Deep Archive Finds Movies That Echo the Spirit of Back Pay: Cult Guide

Dir: Frank Borzage

Successful model, Phyllis Clyne, convinces a down-and-out nobleman, Billy, to pass her off in society as titled gentry. They fall in love and when it turns out that her late father actually was a lord, they decide they now can marry.

Dir: Frank Borzage

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

A saloon owner loans her lover the money to buy a house, which he has led her to believe they will live in after they're married. Instead, he takes the money and buys a saloon in another town.

Dir: Frank Borzage

Immediate Lee, employed on the ranch owned by one Masters, is discharged by the manager through the influence of one of his men, who is in the brand blotting game with Masters. Beulah, a dance-hall girl, has attracted the attention of Hurley, a brand blotter, but prefers Lee. Hurley entraps Lee and cuts his mouth open with a wide gash, which leaves a permanent scar. Lee vows vengeance and follows the man all over the country. He at last meets him face to face, but Hurley is saved by the intercession of Beulah. He later is killed in a fierce encounter. The brand blotters are discovered and punished by the aid of Immediate Lee, and Beulah receives the reward of loyalty and devotion by becoming Lee's wife.

Dir: Frank Borzage

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

Jennie is a slavey in a theatrical boarding house. To her the actors are all wonderful, but Montague Booth is the chief. In an accident Booth is disfigured for life and is saved from suicide by Jennie. They join a medicine show in which Booth is lecturer, but Jennie cannot stand the road. Booth leaves the show and takes up a homestead claim. The manager of the show sends one of Booth's old loves to get him back, for his services are valuable, but Belle fails after very nearly wrecking everyone's happiness.

Dir: Edward LeSaint

When famous opera singer Elinore Duane undergoes an operation on her throat, she has a series of ether-induced visions. In one, she is transported to ancient Rome where she appears as a much-admired woman in love with Paul, a young heretic, and at odds with Lutor, the high priest. To save her love, she poisons Lutor with her ring. After several other visions which involve variations on this love triangle, Elinore awakens to discover that Lutor is actually her doctor, Sascha Jaccard, and that Paul is the son of a friend who has come to visit the recovering prima donna.

Dir: Frank Borzage

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

Giulia, a Neapolitan girl, much against her will, becomes the mistress of a wealthy gangster. Her "protector" is stabbed to death by Giulia's hot-headed musician lover Tony (Francis McDonald), whereupon the heroine takes refuge in the villa of French playwright La Farge. Under La Farge's careful tutelage, Giulia develops into a famous actress, capturing the heart of the Duke De Chaumont. Though LaFarge himself has fallen in love with the girl, he does not stand in her way when she accepts the Duke's proposal. But Giulia has not reckoned with Tony, who is still crazy about her and still willing to kill any man who stands in his way. Tony murders LaFarge, then sets his sights on the Duke, intending to kill the poor fellow during the wedding ceremony. Hoping to save the Duke's life, Giulia pretends to have fallen out of love with him and returns to Tony.

Dir: Frank Borzage

After a young inventor discovers a powerful new explosive, agents from a German chemical firm induce him to study at a German university. While there, he is repelled by certain aspects of the people, and he leaves for Belgium. When the war begins, the inventor saves a Belgian burgomaster's daughter from Prussian invaders. The inventor and the girl endure horrible suffering because of the war, but they find happiness at its end, while the formerly fighting nations direct their effort towards world peace at the Paris conferences. The assassination of Kurt Eisner of Bavaria occurs at the end.

Dir: Frank Borzage

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of A Sister to Salome perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Prudence's ( Olive Thomas ) parents send her from their Pennsylvania Quaker colony to a fashionable girls seminary, hoping she can learn about the devil's tricks, instead she engages in girlish pranks, but uses her pure appearance to escape blame. Later, Prudence visits her New York aunt, a society matron, and soon attracts an array of male admirers. She falls in love with wealthy Grayson Mills, but John Melbourne, who lives off of his wife's wealth, plots to seduce her. After Melbourne loans Prudence $200 to pay a gambling debt, he forces her to go to a roadhouse by threatening to show her stern father her canceled check. At dinner, Prudence produces a love letter which Melbourne had earlier written to an actress, and says that if she is not back by midnight, her hotel clerk will show Melbourne's wife his nineteen other love letters. After Melbourne hurries her back, he discovers that she only had the one letter. Prudence now becomes engaged to Grayson.

Dir: Frank Borzage

Charmed by the bright smile of Taro San, a Japanese rickshaw boy, Grant Barton takes the young man to the United States as his valet. Grant marries Marion Craig, but when she departs for California to visit her sick mother, he becomes enamored of Tonia Marsh, a vamp. Marion discovers them together and leaves Grant, whereupon Taro resolves to help his kind employer out of his difficulties. Persuading Tonia that he is a member of the imperial family of Japan, Taro pays court to the adventuress, and when Grant finds them in each other's arms, he immediately fires Taro. Grant and Marion are reconciled, while Taro sadly returns to Japan.

Dir: Bruno Ziener

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.