Top-Tier Alternatives In the Shadow of Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp: Cult Guide

Dir: Chester M. Franklin

A young woman and her six little brothers and sisters are left orphans by the murder of their father over gold found on his ranch. Together the seven offspring fight against their greedy neighbors to keep what is rightfully theirs.

Dir: Chester M. Franklin

A kind Dutch immigrant and her bumbling father are blackmailed by a gang of counterfeiters.

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

Dir: Chester M. Franklin

The little school ma'am has come out to a Western town from her home back in Virginia. The townspeople just can't help making life miserable for the little schoolteacher, and when a young playwright who happens to be from Virginia himself, arrives in the town and meets the lonely little teacher, old Mrs. Grundy just runs riot. To make matters worse, the young people go off for a ride and when they wander off to a spring to get a drink, the horse runs away,, so they must stay out in the woods all night. Then there is a crash, and the school teacher is summarily dismissed from her position.

Dir: Chester M. Franklin

A French orphan girl is adopted into the home of wealthy Americans. There she becomes romantically involved with a farm worker and at the same time entangled in the deteriorating marriage of the American couple who rescued her.

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of The Little School Ma'am perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Dir: Chester M. Franklin

Ali Baba, a poor Turkish wood chopper, discovers that a robbers' cave, concealed in the mountains that surround his house, opens to the magical phrase, "Open Sesame." Learning that the cave is filled with stolen treasure, he takes home as much as he can carry, but his greedy brother forces him to reveal the cave's location. After gaining admittance to the cave, Ali Baba's brother is seen by the thieves and killed. Meanwhile, Ali Baba falls in love with Morgianna, a slave girl forced to dance in the local inn, and by securing her freedom, he wins her love and loyalty. The leader of the band of robbers suspects that Ali Baba knows the secret of the treasure cave, and in the guise of an oil merchant, he visits Ali Baba with his forty thieves concealed in oil jars. When Morgianna discovers the robbers, she fills the jars with boiling oil, thereby killing them all. Ali Baba defeats the robber chief in combat and then marries his beautiful Morgianna.

Dir: Chester M. Franklin

Adopted by the Kellys from an orphanage, Nancy is reared in dreadful surroundings and mistreated as the household drudge. She accidentally makes the acquaintance of Jack Halliday, son of a wealthy city family who is fishing near her home. When Mrs. Kelly beats Nancy for accepting the attentions of her husband, the girl escapes into the woods and conceals herself in the rear of Jack's car as he drives into the city. Arriving home, Jack discovers her and orders a beautiful new wardrobe for her. Jack's fiancée, Elizabeth, angered, recalls his parents from their trip, and while he is out buying flowers for Nancy, they persuade her that she can bring only unhappiness to their son. In her old garments she returns to the Kelly shack, where Jim Kelly tries to attack her; but Jack arrives to rescue her, and they are happily united.

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

Dir: Chester M. Franklin

Katie Standish is the family drudge on a New England farm. Her elder sister "enjoys" poor health and her mother sees to it that Katie not only does her own work but that of the weak or lazy Priscilla. Oliver Putnam, a husky young farmer lad, comes courting Katie, but her parents interfere so much that he is discouraged. Oliver finally goes to Mexico with Ben Standish, uncle of Katie and Priscilla, who owns a valuable mine there. Priscilla marries Caleb Adams, a young man who bought a farm adjoining that of Standish. Father and Mother Standish die and Katie goes to live with her sister. Soon she is doing all the housework, and as Priscilla rapidly becomes the mother of seven, each and every one of them is turned over to Katie's care. Then Priscilla and her husband are killed by an express train while driving to the city. Then Katie must teach school to help keep the wolf from the door. She writes to her uncle, telling of her sister's death and how the care of the children had fallen to her. The uncle invites her to bring the motherless brood with her and they can all make their home with him in Mexico. Oliver Putnam is expecting Katie, but the information about the children has been withheld from him. He is overjoyed when he sees Katie step off the train, but is flabbergasted when he sees the many children--only the first time the children get between Oliver and Katie, and Oliver comes to resent them. He sees two of them fussing and spanks one of them; Katie catches this and gives him a scathing rebuke. Then she happens to hear him tell Dan that he hates children; this lands him squarely in her bad graces. Uncle Ben likes the youngsters. He shows them how a series of guns in their little home could be discharged at once by pulling a lever and how a mine around the house could be discharged in a similar manner. He is careful to lock the room where the weapons of destruction are placed, but one of the children finds out where he has hidden the key. While Katie and Oliver are away on an errand of mercy, Mexicans attack the little house. The children are all there but one. The missing one happens to be outside and escapes to the road, where he is saved by a cowboy who goes after help. Meanwhile the children defend themselves by discharging the guns and firing the mines as their uncle had shown them. Katie and Oliver have a desperate fight when they are attacked by another band of Mexicans, but hold them off in a deserted cabin, till the cowboys rescue them. Oliver can't help admiring the brave way in which the children have defended the house, and is grateful also for the fact that the silver under the floor has been saved from the Mexicans. So Oliver and Katie forget their differences and make a home for the children in a mansion in the United States.

Dir: Chester M. Franklin

On a boat to San Francisco, Nellie Proctor is nearly caught stealing a man's wallet, but because she slips it into James Blair's pocket, he is arrested for the crime and sentenced to two years on the chain gang. Nellie, ashamed at having sent an innocent man to prison, convinces her friend Milligan to help James escape, after which all three go to an Alaskan mining town to begin new lives. While James prospects for gold, Nellie and Milligan find work in a local saloon, and Nellie takes charge of four orphaned children. Warren McKenzie, the saloon owner, is also the sheriff, and when he discovers James' identity, he threatens to turn the young man over to the law unless Nellie visits him in his cabin. To save James, with whom she has fallen in love, from a second prison term, Nellie consents, but James and the children come to her rescue.

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Dir: Chester M. Franklin

The Japanese emperor's son Hanki Pan (Francis Carpenter) is in love with beautiful Fan Fan (Virginia Lee Corbin) and determined to marry her, although his father has decreed that he shall wed the Ancient and Honorable Lady Shoo, an ugly hag. Hanki Pan and Fan Fan elope and find employment as entertainers at the Wisteria Gardens. However, Lady Shoo and Fan Fan's rejected suitor, the Chief Executioner, follow in close pursuit and soon catch the young lovers. The Executioner plans to behead Hanki Pan, but when the emperor discovers the plot, he orders the villain to choose between the sword and marriage to Lady Shoo. Hanki Pan and Fan Fan are reunited, while Lady Shoo is happily wed.

Dir: Chester M. Franklin

Rowena Jones attracts the attention of wealthy playboy William Vaughn, when trying on an expensive fur coat belonging to one of the guests at the hotel where she works as a hat check. Determined to marry a millionaire in order to alleviate her family's financial woes, Rowena accepts Vaughn's dinner invitation. That afternoon, while modeling at a fashion show, Rowena is attracted to a young man, but because he appears to be a poor chauffeur, she continues her pursuit of Vaughn. However, when Vaughn's wife appears at dinner, Rowena consents to go to a masked ball with her chauffeur. Arriving at the ball, she is pleasantly surprised to discover that her sweetheart is not a chauffeur but a millionaire, that meets her standard for a husband.