Cinematic Discoveries Following the Footsteps of American Aristocra...

Dir: Lloyd Ingraham

Alys Gilson leaves the complacency of her parents' home to move to the big city and partake in the lofty ideals espoused by the Culture Club. As a member of this Bohemian group, Alys succumbs to the influence of Peyton Le Moyne who preaches that marriages should be founded on absolute freedom. Consequently, when Thurston Bruce, a young lawyer not of the group, proposes to Alys, she accepts on the condition that the marriage be dissolved if either finds their love has ceased to exist. Bruce soon wearies of his wife's "serious thinkers" who occupy his apartment day and night, and their relationship becomes strained. Finally, Bruce informs Alys that they must terminate their marriage because he is in love with his secretary, Marion Hamilton, who will give him a real home. Brokenhearted, Alys returns to her parents' home to find Bruce waiting there for her and discovers that the whole story was a scheme to bring her to her senses.

Dir: Lloyd Ingraham

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

Wild young Ann Anderson keeps getting expelled from boarding schools because of her passion for pulling pranks. She is finally enrolled at Madame D'Arcy's Finishing School. One night she is awakened by a noise in her room to find a young man stealing from her. However, it turns out that the burglar, Robert, is forced to steal money to buy food for his starving mother. Ann, feeling sorry for him, tells Madame D'Arcy that Robert is actually her husband home from the army, but it doesn't work and she gets expelled from that school, too. However, circumstances take a strange turn when she gets mixed up with a second burglar, is kidnapped and discovers that "Robert" isn't quite who he said he was.

Dir: Lloyd Ingraham

An orphan girl, believing herself cursed with the hoodoo until she gets married, is adopted by a childless couple after the orphanage burns down. Boy-next-door meets girl-next-door, and all looks great until she finds a loaded gun.

Dir: Lloyd Ingraham

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

As part of a divorce settlement, Theodore Ainsley gets custody of his older daughter Millicent, and his wife Elinor gets their younger daughter Jean. The two girls, normally inseparable, can't bear to be away from each other and run away together, but are soon caught by the authorities. Another custody hearing ensues, during which the girls' attorney Horace Craig makes an unusual, and somewhat shocking, proposal.

Dir: Lloyd Ingraham

Trying to cope with the bleak reality of the slums by indulging a taste for fiction, Maggie becomes a compulsive liar. As a result, when she pleads innocent to a shoplifting charge after the real thieves accuse her of the crime, no one believes her, and she is thrown into jail. While Bobby, a reporter who has taken an interest in her, works for her release, Maggie keeps a journal. Then, when authorities give the journal to the judge who sentenced her, he recognizes Maggie as a gifted writer, after which Bobby presents him with evidence clearing her of all guilt. Bobby and the judge rush to the prison to release Maggie; sadly, they discover that she has taken her own life in her cell.

Dir: Lloyd Ingraham

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

In China, a man is arrested and tortured for a crime committed years before by his twin brother.

Dir: Lloyd Ingraham

A young woman of wealth revenges herself on a young author whose peculiar ideas about women have led him to act and speak in an insulting manner. This young man isolates himself in the mountains for the purpose of writing a story on the primitive woman, where he is discovered by his friends, to whom he vows that no woman shall cross his threshold. The mischievous young woman of the story, determined to place him at her feet, goes secretly to the home of a mountain woman with whom she lives in the guise of a wild girl of the hills. Purposely sliding over an embankment where she knows she will fall in his path, she is rewarded by having him pick her up and carry her to his cabin, where she pretends to be too much injured to be moved that day. The mountain woman is sent for and the two remain in the cabin of the author for several days. Finally she is discovered by her people, when it also comes to light that the woman-hating author has fallen to the charms of his pretty visitor.

Dir: Lloyd Ingraham

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

H. Ulysses Watts is a traveling Shakespearean actor whose career is on the decline, as his audiences are more interested in cinema and vaudeville. When the troupe is robbed by Stoner, Watts cares for an injured young trapeze artist.

Dir: Lloyd Ingraham

Julia Deep works at the exchange desk of Timothy Black's department store by day, but her evenings are spent in the library of Terry Hartridge, a fellow resident in Mrs. Turner's boardinghouse. Terry has never seen Julia, since he is too busy squandering his inheritance on easy living and showgirl Lottie Driscoll, but the two meet when Terry, having learned that he has spent his last cent, enters the room with a gun. Julia prevents him from shooting himself and they become fast friends. Black gives Terry a job, and the young man adopts a renewed and more sober interest in life. Lottie later reappears but Terry convinces Julia that the actress means nothing to him, and the young couple pool their resources and settle down.

Dir: Lloyd Ingraham

Charity and her young brother are taken in by Merlin Durand, the son of a penurious millionaire, when their mother, a poor cleaning woman, dies. Charity is a strong believer in the world of fairy tales, and calls Merlin "The Prince". Merlin's cheapskate father cuts off his allowance until he gets a job and earns a salary, then leaves home for a "water cure". His servants immediately take a vacation, leaving the house empty, so Charity and Merlin hide there until Merlin can find a job. Charity begins to call the mansion "Charity Castle". They soon wind up involved with a strange cast of characters, including a burglar and an unemployed Shakespearean actor.