The Definitive Watchlist Seeking the Same Brilliance as A Lass of the Lumberlands: Cult Guide

Dir: Paul Hurst

Returning from a conference with the White Men in Washington, the Medicine Man of the Arapahoe brings with him two hats, the hat worn by the white men in war and a top hat, which he and the Indians believe to have wonderful powers. While the Medicine Man is displaying his possessions, his daughter accidentally shoots an arrow through the top hat, and he promises her to the first man who asks for her. The Weasel speaks first and in spite of her protest, she is given to him. But her lover threatens the Weasel and he agrees to give her up. Her father refuses to take back his word, but the girl proves that the Weasel is a thief and the lover mends the top hat, so he takes back his word and the girl and her lover are united.

Dir: Paul Hurst

An old chief tells a friendly white man a story of his youth. A white man stopped in the village on his way towards the setting sun. The Indian made him welcome. When he left he took with him the daughter of the chief betrothed to a member of her own tribe. The young brave went in pursuit and rescued the girl before any harm came to her. The old chief knows the story is true because in the long ago he was the young brave.

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of The Man Who Would Not Die perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Dir: Paul Hurst

Col. McCoy, the friend of the Indians who knows their sign language, goes to an Arapahoe village to visit some of the old chiefs. He sees a man who talks the Indian language, but who unquestionably belongs to the white race. Years ago a young boy and his sister sought shelter with the Indians after a runaway in which their wagon was smashed and their uncle killed. The girl was kidnapped by a half-breed and rescued by the boy and a young man of the girl's own race who loved her. She married her lover and the boy decided he'd be an Indian brave and remained all his life with the people he had chosen.

Dir: Paul Hurst

A Western Union messenger interrupts a burglary and tries to catch the thieves.

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of The White Man Who Turned Indian perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Dir: Paul Hurst

A miner has struck it rich and gives some ore to cowhand Jess Dean to take to his granddaughter. But Horse Williams has the miner shot and uses the ore found on Jess to accuse him of the murder. Jess escapes from the mob of townspeople who later learn that the body of the supposedly dead miner has mysteriously disappeared.

Dir: Paul Hurst

A young man has a chance to become partners in an auto-repair business, but he doesn't have the money. In order to come up with some quick cash, he decides to temporarily become a professional boxer. The problem is that he isn't an athlete, knows nothing about boxing and stands a very good chance of getting the stuffing beaten out of him.

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

Dir: Paul Hurst

Terry Baldwin inherits a ranch under the stipulation that he finds the ghost that haunts it.

Dir: Paul Hurst

The Tribe of the Mandans was practically obliterated through smallpox and the survivors swore eternal vengeance on the white men, whom they believed to be the cause of the plague. This picture deals with the last of the Mandans who planned his revenge but was thwarted.

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

Dir: Paul Hurst

Addicted to heavy gambling and strong alcohol, Bert Granger owns a saloon in which his children, Benny and pretty Alice, entertain the patrons. One night, The Stranger interferes in a drunken quarrel and becomes involved in a bitter fight, from which he emerges victorious. He is strongly attracted to Alice, and he strikes up a conversation while, at the gambling table, her father is being cheated in a crooked card game and loses the deed to the saloon. When a reward is posted for Wolf Maclean, The Stranger, who resembles the description given of the notorious bandit, is arrested. The gamblers arrange for a quick hanging, but Parson Dan Williams saves The Stranger by announcing that he himself is Wolf Maclean and that the gamblers are his confederates in crime. Before the astonished populace can arrest the gamblers, the parson is killed by one of their vengeful number. The Stranger is cleared and wins Alice; Bert Granger reforms and opens a general store, with Benny as his partner.

Dir: Paul Hurst

Two prospectors, one the father of Skye "Lightning" Bryce and the other the father of Kate Arnold, find a large gold deposit belonging to an Indian tribe. They head for home but each sends a note to their respective off-springs advising them of their good fortune. One of the fathers conceives a plan of taking a dagger and wrapping a piece of string around the blade, after which he prints on the string with a lead pencil, the exact location of their find. If something happens to them, the string goes to the son and the knife to the daughter. That night an Indian approaches their camp and blows some mysterious wolf powder which causes a man to see wolves in place of human beings. Lightning's father see his partner as a wolf and stabs him to death; later he is brought into town in a dying condition but before dying, hands the knife and the string over to the sheriff with instructions to deliver to Lightning and Kate. The sheriff also informs Kate that Lightning's father killed her father, and she immediately turns against Lightning. "Powder" Solvang also knows the story behind the knife and the string, and is determined to gain possession of both, even to the extent of making Kate his prisoner in an opium den in Chinatown.