The Essential Watchlist that Capture the Essence of Without Fear: C...

Dir: Edgar Jones

A mail-order bride arrives at a Maine lumber camp but doesn't like her prospective husband.

Dir: Kenneth S. Webb

A model by day and a short-story writer by night, Erminie Foster is insulted when novelist Ernest Sanford visits her display room to study her as a "flapper" type. Later, Erminie attends a reception uninvited to gather atmosphere for a story. Sanford saves her from being thrown out by saying that she is his cousin. When her prudish aunt forbids her entrance at 3AM, Sanford offers her lodgings under the protection of his housekeeper and soon persuades her to stay for inspiration. He writes a satire on women that is turned down, while hers on men sells. After Erminie overhears Monte Ralston, who loves Sanford's fiancée Helen Reeves, threaten Sanford with Helen's incriminating letters, Erminie sacrifices her reputation to retrieve the letters. When the engagement is broken and Helen and Monte explain Erminie's behavior to Sanford, he loses his smugly superior attitude and confesses he loves Erminie.

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

Dir: Kenneth S. Webb

Wealthy but bored Phyllis Blake and several of her like-minded friends come up with a plan to relieve their boredom--they start a business called "The Adventure Shop", which will provide its customers with thrills and excitement. Their first customer is wealthy pickle manufacturer Josephus Potts, who wants to cure his son Josephus Jr. of his addiction to thrill-seeking. Phyllis takes Junior to a gambling den and then a meeting of an anarchist organization. These have no effect on him, so they take it to the next step--introducing Junior to the city's dark underworld, with its killers, blackmailers, and other criminal types. The real adventure comes when she and Junior are kidnapped and held for $50,000 ransom--an activity that was not on the itinerary.

Dir: Kenneth S. Webb

Vi Playfair confesses to her twin sister Tiny that she is planning secretly to meet Lent Trevett, who loves her, to say goodbye, on the eve of her wedding. Tiny, who herself loves Lent, meets him instead and passionately kisses him, leaving Lent, who thinks that Tiny is Vi, to assume that Vi loves him. The next day, after the marriage ceremony, Lent convinces the flighty Vi that her husband Joe is a bully and that she should leave with him. Tiny sees them embrace, and to teach Vi a lesson, she impersonates her sister and goes with Joe on their honeymoon. Vi, now jealous, follows, and in turn is followed by Lent. At the honeymoon cottage, Vi proves to Joe, by a mole on her leg, that she is his wife, and promises Tiny that she will give up flirting. After Tiny convinces Lent that it was she that he kissed, the couples are happily reunited.

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

Dir: Kenneth S. Webb

Eddie Gillian, a wild young New Yorker, lives well on a generous allowance given to him by Old Bryson, his crabby uncle. Eddie loves Bryson's ward, Margaret Hayden, but spends most of his time with Lotta Lauriere, a burlesque queen. After Bryson's death, Eddie is shocked to learn that he has been left only $1,000, which the will advises him to spend prudently and unselfishly. When Lotta discovers this and deserts him, Eddie gives the money to Margaret, who has inherited only $10, telling her that it is rightfully hers. Bryson's lawyer then informs Eddie that he will inherit half a million provided that he spend the $1,000 generously, and although Eddie attempts to turn that, too, over to Margaret, she agrees to share it with him as his wife.

Dir: Harley Knoles

Jim McDonald, the foreman of a shipbuilding plant and head of the labor union, strives to combat the anarchistic propaganda being put forth by Klimoff, the leader of a Bolshevik gang whose goal is to disrupt the country with strikes and anarchy. Despite McDonald's efforts, a strike is called, resulting in chaos. McDonald's child is knocked down by runaway horses abandoned by their striking driver, and dies. Mob scenes take place in America, as well as in Russia. Eventually, the unrest is quelled with an armistice called between Capital and Labor for a year, during which time wages are to be increased to reflect the cost of living, and leaders are to work out a common plan for their mutual advantage. The strikers now realize that they have been pawns of the Bolsheviks and call off the strike, agreeing to the plan.

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

Dir: Alexander Butler

In Alberta, Canada, a Cornish emigrant unmasks a rustler posing as the girl's "blind" father.

Dir: William Parke

Bruce Wendell, the son of West Virginia coal mine owner James Wendell, graduates from West Point and prepares to lead a fighting unit to the front during World War I. As his father lies dying, however, he convinces Bruce to remain at home and guard the mine. Bruce's fiancée Ann Blair assumes that he is a coward and breaks off their engagement, but her brother Bobbie remains Bruce's loyal friend. Meyer, a German agent, persuades railroad president Parrish to refuse to transport Wendell's coal, but when Bruce adamantly refuses to close the mine, the spy's men decide to blow it up. While Ann is being abducted by Meyer, Bobbie is buried in an explosion at the mine. Bruce rescues Bobbie and then sends a plea to Lieutenant Parrish to rescue Ann. Meyer and his gang are captured and Ann renews her vow of love to Bruce.

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

Dir: Kenneth S. Webb

After growing up in the West with her father, Drina Hilliard travels to New York to surprise her mother Marie, whose profitable Fifth Avenue millinery store has provided the means for Drina to go to college. Arriving while Marie is vacationing in Atlantic City, Drina discovers that Marie greatly overcharges her customers, then splits the profits with the women whose rich husbands or lovers pay. When Marie returns, she tries to get Drina to marry Colonel Lambert, an old rounder who pays the bills for a dozen women's hats, but Drina, attracted to Blair Carson, who drove bandits from their New York-bound train, refuses the colonel. After Drina sees Blair with Zelie, a showgirl the colonel has cast off, and realizes that Marie is ill and on the verge of bankruptcy, she nearly accepts the colonel's proposal, when Blair appears and confesses his love. Marie vows to run her store legitimately, and the colonel and Zelie console each other over their losses.

Dir: Bruno Ziener

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.