The Auteur's Selection In the Shadow of Be a Little Sport: Cult Guide

Dir: Scott R. Dunlap

Samuel Blevins, Jr.'s farm work suffers while he pursues a correspondence course on newspaper reporting. After he leaves the family farm and goes to the city, editors all turn him down until Ethel Williams, the author of the "Advice to the Lovelorn" column, who helps him with his style, recommends him to her managing editor. The Sunday Magazine editor, who loves Elinor, tries to ruin Sam's career by giving him the difficult task of writing a feature article. When Sam fails to think of a good story, Ethel, who now loves him, tells of the lost Princess Marie of Burvania, who is hiding in the United States. Sam's story causes the Archduke of Burvania to search for Marie, who is really Ethel, and after she is persuaded to return, Sam rescues her from a trap. He awakens to discovers that the story is a dream, writes another which is a success, and finds happiness with Ethel.

Dir: Scott R. Dunlap

When saloon owner Bill Lark detects that gambler Jim Pemberton is cheating, both men draw their guns. In order to prevent a double killing, it is agreed that the first shot should be decided by a draw from a deck of cards. Bill loses and Pemberton gives him three days to live. Meanwhile, Pemberton has persuaded Jess Jones to leave her husband and ride with him to his cabin in the hills where he is chief of a gang of bandits. Upon discovering his wife's absence, Scipio Jones follows Jess but is driven away by Pemberton's gang. After Jones fails, Bill retrieves Jess and brings her home. The next day, Bill is severely wounded when he drives a stagecoach through an attack by Pemberton's gang, but escapes to keep his date with the outlaw. Arriving to accept his fate of the last draw, Bill discovers that the outlaw has been killed by Scipio Jones. Provided with a new lease on life, the honest saloon keeper marries his sweetheart Little Casino.

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

Dir: Scott R. Dunlap

Cowboy Bill Moreland meets and falls in love with Janet Ainslee, a stranded actress. He sells his prize dogs to pay her way back to New York City and eventually follows her. Later, Bill rescues Janet from a producer who is willing to advance her career in exchange for her virtue. Bill and Janet marry and return west.

Dir: Scott R. Dunlap

Thomas Edinburgh, financial dictator of Marysville, is secretly in love with Carol, wife of the Reverend Luther McCall, and produces evidence that her husband was once an embezzler. Leaving for Cleveland, the minister meets his twin brother, Lefty, the real embezzler, who is evading the law. Luther is killed in a train wreck, and Lefty, assuming Luther's identity and carrying on the latter's ministerial work, brings about his own conversion and that of his former pal, Buster. He thwarts Edinburgh's plans by stealing the prison record, and after learning Lefty's story Carol comes to love him.

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

Dir: Scott R. Dunlap

Champion race car driver Jack Darwin is invited to participate in a transcontinental race, which he loses when a competitor shoots him from an airplane. Jack later becomes a motion picture star and falls in love with an actress named Nadine, whom he saves from marrying a scoundrel. Jack enters another race, winning both the first prize and Nadine.

Dir: Scott R. Dunlap

Weak willed Gerry Sands, who wants to become an editor, is forced by his employer, locksmith Nick Barket, to crack safes, until, during a robbery, he reads some words from a dropped copy of Hamlet , and stops. Overjoyed, his sweetheart Polly Ann Kerry, gets him work at the hotel where she works, but Red Devlin, the brains behind the burglaries, frames Gerry for theft. Devlin bails him out, hoping he will return to safe-cracking, but Gerry leaves town and becomes a typesetter for a Western newspaper. After Polly exposes the crooks, she becomes ill from grief at not hearing from Gerry. Gerry returns and, risking arrest, goes to the police station to locate Polly. The police captain, who loves Polly, but realizes that she loves Gerry, gives him twenty-four hours probation to find and marry her. After he finds her, she thinks that he wants to marry her to escape jail, but the police captain vouches for Gerry's integrity, and they marry.

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

Dir: Scott R. Dunlap

Lawrence Hallor's plans to build model tenements for the poor are wrecked by his sweetheart's father, John Hamilton, a tyrannical political boss. He revives his plan under another identity, and Hamilton orders him crushed; but when Alice reveals his true identity, Hamilton revokes his order and sanctions the housing plan as well as his daughter's marriage.

Dir: Scott R. Dunlap

Renegade mining engineer Carter Brent loses his money gambling in the Yukon. He falls in love with Snowdrift, a reputed "half-breed" who is actually a Caucasian orphan reared by a Native American woman. Carter is regenerated through his association with Snowdrift and eventually rescues her from the dance hall manager who has made her a prisoner.

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

Dir: Scott R. Dunlap

Impresario Thomas Sullivan arrives in Ossawatomie, Kansas, to debut a new musical show written by native talent Gene Harris. Sullivan hires singer Millicent Lloyd, who auditions with a song written by her boyfriend, local bookkeeper Brian McBride. The impresario takes Millicent to New York City, where she becomes a famous singer. Brian arrives in the city with a new opera but keeps his presence secret from Millicent until he has achieved notoriety. Unable to complete an opera of his own, Harris steals Brian's work and presents it to Sullivan, who casts Millicent in the lead role. With the help of music publisher Gus Hertz, Brian exposes Harris and reclaims his composition. He and Millicent are reunited, and the opera goes on to great success.

Dir: Scott R. Dunlap

Boston Blackie, just released from prison, threatens the warden, Benton, that he will have him removed from his job for using the water cross, a form of torture, on prisoners. Blackie's sweetheart, Mary Carter, helps him avoid this torture after his return to prison. The officers pursue Blackie, capture him, and bring him back to Benton, but Mary reports to the governor, and they arrive in time to save Blackie from further torments by bringing his pardon. Benton is fired.