The Essential Watchlist Similar Cinematic Experiences to Battling B...

Dir: Unknown Director

The village youths are rivals for the hand of the local belle. Their battles lead them to the village store, where chaos soon reigns, terminating in the place being blown up, leaving Bobby a happy victor.

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.

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

Dir: Paul Hurst

Episode 1: "The Jackaroo" Maud Norman, the owner of the G Block Station, an Australian sheep run, points out to her manager, Glover, that her flocks have been seriously ravaged by the continued droughts of the past year. But her financial difficulties are somewhat lessened by the arrival of Jack Tabourdin, whose father sends Maud a check for one hundred pounds in payment for taking his son on as a "jackaroo" or apprentice on the sheep run. The following April when a payment of 500 pounds is due on the purchase of the sheep station, and Maud, foreseeing that, she will be unable to meet the payment, advertises for sale her favorite horse, Polly. Stingaree, the gentleman bushranger, and his partner, Howie, read this advertisement, and Stingaree decides that he must have Polly. Tabourdin, the jackaroo, overhears Maud and Glover discussing the sale of Polly. He remembers a handbill advertising 500 pounds reward for the capture of the bushranger, Stingaree. He wonders if he could spare Maud the loss of her favorite horse by capturing the outlaw. He receives an opportunity to do so, when, during the absence of Maud and Glover, Stingaree and Howie arrive at the station to get the horse. He fires at them as they are entering the stable. They run away, but by a subterfuge they make the jackaroo a prisoner. They take him to their camp, and are overjoyed to find that the jackaroo pursued them on the horse they had sought. In camp the jackaroo tells Stingaree the reason for his attempt to capture the bushranger. Stingaree, always too chivalrous to see a woman in trouble, proposes a plan to Howie and sends him away to the Kangaroo Hotel at Topanga. Then, feigning carelessness, he allows the jackaroo to make him a prisoner and take him to the troopers' quarters at Topanga, where Stingaree is locked up, and the jackaroo departs with his 500 pounds reward. Howie bursts into the Kangaroo Hotel at Topanga and holds up the bar. There is a trooper present, and Howie allows him to sneak away to give the alarm to the other troopers. The troopers rush away from the barracks, leaving only one man to guard Stingaree. Arriving at the hotel, they see what is apparently Howie riding away. They give pursuit and overtake the horse, only to find it is carrying only a dummy of straw, which Howie has rigged up for the occasion. Howie hurries to the barracks, where he overpowers the one trooper left in charge of Stingaree, and helps his partner to escape. Stingaree and Howie ride back to their old haunts, while the jackaroo returns to the G Block Station and persuades Maud to accept the 500 pounds as a loan to pay off the note on the sheep run.

Dir: Reggie Morris

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

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

Dir: Paul Hurst

Two prospectors, one the father of Skye "Lightning" Bryce and the other the father of Kate Arnold, find a large gold deposit belonging to an Indian tribe. They head for home but each sends a note to their respective off-springs advising them of their good fortune. One of the fathers conceives a plan of taking a dagger and wrapping a piece of string around the blade, after which he prints on the string with a lead pencil, the exact location of their find. If something happens to them, the string goes to the son and the knife to the daughter. That night an Indian approaches their camp and blows some mysterious wolf powder which causes a man to see wolves in place of human beings. Lightning's father see his partner as a wolf and stabs him to death; later he is brought into town in a dying condition but before dying, hands the knife and the string over to the sheriff with instructions to deliver to Lightning and Kate. The sheriff also informs Kate that Lightning's father killed her father, and she immediately turns against Lightning. "Powder" Solvang also knows the story behind the knife and the string, and is determined to gain possession of both, even to the extent of making Kate his prisoner in an opium den in Chinatown.

Dir: Paul Hurst

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

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

Dir: Robert Thornby

Mary Willard takes over her father's railroad after his death. Her major competitor is a ruthless crook named Harvey Judson. She arranges for Judson to be kidnapped and taken to an isolated spot deep in the forest and turned loose to fend for himself. She accompanies the kidnappers to the wild and Judson, not knowing who she is, begins to fall in love with her. Complications ensue.

Dir: Mason N. Litson

Edgar and his chum try to amass a fortune in one day by cornering the fan market on a hot afternoon when the circus comes to the small town where they are spending their vacation.

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

Dir: Vernon Stallings

Krazy Kat is held in jail and Ignatz finally bails him out after encountering "guilt".

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.