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

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

After discovering that his bride has married him only for his money, Philip Dorset journeys to Africa in hopes of putting the past behind him. In the jungle, he teams up with a party of American circus men on an elephant hunt. Their expeditions take them to a native village where they discover Joan, an orphaned white girl whose missionary father has recently died. The group, now enhanced by Dorset's addition as the elephant trainer, takes the waif back to America with them. Years pass and Joan becomes an accomplished bareback rider in the circus, while her affection for Dorset deepens into love. Recalling his earlier unhappy experience, Dorset tries to discourage the girl, and upon failing decides to leave the circus. Soon after his departure, he discovers that his wife has divorced him and rushes back to Joan. That night, a terrific storm strikes the circus tent and out of the cataclysm the lovers are reunited.

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

Dir: Scott R. Dunlap

After being fired from his job on the "Evening Star" newspaper, cub reporter Jack Darwin (William Fairbanks) with the help of undercover police woman Ethel Bennett (Eva Novak), prevents the theft of the valuable Riko jewels. Jack gets his job back...and marries Ethel.

Dir: Scott R. Dunlap

A Canadian Mountie pursues an outlaw across the border into the American desert. His pursuit is complicated by the fact that he is in love with the fugitive's daughter.

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

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.

Dir: Scott R. Dunlap

Harris Levi (Fred Warren) brings up Meg (Shirley Mason), who was left in his father's pawnshop by her mother. Anxious that she have a good environment, Harris takes her to live with his friend Robert. When her mother returns to claim Meg, Robert is revealed to be both Meg's father and the man with whom Harris' wife eloped. Meg is happily reunited with her parents and her sweetheart, Chick Saxe.

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

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.

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 Snowdrift perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Dir: Scott R. Dunlap

Betty and Bob, guests at the brilliant De Courcey-Varnay wedding, suddenly decide to elope. Bob slips away to make accommodations at a nearby Inn, where they plan to spend a honeymoon. Betty prepares to join him, but is halted by a detective who demands to know the contents of her bag. She refuses, but is told by the sleuth that a necklace belonging to the bride had been stolen. She opens the bag, but Billy Trevor, standing nearby, stoops to help the young woman, dropping a handkerchief into the bag. He offers to accompany Betty to the station. The detective allows Betty to go, but holds Billy, who escapes and arrives at the Inn before the girl and Bob, who had figured in an automobile accident and [had been] taken to the hospital. Developments show that Billy had dropped the necklace in the bag and tries in vain to regain it, these efforts resulting in a series of complications. Finally Bob arrives and the bride is saved from further humiliation and embarrassment, while Billy makes a confession that exonerates everybody.

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.