Deep Archive Finds Movies That Echo the Spirit of Beach Birds: Cult...

Dir: William A. Seiter

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: William A. Seiter

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

Alice, an energetic vixen, lives in a country estate with her gouty uncle, who denies her any companions. She plagues him with pranks until he leaves the estate. Now free to seek adventure, she dresses as a maid and convinces a passer-by, Richard Comstock, a celebrated author, that the estate is a boardinghouse. She has the servants pose as distinguished guests. The uncle returns and spoils the spoof. Later she meets Richard at the hunt club ball, which Galloping Dick, a gentleman burglar, also attends, in a strictly professional capacity. When jewels are discovered missing, Alice, thinking Richard is the thief, hides him in the cellar, where they run into Galloping Dick's accomplice. Alice and Richard are at first denounced as thieves, but the actual culprits are apprehended.

Dir: William A. Seiter

Fanchon Browne promises to marry elderly Peter Armitage to extricate Nethercote, her guardian, from financial difficulties. Before meeting him, however, she meets an attractive young man in the woods and persuades her friend Lilah to vamp the old man. Lilah, however, vamps the wrong Armitage, who turns out not only to be the nephew of the elder Armitage but also the young man with whom Fanchon is involved. Meanwhile, Fanchon's aunt falls in love with the elder Armitage, and Tony, a prizefighter, who adores Lilah, presses his suit. Fanchon borrows money from old Peter's safe to aid young Peter in speculation; when the safe is reported robbed, young Armitage is accused, but guilt is fixed on the butler. Thus, Fanchon is free to marry Armitage, Jr., and her aunt accepts Armitage, Sr.

Dir: William A. Seiter

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

A young couple quarrel and make-up and quarrel again and it is here where they determine to save the scandal of divorce by placing a white tape through the house to divide it into two parts, each section of which will be exclusively sacred to the other. In the meantime, an almost invisible Cupid hovers about trying to placate them and a little Mephisto with a pitchfork tries to prod the couple along to more troubles.

Dir: William A. Seiter

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: William A. Seiter

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

Billy Barton a bank teller, shoulders the blame for a cash shortage for which Fred Kingston, a fellow employee, is responsible and is sentenced to prison. On his way there, the train is wrecked and he escapes. In the town of Culterton, he meets and falls in love with Mary Spivins, the bank president's daughter, and charms the populace by playing the mouth organ. He obtains work as a farmhand with Silas Harkins, taking the farm mule as wages. When Spivins orders Harkins arrested for assault, Billy learns it was a kick from the mule that laid out Spivins. At the bank he finds Spivins bound while Fred and the clerk are robbing the safe; Billy is locked in the safe, and all efforts to save him prove futile until the wall is kicked out by the mule. Through the efforts of Willie Spivins, the bank is dynamited, but all ends happily.

Dir: William A. Seiter

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: William A. Seiter

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

When J. Smythe opens a fashionable women's shop in the little town of Santa Boobara, Jackie Cameron takes over her father's establishment across the street and converts it into an up-to-date haberdashery. Smythe, having fallen for Jackie, gives her preference over all his other customers and persuades her to buy a dress already promised to Evelina Skinner, daughter of the town's richest and meanest man. Two kidnappers, shadowing Evelina, mistake Jackie for her and hold Jackie for ransom. Smythe, learning of Jackie's disappearance and seeing the men enter the Skinner residence, follows them to their cabin and rescues Jackie. They force the kidnappers, who have robbed Skinner, to the sheriff's office, collect Skinner's reward, and decide to enter into a lifetime partnership.

Dir: William A. Seiter

Jack wants to spend their vacation in the mountains and Daisy wants to spend it at the beach in Santa Barbara.

Dir: William A. Seiter

Margie Carr, the only daughter of wealthy Tom "Old Top" Carr, becomes determined to aid the less fortunate following an inspirational commencement speech at her college graduation. She establishes the Cheer Society and hires a ruffian named Bubbs as her secretary, along with three of his comrades. Her jilted fiancé, Homer Dean Chadwick, retaliates by founding a charity for impoverished chorus girls, and sparks Margie's jealousy when she sees him in the company of a former chorine named Flossy. Following a disastrous social event, which included Bubbs and his friends as guests, Margie realizes the folly of her endeavor and agrees to marry Homer.