The Definitive Watchlist Seeking the Same Brilliance as A Desert Wooing: Cult Guide

Dir: Jerome Storm

David Harrington plans to marry Betty Graves. He is an old-fashioned boy, believing in marriage, having children, and living a suburban life. Betty is more ultra-modern, and independent. When Betty gets a tour of the bungalow that David has built for them, she says it's cute but she would hate to have to live in it. The two break up and Betty goes back to a former sweetheart. Sybil, the wife of David's friend Herbert, has just has a row with her husband because he wouldn't buy her a new hat. So she takes their three children and hides in David's home, hoping to throw a scare into her husband. Now David tries to take care of the kids, hoping to forget his own troubles. Herbert phones David that he is coming over, but David tells his friend he has the measles. Meanwhile, Sybil's kids have gotten sick from eating too much taffy. So David calls Betty's father, who is a doctor. Betty comes over with her father, and David cooks up a scheme with the doctor to quarantine the house so that Betty will have to stay and help him take care of the children. Herbert arrives and chaos ensues when he discovers his wife and kids are there. Eventually, things get straightened out and David regains Betty's love.

Dir: Jerome Storm

Roxie Kemp works as a lion tamer in a circus managed by her father. To fulfill a promise to his dying wife, Nat Kemp sends his daughter to an upper-crust boarding school where she befriends Marjorie Trent. When Roxie visits Marjorie's aristocratic family, she and Marjorie's brother Owen fall in love, though Mrs. Trent, suspicious of Roxie's background, is cold to her. When Kemp's circus comes to town, Roxie prevents the audience from rioting by filling in for the superstitious lion tamer, who refuses to go on. Mrs. Trent recognizes and rejects Roxie until Mr. Trent reveals that he is part-owner of the circus, whereupon Mrs. Trent accepts Roxie into the family.

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of The Biggest Show on Earth perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Dir: Jerome Storm

A rural youngster uses the strength he has developed handling egg crates in a shipping office to carry him to success in the boxing ring.

Dir: Jerome Storm

Hosiah Howe struggles to earn his living on a farm that lies in the shadow of a wealthy summer resort. Visiting the resort are Dr. Rand, his daughter Virginia, and a scoundrel named Ward Andrews. One day Andrews stops at the Howe farm and discovers that the land contains water with a highly-exploitable medicinal value. Smelling money, Andrews convinces Dr. Rand to buy an option on the farm, then runs away to the city with Hosiah's innocent sister Martha. Hosiah, who has fallen in love with Virginia, pursues his sister to the city but fails to locate her. Time passes, and Martha returns, having run away from Andrews. Attempting suicide to atone for her disgrace, Martha is saved by Hosiah in the nick of time. Andrews also reappears and attempts to claim the Howes' land, but Hosiah soundly thrashes him to win back both his land and Virginia's love.

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

Dir: Jerome Storm

Bill Henry Jenkins is a country boy on the lookout for a good career. He faces numerous obstacles, including losing his sales job when his bicycle is lost. A bigtime poker game turns out to be the key to Bill Henry's success.

Dir: Jerome Storm

A young man working in a steel mill falls in love with an old Scotsman's daughter. The young man saves the life of the steel-mill owner and is adopted by him. But then he learns that the Scotsman and the mill owner are mortal enemies.

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

Dir: Jerome Storm

Mary Manning lives in a cabin in the Wisconsin woods with her invalid mother, her uncle, and her stern grandfather; her own father, Paul, disappeared 18 years earlier. When Paul, who became a derelict, finally returns home, his father turns him away, but Mary retrieves the prodigal and leads him to his wife, who bids Mary take care of him and then dies of shock. Aware of the pain that Paul caused her mother and preoccupied with handsome Tom Gale, Mary neglects her father, and he soon resumes his drinking. When Paul visits a notorious dance hall, however, Mary remembers her promise to her mother and goes after him, but both are arrested in a raid. In court, she tries to assume the blame for Paul's presence in the dive, but Judge Michael Burke refuses to believe her. In his chambers, the judge effects a reconciliation of the family, after which Tom asks for Mary's hand in marriage.

Dir: Jerome Storm

Andy Fletcher is a blacksmith in a country village, but he dreams of racing automobiles. He gets his chance to enter a big race, but winning is complicated by a band of bank robbers.

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

Dir: Jerome Storm

Ulysses S. Grant Briggs, raised by his grandfather Thaddeus, who served under General Grant, grows up with the General as his hero even though his neighbor, former Confederate soldier Jeff Hanan, argues that General Lee was the better man. When war is declared, Thaddeus and Jeff forget their differences and train Ulysses for military service. At the camp amateur show, Ulysses falls in love with dancer Betty Martin, but remembering Thaddeus' admonition to "watch out for play actresses," Ulysses avoids her. When dissolute Harry Weller lures Betty to a notorious roadhouse, Ulysses follows, knowing he can be court-martialed. Hearing Betty struggle, Ulysses fights Weller and keeps the military police from entering until Betty can escape through a window. Ulysses then is sent to the guardhouse where Thaddeus and Jeff unsuccessfully try to convince him to talk. After Betty confesses, the commanding officer, Thaddeus and Jeff agree that Ulysses did what both Grant and Lee would have done.

Dir: Jerome Storm

Salesgirl Marion Hoyte, unlike the other members of her family, seeks to better her situation; hence, when she accidentally becomes acquainted with young architect James Lodge, who clears her of the charge of stealing a customer's purse, Marion accepts his attentions. Leroy, a suitor for Marion, and her sister Bertha object, but Marion soon becomes engaged to James. Shipley, a financier, plans that James will marry his daughter, Gwendolyn, and will be engaged to plan the new state capitol building; but when Marion and James are married, Shipley withdraws his support and Marion is snubbed by James's social set. Determined not to ruin her husband's career, Marion arranges a fake elopement with Clifford Trent. However, Marion learns that James has been injured in a western mining camp, soon she goes to his aid; and through this twist of fate their love is reawakened.