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

Dir: Sam Wood

Trouble and havoc seem to trail Little Henry Peck wherever he goes and only his dear mother understands him. But when young Henry's pranks get his big sister's boyfriend, Dr. Martin, arrested, dad decides that the boy must be punished.

Dir: Sam Wood

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

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

While honeymooning in Paris Elsie is rescued from attentions of a man.Her hero is Don Arturo who takes her to Countess Longueval after her husband must go for work to Argentine.When her husband returns he is shocked how have Elsie change.Elsie goes to a party in Arturos hunting lodge,where he forces himself on her.Arturo is shot by a Stranger and Elsie confesses all to her forgiving husband.Juan Serafin is found shot.

Dir: Sam Wood

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

Truckdriver Dusty Rhoades leads a team of truckers over dangerous roads to deliver emergency supplies before a crucial dam breaks.

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

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of What's Your Hurry? perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Kathryn Haynes, daughter of Jimmie Haynes, ex-sheepherder turned oil millionaire, is snobbish as a result of her parents' social ambitions. Home from college, she meets Bill Putnam, a football hero. At a college dance, Kathryn strikes his name from her dance card when she finds out that he is working his way through college by waiting on tables. His wealthy friends teach her a lesson by telling her they are waiters too. Kathryn leaves the party in a rage and spends the next days observing the behavior of others, concluding that work and service are commendable virtues; and to atone for her previous scorn for such things, she works as a waitress in a restaurant where Bill's friends spy her. When Bill is told of the new Kathryn, he rushes to her and proposes. After the wedding, Mr. Haynes puts Bill in charge of his oil interests.

Dir: Sam Wood

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

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

A horse-race brings together Kentuckian Natalie Chester and Argentinean Manuel La Tassa. At a party, Pedro De Grossa insults Natalie and Manuel challenges him to a duel. To assure his son's success, Carlos De Grossa hires Gomez to ambush Manuel. While Manuel is recuperating, Natalie discovers the perfidy. She bribes Gomez to expose the De Grossas, Pedro leaves the country, and Manuel finally accepts his duty to participate in his government with the help of Natalie, his new wife.

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

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.