Must-Watch List in the Vein of A Kentucky Cinderella: Cult Guide

Dir: Rupert Julian

Lucille, a beautiful and romantic young woman, marries John Linforth, a wealthy businessman, who is twice her age, and too distracted by his business affairs to give her the attention she craves. John is pleased when she takes a liking to his young friend, Ronald Standish. After the friendship has grown to romance, however, John tries to keep the two apart. As he is about to depart on a short trip, John orders Ronald from the house. Later that night, Ronald asks Lucille to elope with him, but before they leave, they realize that an illegal union would only lead to unhappiness, and Ronald returns home. A burglar, who, in stealing certain securities from John's desk, witnesses the couple in an embrace, blackmails Ronald into purchasing the bonds. To save her lover, Lucille confesses everything to John, who promises to give his young wife her freedom. A year later Lucille and Ronald marry.

Dir: Rupert Julian

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

Danny, the driver of a brewery wagon, marries Mamie; soon after, she becomes infatuated with artist Gaston Bouvais. When Marie gives birth to Daisy May, Danny is led to believe at the hospital that the baby is not his. Shattered, he embarks upon a life of drinking and carousing. Nevertheless, he loves the little girl, and as she grows up, Daisy May joins him on the brewery wagon. On one of these trips, Danny drinks too much and loses control of his horses, and Daisy May is injured in the melee. Meanwhile, Bouvais has finally convinced Mamie to run away with him, but Danny's accident finally awakens in her the love she feels for him, and she refuses to go. Rejected, Bouvais marries another woman and happiness is restored to Danny and Mamie. When they reconcile, Daisy May recovers and Danny embarks upon the new career of driving a milk wagon.

Dir: Rupert Julian

In the act of robbing a set of rare jewels from a museum, a robber is wounded in the hand. Prentice Tiller, while dressing a wound in his hand, overhears the woman in the next hotel room, Gertrude Temple, telephoning Aaron Molitor, to whom she is to deliver some jewels. Posing as Molitor, Prentice calls on Gertrude but disappears when Molitor, who also has been wounded in the hand, suddenly arrives. Molitor's men capture Prentice, who narrowly escapes death in the ruins of an old church and then continues to track Molitor. Gertrude accompanies Molitor and her uncle, Simon Temple, to Paris, where they are met by master crook Chevat and the woman who loves him, Lola Montez. Lola becomes jealous of Gertrude and tries to kill her, but Prentice rescues her. Through a ruse, Prentice, who finally is revealed as a detective, captures Chevat and his gang, returns the jewels to their rightful owner and then proposes to Gertrude.

Dir: Rupert Julian

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

In 19th-century France, wealthy, single young Bettina is pursued by dozens of young men, but she believes that they're interested more in her money than in her and rejects them all. Young Army Lt. Jean Reynaud meets her and falls for her without knowing how wealthy she is; when he finally finds out, he is afraid that, because of her high social status and his low one, he'll be perceived to be just another gold-digger, and his sense of honor won't permit that, so he turns her away. She, however, doesn't want to be turned away, and he finds the tables turned when she pursues him.

Dir: Rupert Julian

Christoper Foy, who is running away from the authorities, is injured during his escape and takes refuge at the mountain cabin of Colonel Vorhis and his daughter Stella. Stella takes pity on Foy, and the Colonel, admiring Foy's confession of guilt, takes steps to have him pardoned. He and Stella fall in love and Foy remains honest, but when he is accused of cattle stealing, he again runs away. When John Wesley Pringle, who also loves Stella, learns that Foy is innocent but is the object of a conspiracy, he helps Foy by uncovering the plot. Despite his love for Stella, Pringle helps to prove that Foy is innocent so that Stella can find happiness with the man she loves.

Dir: Rupert Julian

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Bettina Loved a Soldier perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

A propagandistic view of the First World War, showing the political greed of the German Kaiser Wilhelm, the resistance of some of his own soldiers, and fanciful prediction of the nature of the war's end.

Dir: Rupert Julian

A heartwarming retelling of Charles Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol' where Ebeneezer Scrooge is visited by three spirits in an attempt to save his soul.

Dir: Rupert Julian

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

Ex-convict Dale Revenal arrives at Dudley Appleton's ranch bearing a letter of introduction from John Silver, Appleton's old friend. Appleton hires Dale, who, through his winning manner, soon wins the respect of the ranch hands and the love of the ranch owner's daughter Mary Jane. Believing himself unworthy of her, Dale tells Mary Jane that he has a wife and child in Arizona, and she reluctantly agrees to marry Jack Nelda, a local rancher. Nelda realizes that Mary Jane is still in love with Dale and plots with Bessie Dupont and her brother Pinto to kill him. Bessie, however, warns Dale, but when he confronts Nelda at the saloon, Pinto shoots him, wounding him in the shoulder. John Silver comes to Dale's aid and Nelda is killed. Silver reveals that Dale's "wife" in Arizona is really his sister, and Dale finally accepts Mary Jane's love.

Dir: Rupert Julian

Miner Dan Stuyvesant finally strikes it rich, but on his way to report his claim, he is shot. When Jack Dedlow, the head of a gang of outlaws, hears this news, he rides to Stuyvesant's cabin intending to secure the claim for himself. There the outlaws find Stuyvesant's daughter Hilda, the sweetheart of Tom Flynn, and are about to draw cards for her when Dago Sam pulls out his guns and spirits her out the door. Because Tom is his only friend, Sam determines to protect Hilda from the gang, but when Tom suspiciously questions his intentions toward Hilda, Sam decides to live up to the town's poor opinion of him. Hilda saves herself by declaring her faith in Sam and, his spirits restored, he returns her to Tom. Dedlow is killed in a fight at Sam's cabin, and Tom and Sam renew their friendship.

Dir: Rupert Julian

Italian potter Tony Varralo adopts a waif named Little Tony, and they leave New York City for a ranch out West, with the promises that Tony will send for his fiancée, Carlotta, after he has established himself. Once settled in the Western town, Tony manages to make an enemy of Durant, the town's chief gambler, by refusing to drink whiskey and by freely admiring dance-hall queen Kate Billings, who Durant has claimed for himself. A year later, Tony is well-adapted to life as a cowboy. While he is away from home one day, Durant shoots at a shadow in the window that he believes to be Tony. However, the bullet strikes Little Tony, who is stunned with a mild injury. Tony gets his revenge on Durant and inadvertently wins the love of Kate. After Tony learns that Carlotta has married one of his rivals, he and Kate are free to marry.