The Silent Master

Valentin Marquis de Sombreiul, alias Monsieur Simon, is known as the great master because he is the leader of a band of Parisian Apaches who mete out their own private justice to individuals who have violated their code in a secret tribunal known as the court of St. Simon. In an effort to cure Eugene, a young American longing for excitement, Valentin induces the young man to witness these horrors with the result that the youth is drawn into the Apache gang and sentenced to prison for one of their crimes. Later, after the master has disbanded his secret society and married Virginia Arlen, a girl from an aristocratic family, he discovers to his horror that the boy whose life he has ruined is his wife's brother. It is then up to him to try and make amends.

Directed by Léonce Perret, The Silent Master leans on a strong ensemble — Robert Warwick, Olive Tell, Ann Little — to carry a story that balances spectacle with character.

The film landed with audiences for its craft and performances, and remains one of the most talked-about crime titles of 1917.