The Definitive Watchlist For Devotees of Alimony: Cult Guide

Dir: Emmett J. Flynn

Henry Potter is the irresponsible playboy son of a New York millionaire. Fearing he will disgrace the family name if he stays in New York, the father sends him to San Francisco to work in the family shipyards and, to make a man out of him, he is told he will have to start at the bottom and work his way up. Henry decides this is not a good idea and resents it to the point he will indeed start at the bottom but will work his way down from there, and disgrace the family name in San Francisco. On one of his drinking binges, he meets Marcelle, a cabaret dancer. He tolerates her and she falls in love with him and pleads for him to give up his drinking and carousing. The father sends a company-man out to check on him and he finds Henry an alcoholic and very much in debt. He pays off Henry's debts and then pays a freighter captain $500 to shanghai Henry to Shanghai, where the family name is less well-known. There Henry sinks even lower and frequents the worse dives in the worse sections of the city. He offers to buy a drink for a girl in an opium den and the girl turns out to be Marcelle. But Marcelle has changed a bit since he last saw her, and she is now hooked on drugs and is less inclined to harp on Henry about his drinking and/or carousing. But they decide they truly love each other, and begin the long, uphill fight back to respectability together, with the codicil that if he takes a drink or Marcelle uses a needle, the other is free to leave. Their regeneration path is so good that, a year later, they own a pineapple ranch outside Honolulu and making good. Henry's family, none too approving of Marcelle, shows up and asks him to return to New York where his father is gravely ill. Henry, because he thinks Marcelle needs him more, refuses. Marcell thinks she is holding Henry back from his true destiny, so she lets Henry and his family catch her with a needle in her hand. There is more.

Dir: Emmett J. Flynn

Gerald Cranston, a successful financier and industrialist who worked his way up through the ranks, enters into a marriage of convenience with Lady Hermione, from which he hopes to gain social prestige; Hermione, for her part, desires financial independence. Gordon Ibbotsleigh attempts to win Hermione's affection, while Hermione's cousin Angela directs her wiles toward Gerald. Both efforts fail, however, and the threat of financial ruin finally and firmly unites the Cranstons.

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Gerald Cranston's Lady perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Dir: Emmett J. Flynn

A railway conductor throws cowboys Tod Musgrave and Dell Hawkins off the train because they are without tickets. Settling down in a station, Tod dreams: Dell robs the train and escapes, planting some of the money on him. After an episode of adventure and romance in which Tod is sent to prison, escapes, and finally tracks down the culprit, Tod awakens to find that Dell is still his jolly companion.

Dir: Emmett J. Flynn

Badly mistreated by her father, Nellie Horton is taken in charge by Thomas Lipton. She grows up in poverty not knowing her true identity as the heiress to her mother's millions. Upon the death of her benefactor, she becomes a model in a fashionable shop. There she falls into the hands of her mother's unscrupulous nephew, who contrives to do away with her in order to obtain her fortune. His final plan to destroy her is foiled when her lover, Jack Carroll, rescues her from the tracks of a speeding train. Finally, Nellie is reunited with her mother and finds happiness.

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Hell's Hole perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Dir: Emmett J. Flynn

When Mary O'Rourke leaves Ireland to visit her cousin Norah in New York, she finds that Norah and her baby have been deserted by her husband, John Stuyvesant. Mary goes to the Stuyvesants' aristocratic home, where Mrs. Stuyvesant, an invalid, mistakes her for her son's wife. Warned that the woman could die from shock, Mary reluctantly assumes the role of daughter-in-law and nurses her back to health. Meanwhile, John and his cousin Fred return from a trip, and Genevieve Harbison, John's fiancée, demands that they get married the following day to prove that he is not married already. At the church, Mary produces Norah's marriage certificate, which John notices is for "John Frederick," Fred's real name. Fred then explains that his inheritance requires that he not be married until the next day. Genevieve angrily leaves after John agrees to play Fred's role, but when Fred sees Norah, he acknowledges the marriage. Mary then confuses Fred's trustee with Irish blarney and wins the legacy for Fred. She then accepts John's proposal.

Dir: Emmett J. Flynn

Rancher Joe Cumberland finds "Whistling Dan" in the desert and gives the boy a home, rearing him with his daughter Kate. Dan, grown to manhood, remains untamed, possessing a hot temper which ignites his eyes into a yellow glow when he is angered. Dan's eyes glow and he vows revenge when outlaw Jim Silent tries to kill him in a saloon brawl. Kate goes to the outlaw camp to prevent Dan from killing Silent, but is taken prisoner. The confrontation between the two men escalates when Dan captures Lee Haines, one of Silent's men, and Silent retaliates by imprisoning Kate's father. After a trade of prisoners, Dan trails the outlaws and exterminates the entire gang except for Silent. The two adversaries then slug it out, with Dan strangling his tormentor. His revenge accomplished, Dan is somewhat tamed and settles down with Kate.

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Nellie the Beautiful Cloak Model perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Dir: Emmett J. Flynn

In 1921, a young man, having read Mark Twain's classic novel of the same title, dreams that he himself travels to King Arthur's court, where he has similar adventures and outwits his foes by means of very modern inventions including motorcycles and nitroglycerine.

Dir: Emmett J. Flynn

When Mamie Lee's father, Sam Corwin, is sentenced to jail for forgery, the sheriff, Ed Cass, offers to cover the debt in return for Mamie Lee's hand in marriage. The distraught daughter agrees, and Cass robs the saloon to obtain the money, placing the blame on Jim Kane, his rival for Mamie's affections. Jim is sent to jail an embittered man. In the adjacent cell he watches a condemned Italian stone cutter spend the night before his execution chiseling a figure of Christ. After the sculptor collapses from exhaustion, Jim is astounded to see the spirit of Christ appear and minister to the condemned man. The religious experience converts Jim to Christianity. Meanwhile, Mamie Lee discovers Cass's written confession to the robbery and brings it to the judge. Realizing he is doomed, the sheriff kills himself, thus freeing Jim to begin life anew with Mamie Lee.

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of A Bachelor's Wife perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Dir: Emmett J. Flynn

The successful operations of a lone bandit known as "The Night Hawk" terrorize a frontier town, and when a stranger arrives riding a fine horse, suspicions are aroused and he is mistaken for the criminal. Winifred, who is engaged to dam engineer William Kirk, shelters the stranger from the sheriff, but Kirk has him arrested. Kirk decides to steal the company payroll and dynamite the dam; he accomplishes these acts but is captured by the stranger, who is revealed to be a company agent detailed to investigate Kirk.

Dir: Emmett J. Flynn

In a prologue, the evolution of banditry from the road agent to the modern automobile bandit is depicted. In the main story, Marian Calvert, traveling along the California coast with her uncle and his family to a weekend party, becomes infatuated with the infamous Lincoln Highwayman when he robs them of their jewelry and leaves in his high powered auto. At the party, when late arrival Jimmy Clunder drops one of the stolen jewels, Marian's suspicions are aroused even though he explains he found it on the road. Steele, a secret service man at the party, who is in love with Marian, vows to capture the criminal, while the Governor of California appoints Captain Claver from the Sacramento police and his assistant to catch him. When Jimmy, with the help of his very intelligent dog Spike, holds up Steele and Marian to prove Steele's incompetence, Marian, convinced that Jimmy is the thief, falls more in love with him. After Jimmy, masquerading as a paymaster of a copper mine, captures the real thieves, the policemen, he wins a reward and Marian's love.