Underground Favorites Parallel to the Artistry of Womanhood, the Glory of the Nation: Cult Guide

Dir: J. Stuart Blackton

After the overthrowing of Duke Senior by his tyrannical brother, Senior's daughter Rosalind disguises herself as a man and sets out to find her banished father while also counseling her clumsy suitor Orlando in the art of wooing.

Dir: J. Stuart Blackton

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

Orphan Mary Lord, the ward of Sir Arthur Stanhope of Parliament, is attracted to Philip Carmichael, a young politician, who ignores her and goes through a supposedly mock marriage at a wild party with actress Sheelah Delayne. Years later, Philip falls in love with Mary, now married to Sir Arthur, who dies from a stroke when he sees Philip and Mary together. Remorseful, they try to keep apart but eventually marry in France. Later, Sheelah confronts Philip with their son and proof that they are married. When Philip is arrested for bigamy, Mary testifies, to her humiliation, that she and Philip are not married, and then disappears. After her son dies, Sheelah goes to France as a canteen worker and finds Mary wandering in a daze. Feeling pity, Sheelah has her marriage annulled and sends for Philip. When Mary hears soldiers sing a song she used to sing to Philip, she recognizes Philip and they resume their marriage.

Dir: J. Stuart Blackton

Eugene Solari is fanatically jealous of his beautiful wife Enid. While on a mission for her father, she visits Major Trevor. Her husband finds out and, enraged, rushes to Trevor's house. Enid tries to beat him there to warn Trevor, but is too late--when she gets there Eugene shoots her and then kills himself, but not before he names Trevor as his killer. Trevor is arrested for his murder. A foreign agent, wanting a secret formula that Trevor is in possession of, kidnaps Enid and gets word to Trevor that he will clear Trevor's name and return Enid to him if Trevor will give him the secret formula.

Dir: J. Stuart Blackton

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

Rich Southerner John Stanley Hale meets flirtatious actress Elizabeth Roddard, she induces him to marry her, but after several days of quarreling, he flees to Russia. After John's vessel is sunk in mid-ocean and he is reported dead, Elizabeth convinces her destitute and ailing friend Betty Blair to pose as John's widow in order to inherit his fine home in Alabama. Betty complies and becomes indispensable to Mrs. Hale, who is despondent over her son's death and has become the victim of scheming relatives. One day, John returns, and discovering that Betty has protected his mother from his greedy relations, falls in love with her. Elizabeth then reveals that her marriage was never legal and that he is free to marry his "proxy wife."

Dir: J. Stuart Blackton

A young Englishman falls in love with the children's governess in his stepsister's home. His stepsister, however, cannot abide the class differential in the romance and sabotages it. The young man, in a state of boredom and depression, begins to invite into the house anyone who happens to pass by in the street.

Dir: J. Stuart Blackton

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

Keith, an artist, begins to go blind as a result of having fallen out of a tree as a child. His fiancé Dorothy, a wealthy heiress, had previously said that she thought blind people were "disgusting", and he refuses to see her. Dorothy plans to have her father, an eye surgeon, perform an operation on Keith that may help him regain his sight, but things don't go as planned.

Dir: J. Stuart Blackton

A tale set during the 1916 Irish Easter Rebellion against the British

Dir: J. Stuart Blackton

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

Helene Palmer and her husband Orrin have grown apart, and she becomes infatuated with bachelor Edward Wadsworth. With the outbreak of World War I, Orrin and Edward enlist, while Helene works as a Red Cross nurse in a small French town. Edward is wounded on a dangerous scouting mission near the town and Orrin carries him to safety. The enemy invades during the night, and Orrin rescues Helene as she is about to be overpowered by a German officer. The dying Edward, morally strengthened by his experience as a soldier, encourages the couple to reunite. Soon after, peace is declared.

Dir: J. Stuart Blackton

Dr. John Worthing sacrifices his personal life when he leaves his fiancée, Claire Eaton, to test his serum in a plague-ridden country far to the north. Claire, believing that her sweetheart has died in this faraway land, accepts the attentions of the unscrupulous Hugh Conway who is simultaneously courting Eva Cartier, a young nurse, who leaves him after discovering his true nature. Meanwhile, Worthing returns and, disillusioned by Claire's disloyalty, degenerates into an opium addict. Hospitalized after a brawl, Worthing is recognized by his old friend Elliot, who entrusts him to Eva, in whose care he is rehabilitated and with whom he falls in love. Discovering Eva's newfound happiness, Conway enlists Claire's aid in breaking up the happy couple, but his plans are thwarted when he drowns while carrying out his scheme.

Dir: J. Stuart Blackton

An inventor, David Hammond is the son of a ship's captain. He leaves his sweetheart, Lisbeth Bixler, and goes to the city to promote his invention. Lisbeth's father, an unsuccessful artist, deserts his family, secretly intending to commit suicide. When he fails to return, "Cap" Hammond protects Bixler's wife and children. David forgets Lisbeth until he returns to perfect his invention and finds that she still loves him. During a fire caused by a flooding of a nearby river, Lisbeth rescues David; and both are picked up by "Cap" Hammond, who has saved the whole village. Bixler returns, his courage renewed, and all are happily reunited.