The Auteur's Selection Complementing the Tone of Babette: Cult Guide

Dir: Charles Brabin

After young Ruth Bowman's mother dies, the child is raised by Agatha Pixley, and in time, the girl falls in love with Agatha's son, Eric. While Eric is at sea with Captain Scudder on a boat owned by Jim and Hiram Hawley, a jealous villager spreads the tale that Ruth is illegitimate, and the townspeople inevitably snub her. Jim Hiram sets his boat on fire after its arrival in port so that he can collect insurance money, and Ruth, believing that Eric is on board, tries to rescue him. When Ruth and Eric escape safely, Captain Scudder reveals that he, Ruth's long-lost father, was legally married to her mother, which re-establishes Ruth's good name and enables her to marry Eric.

Dir: Charles Brabin

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

A feud has existed between the McLanes and the Conovers in the Tennessee mountains for many years. "Two Gun Carter" leaves Texas after a shooting fray and arrives just in time to witness George Conover's death at the hands of Henry McLane. Carrying young Conover's body to his family, Carter is very moved by their grief that he agrees to become their adopted son and subsequently falls in love with Marian Conover. In an attempt to put an end to the feud, Carter suggests a duel between himself and Henry McLane, but Henry refuses, and so, to uphold his family honor, Tom McLane, the clan leader, accepts the challenge. In the midst of the match, news arrives that Henry has abducted Marian. Carter rushes off and rescues Marian just as Henry and his horse plunge over the edge of a cliff. Carter then demands that an end be put to the feud as he himself was a born McLane and now plans to marry Marian Conover.

Dir: Charles Brabin

They were twins, and the passing years had in the sifting melting-pot of life. William looms brilliantly, a success, while John is deep in the discouraging shadows, a failure. Another span of fleeting years, and William attains the summit of a meteoric career; he is a candidate for the United States Senate. John (under an assumed name so that his brother is spared the relationship of the black sheep) holds a modest newspaper position in the same city where William's campaign is centered. William falls sick and John, taking advantage of their resemblance, addresses an important meeting and sweeps the audience into frenzied enthusiasm. Sensing in John that which she has always missed in William, the latter's sweetheart confesses her love, thinking, of course, that she is speaking to William. Soon John finds himself facing the fact that he loves his brother's sweetheart. Fate's law is Heaven's justice; William is found dead by John, and what would have been his brother's now becomes John's, as a reward to his genius.

Dir: Charles Brabin

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

The son of millionaire James Carter, Vantyne deliberately shuns work, which sickens his father, he decides to test his son's ability to become self-sufficient. Carter, Sr. has his lawyer report that he has been killed on a hunting trip, and at the reading of the will, Van learns that, unless he can support himself within six months with only an old farmhouse left to him as working capital, he will lose the family fortune to his cousin Teddy Brown. Van immediately gets busy and, with the help of Arizona Brown, a visiting Westerner with whom he has fallen in love, turns the old farm into a thriving and very fashionable resort. His chance of becoming a millionaire fading fast, Teddy arranges with actress Edith Trentoni to ruin the hotel's reputation by means of a kitchen strike and a jewel robbery. He succeeds, but old Carter finally appears to turn the villain out and proclaim Van and Arizona a successful team.

Dir: Charles Brabin

Episode 1: "Land of the Intrigue" Taking advantage of his monarch's lack of funds. Prime Minister Simond of Alania, who secretly aspires to the throne, induces him to pass an obnoxious tax bill. Then, with his sovereign unpopular, Simond feels it a good time to strike, so he causes the assassination of the King, Phillip II and Queen Alize, while they are hunting in the royal forests. Capt. Barreto, Commander of the Alanian palace guard, and a loyal friend of Phillip II, realizes Simond's dastardly plan, and when he hears him issue an order for the apprehension of the little Crown Prince, the only obstacle remaining in his path to the throne, he dashes off with him to America, with the aid of Juan, a fisherman. Barreto makes arrangements with Juan to keep in communication with his brother, Lieut. Jarreto. Simond proclaims himself Prince Regent, and with a bold bid for popularity, rescinds the obnoxious tax bill, his first official act.

