" who have settled on the land without domiciliary rights. Wade has shown his fighting blood by thrashing McLeod for an act of cruelty, and he now vainly opposes Barrett from motives of humanity. From the first shack burned emerges a wild girl, Kate Arden, who sets the forest afire in revenge. There is another vengeance awaiting Barrett. Kate is his own daughter by the wife of a woodsman who has waited years to get even. It is he who ties Barrett to a tree, where he must be burned in the fire now raging, but he is rescued by Wade. Barrett now acknowledges Kate to be his daughter. When his daughter Elva comes to take care of him the resemblance between the two girls confirms his confession. Barrett attempts a half-hearted redemption by bribing his foreman to marry the wild girl, but he is brought to his senses by Wade and Elva. Wade has become a power through his feats of strength and kindly humanity, and he finally wins the high regard of the spruce magnate himself. He is given a partnership in a newly organized business by Barrett, and Elva, to use her own terms, is thrown in for good measure. Moving Picture World, March 27, 1920

Dir: Roy Clements

A young married couple (Glenn Tryon and Blanche Mehaffey) with no money and lots of time for fighting try to impress the husbands boss.

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

Dir: Roy Clements

During World War I, Jane Whiting, a bright young lawyer who is engaged to Senator Wheeler, is assigned by the district attorney to expose a gang of spies who are collecting money for the German government through the operation of a fraudulent charity organization. Wheeler's son Frank has fallen in love with Lola Schram, whose pro-German mother is forcing the girl to work for Frederick Kube, the head of the spy ring, but when Kube learns of the romance, he orders Mrs. Schram to break it off. When Lola finally confesses her activities to Frank, Kube kills her and then frames Frank for the murder. Meanwhile, Jane, through the help of Jimmy and Tilly Ware, has discovered Kube's headquarters and modus operandi . By means of a carefully set trap, she finally succeeds in clearing Frank's name and bringing Kube and his gang to justice.

Dir: Roy Clements

The Governor has been invited to dinner, but a stock promoter named McGovern appears at the door at the expected time and the mistake is not discovered until Ambrose signs and becomes the owner of a considerable lot of bricks.

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

Dir: Roy Clements

A man agrees to marry the daughter of a deceased friend - who is, in fact, being impersonated by the servant girl of the daughter, who has also already died.

Dir: Roy Clements

The boys live in a boarding house and are rivals for the affections of the same girl. They agree that the one who loses the girl shall have complete ownership of their phonograph. Eddie gets the girl, and Lee gets the phonograph.

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

Dir: Roy Clements

Corinne Grant, a wealthy society girl, is forced, upon the physical and financial break-down of her father, to choose her future path in life. Her Chinese cook, Wong, offers to read her future in the sands, and the rest of each episode shows what would happen if she decided upon the different careers open to her, coming back at the finish to the girl and the Oriental pouring over the box of shifting sand.

Dir: Roy Clements

A morals reformer returns from Hollywood to his small town, and shows his fellow citizens the results of his investigation.