The Essential Watchlist Similar Cinematic Experiences to Alarm Cloc...

Dir: Hal Roach

An American book salesman (Lloyd) is persuaded to go to the kingdom of Thermosa to impersonate the Prince. He is greeted by a peasants' revolt before the real prince shows up to claim his throne and princess. The revolution succeeds, and the American is elected president of the new republic.

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 Greased Lightning 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: Maurice Campbell

Carver Endicott, a young sophisticate, is rejected by his fiancée for being too foppish and dull. When she feigns an interest in his father, Carver attempts to disgrace his family name by working as a farmhand and later as a busboy in a hotel. However, the newspapers only praise him for his self-sacrificing principles; and finding that he cannot bring shame to the family through menial labor, he takes up with a notorious actress. But when this maneuver also fails, he returns to his former fiancée, who has no further complaint about his being an inexperienced dullard.

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Hay Foot, Straw Foot perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

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.

Dir: Jerome Storm

A young baseball pitcher in the bush leagues is discovered by a big-league manager and given his chance in the major leagues. But will he be up to the challenge?

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of An Amateur Devil 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

Cuthbert Trotman wants to be a writer. He becomes the protege of wealthy Harry Travistock, who shows him the ways of the big city. But Harry's girlfriend Anita begins to take more of an interest in Cuthbert than in Harry.

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: Charley Chase

A young married couple volunteer to take charge of several orphans after the asylum has burned down. Of course they find their hands full with their troublesome charges.

Dir: Jerome Storm

Socially prominent but nearly penniless Easterner Mrs. Bereton, marries her daughter Avice to wealthy cattleman Barton Masters. Before the ceremony, Avice promises Dr. Fortescue Van Fleet, with whom she has been carrying on a flirtation, that her marriage will mean nothing, but after she moves to Barton's ranch, she comes to respect her husband deeply. When the wedding party, consisting of Van Fleet as well as Avice's mother and brother Billy, visits the ranch, Van Fleet attacks Avice in her room, but Barton catches him and turns him out. The next day, Barton sends Avice's relatives home and compels her to work on the ranch. She is resentful until Van Fleet returns and shoots Barton, seriously wounding him. At the point of a gun, Avice forces the doctor to tend her husband's injury, and after Barton's recovery, she devotes herself to him.