Must-Watch List Comparable to the Style of A City Sparrow: Cult Guide

Dir: Sam Wood

Follows three generations of the Mayne family through the year 1921-22. The 81-year-old patriarch reminisces about his rough beginnings in post-Civil War railroading, son Rufus rides rough waters as a wealthy financier, and his wife and three daughters muddle through their New York high society life.

Dir: Sam Wood

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Don't Tell Everything perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Marian Westover is loved by wealthy young Cullen Dale and his best friend Harvey Gilroy, whose loyalty to Dale keeps him silent. After they both sustain injuries in a polo game, Cullen shows particular solicitude in caring for his friend. Cullen proposes to and is accepted by Marian, but she becomes jealous of his former girlfriends, and when Jessica Ramsey arrives and tries to capture Cullen, Marian fails to emulate her athletic prowess. Jessica invites the couple to a mountain lodge, but when Marian refuses to go, Cullen sweeps her into an automobile and has a marriage ceremony performed. She returns home, and Cullen goes on to the lodge, keeping his marriage secret. A storm prevents Cullen from returning home, and Marian, in alarm, enlists Gilroy's aid. At the lodge, everything is explained to the satisfaction of all but Jessica.

Dir: Sam Wood

Elinor "Swifty" Forbes and her younger sister Marjory are the carefree daughters of wealthy J. D. Forbes. Their mother shows no restraint over her daughters, so they live among the flapper set. Lester Hodges, a songwriter, is enamored of Marjory, while Garside, who runs a card room, is interested in Swifty. While gambling at Garside's place, Swifty meets Roger Corbin, who works as an engineer at her father's business. Corbin falls in love with Swifty. When Mr. Forbes protests against both his daughters' behavior, they move out. Marjory marries Hodges, but eventually leaves him and returns to her parents. Swifty, who has gambled herself into debt, agrees to marry Garside. But when the couple are together in a café, prohibition agents raid the place. Corbin, who has been searching for Swifty, helps her escape, and the two are united.

Dir: Sam Wood

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

Desperately needing money for her sick brother, Betty Hallowell passes herself off as missing fashion designer Nina Loring. She becomes successful, but suddenly she is arrested--the real Nina Loring turns out to have been an embezzler.

Dir: Sam Wood

Socialite New Yorker James Berkeley and college chum Allan Franklin are rivals for the hand of beautiful Lois Miller. Berkeley marries her, and fifteen years later, he keeps his wife luxuriously attired as a "trademark" to further his business opportunities, although he has not realized his ambition to become wealthy. Allan, now an engineer, visits the Berkeleys and reveals that he has obtained a large tract of oil land from the Mexican government. Hoping to profit from Allan's enterprise, James accompanies him back to Mexico, and brings the reluctant Lois along to keep Allan interested. When Allan and Lois realize their love for each other, she denounces James for using her as a trophy wife. A Mexican bandit, who covets the American woman, leads his gang to capture Lois at a hacienda, and James is slain during the attack. Allan rescues her, and they escape Mexico by leaping on horseback from a precipice into the Rio Grande.

Dir: Sam Wood

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

Auto racer Speed Carr enters a marathon race across the United States, from New York to Los Angeles. He encounters numerous obstacles not related to the race and must switch identities and vehicles before he can finish.

Dir: Sam Wood

A French nobleman's daughter marries rich American John Brandon to help her family. Upon discovering he's divorced seven times, she tries forcing another divorce, but he refuses and they reconcile.

Dir: Sam Wood

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

Deborah Krillet is the young wife of Simeon Krillet, a Boer farmer and religious fanatic. She falls in love with young Englishman Robert Waring, who comes to the farm as overseer. Krillet threatens to beat her for reading Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet but relents when she falsely states that she is pregnant; later she confesses the lie to Waring and records it in her diary. Discovering the deception, Krillet tells Deborah he must kill her, and Waring, summoned by a servant during a storm, shoots Krillet to save Deborah. Krillet is reported to have been killed in the storm, but the farmer's sister, Anna, discovers the truth. To silence her, Deborah surrenders the farm and her husband's money. Waring discovers that his wife has been granted a divorce, and the lovers are united.

Dir: Sam Wood

Sir Edward Pelham, married to a Russian Gypsy, fears that his daughter will follow in her mother's footsteps and arranges a marriage with her cousin, whom she does not love. During a trip to Nevada with her father, she meets engineer Bayard Delavel, who saves her life when she is bitten by a snake; when her father finds her with Bayard in his cabin, he forces them to marry. Believing that Nadine does not love him, Delavel leaves her and prepares to sue for divorce. In Washington Nadine is reconciled with her father and agrees to marry Hopper, a millionaire; she meets Delavel on the night of her engagement ball, however, and the lovers are reunited.

Dir: Sam Wood

Bob Hill and Thad Grove, two prospectors, find a small child in the desert cabin of bandit Sonora Jack. The little girl, Marta, who has been kidnapped by Jack, is taken by the men, who vainly attempt to find her parents. Marta grows to womanhood and falls in love with Hugh Edwards, a young fugitive from justice. Edwards saves Natachee, an educated Indian, from the depredations of a bandit gang, and in return the grateful Indian shows Edwards the location of the "mine with the iron door," a hidden and extremely rich gold mine. Sonora Jack returns and kidnaps Marta, offering to exchange her for knowledge of the location of the "mine with the iron door." Edwards and Natachee go after the bandit and kill him while saving Marta. Edwards is proved to be innocent of the charge of embezzlement placed against him, and he and Marta are married.