The Cult Collection Inspired by the Vision of A Virtuous Vamp: Cult Guide

Dir: David Kirkland

Capricious Billie Billings determines to marry bashful bachelor Senator Newton of Nevada and succeeds. She discovers on her honeymoon that her husband's secretary "Smith" is actually a woman. When the senator refuses to heed his wife's demands to fire Smith, Billie flirts with a French count and runs away with him to a country inn. The count gets drunk and Billie insists on separate rooms. Billie's friend Dr. Wise arrives at the inn with Smith, her husband and twin children, and Senator Newton. Smith assuages Billie's jealousy and then leaves the senator and his wife alone. The reunited couple depart for a second honeymoon.

Dir: David Kirkland

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

Fred Blake sets out to avenge his mother who died of shock as the result of a raid by an outlaw gang. He discovers that a gang-member killed in the raid was the long-lost son (since childhood) of the wealthy Monroe family, so he impersonates him and intends to exact his revenge on the family.

Dir: David Kirkland

When retired New England skipper Captain Purcell finds Kit as a baby in a storm, he adopts her and she grows up to be an adventurous youngster of the docks. One evening years later, she boards a fishing boat to break up a poker game and extricate the husband of a weeping woman, and she is taken prisoner by Capt. Burt Kincaid, who tries to force his attentions on her, but when she proves her courage, he admires and comes to love her. When it is discovered that she is the daughter of the Hamptons, a wealthy family, Kit becomes a woman of fashion but longs for her former life and Captain Burt. Soon it is revealed that she is not a member of the Hampton family but only a daughter of their former maid, and she happily returns to Burt.

Dir: David Kirkland

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

A rich producer of a new theatrical version of Cinderella declares that he will give a role to the woman who can fit into a tiny slipper. Many women fail, but a poor little girl who has always dreamed of a romantic life manages to put on the shoe and then, to fulfill her fantasy, she and the producer fall in love. Meanwhile, a former lover of the show's prima donna returns. In a quarrel she had cut his hand, ending his career as a musician, and he has vowed revenge. He tries to shoot her, but the little girl deflects the bullet. She recovers, however, and the prima donna and her former sweetheart finally realize that they are still in love.

Dir: David Kirkland

Stephen Winthrop, a young playboy living in New York City, inherits the estate and all the holdings of his wealthy Canadian uncle but pays scant attention to it, preferring the "party" life in New York. He is unaware that the family attorney, Frank Garson, has forbidden hunting on the Wintrop lands in Canada, cutting off the livelihoods of the local villagers. Mary Cartier, goddaughter of the village priest, travels to New York to try to get Stephen to change the policy. He returns with her to Canada, sees what's going on, and lifts the ban, then decides to stay in Canada. Mary returns to New York to try to help Garson's ill wife and child, whom the sleazy lawyer has abandoned, but the wife dies and Mary brings back the small child to Canada. The villagers, mistaking the child for Mary's, are outraged at this "scarlet woman" flaunting her illegitimate child and attempt to drive her out. Complications ensue.

Dir: David Kirkland

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

Dad Randall is forced to mortgage his cattle to pay a debt to Ivor Johnson, who has bought them after stealing the receipts for the money Randall actually has paid. His son, Dean, returns home from action in the trenches and saves John Stickley, his daughter Grace, and a child from the grasping tactics of Texas Pete, a Johnson hireling who is charging for use of the waterhole. Meanwhile, Dad Randall is being forced to sign over the ranch, but Dean arrives and disposes of the villains just before Dad's death. When Johnson's cattle are rustled, Dean goes to work for him to track down the rustlers; returning the stolen cattle, Dean is tricked by Johnson, but with the aid of Grace and his horse, Silver King, he escapes. By a pulley stunt, Dean leads his pursuers into the sheriff's trap, and following a final showdown with Johnson, Dean and Grace are united.

Dir: David Kirkland

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: David Kirkland

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

When Mary Blake applies for the position of personal secretary to misogynist James Stanhope, she is judged too attractive to accomplish the job. Mary returns home, makes herself unattractive and is promptly hired. Stanhope is assisting the government in the arrest of Bolshevists, and one night three revolutionaries enter the house, bind and gag Stanhope and put a time bomb under his chair. Discarding her unattractive disguise, Mary vamps the three into submission, clouts each on the head with a brass statue and saves her boss's life. Mary's resourcefulness forces Stanhope to give up his disdain for pretty women, and he proposes to his attractive secretary.

Dir: David Kirkland

Miss Devore plays Tommy, a young woman who runs a boarding house for her father, an inventor of eccentric devices, and the boarders are the usual collection of neurotics in such an effort.

Dir: David Kirkland

Georgiana Chadbourne is married to a good but dull man. When he dies, she decides to find a more exciting romance, one with a "bad" man. But a case of mistaken identity upsets her plans.