Dir: Charles Brabin

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

The forerunner of all serials, "What Happened to Mary" was a series of 12 monthly one-reel episodes, each a complete entity in itself, revolving its immediate dramatic and melodramatic problems within the framework of a single episode and designed more for story and suspense situations than action. Episode Titles (q.v.): #1: "The Escape from Bondage"; #2: "Alone in New York"; #3: "Mary in Stage Land"; #4: "The Affair at Raynor's"; #5: "A Letter to the Princess"; #6: "A Clue to Her Parentage"; #7: "False to Their Trust"; #8: "A Will and a Way"; #9: "A Way to the Underworld"; #10: "The High Tide of Misfortune"; #11: "A Race to New York"; #12: "Fortune Smiles."

Dir: Charles Brabin

Beatrix marries Herbert Buchanan while under his hypnotic trance, although she really loves Harry Faring. When Herbert learns of his wife's love for Harry, he disappears with Kansas, a tramp. Soon after, Beatrix falsely identifies a body at the morgue as her husband's and marries Harry, but when Herbert, still alive though ill and demented, appears at her door with Kansas, she confesses her lie to her new husband. Kansas' plans to blackmail Beatrix are ruined when Harry visits the two tramps, and Herbert, now dying of tuberculosis, pleads with Kansas to leave the couple in peace. Kansas agrees, and after Herbert's death, Beatrix and Harry return to a normal life.

Dir: Charles Brabin

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

Claiming that he has no need for social butterflies, Warren Dexter refuses to attend a reception at which he was to meet debutante Phyllis Lane. Humiliated, Phyllis makes a wager that she will lead Warren to the altar within the month. To gain his attention, she faints on his doorstep and then realizes that he is not at home. Peering through the window, Phyllis spies a woman stealing the silver, whereupon she enters the house and forces Mollie, the burglar, to exchange clothing with her. When Warren arrives, Phyllis feigns a guilty look and explains that her father and brother force her to steal. Hoping to reform the attractive "crook," Warren offers her a position as his maid and soon falls in love with her. Later the crooks again try to rob him, and after Phyllis helps him to foil their plan, he proposes. Upon learning her true identity, Warren is greatly offended, but Phyllis easily convinces him that her love is genuine.

Dir: Charles Brabin

Doris Morse, the daughter of wealthy copper magnate Digby Morse, is eager to escape the unwelcome attentions of the many fortune hunters who pursue her, so she steals away to Atlantic City for a vacation. There she falls in love with Philip Hazard, an earnest and hard working young man, but because his income is so meager, she poses as a Macy's counter girl to avoid wounding his pride. When, by accident, he finally learns of her wealth, the two quarrel. In order to save the romance, her father pretends to disown her, but at the wedding, he secretly gives her a large sum of money in bonds. Doris soon wearies of her modest home and begins to spend the money on furniture and servants, which so piques her husband that he decides to steal the bonds from her safe. Doris is awakened by the noise and fires a shot, wounding Philip. The shock of injuring her husband brings Doris to her senses, and she agrees to live solely on his income.

Dir: Charles Brabin

Henry Burgess favors a match between his ward, Virginia Parke, and his nephew, Peter Warburton, but she is only interested in her poodle, Frou Frou, and Peter devotes all of his attention to his business. To bring them together, Uncle Henry rents twin babies of the laundrywoman, Bridget McGroghan, placing one on Peter's doorstep and the other on Virginia's. Each discovering that the other has a baby, Peter and Virginia soon begin to share their views on child rearing and matrimony, and are about to become engaged when the babies disappear. Michael McGroghan, the twins' father, hires a pair of crooks to kidnap the babies so that he may collect the $25,000 bond that has been put up by Henry for their safe return. Peter, however, tracks down the kidnappers, and after the infants are returned to their grateful mother, he and Virginia look forward to having their own babies.