Must-Watch List in the Vein of Beckoning Roads: Cult Guide

Dir: Howard Hickman

In the small town of Sycamore Ridge live youthful sweethearts Bob Hendricks and Molly Culpepper; Bob's banker father, General Hendricks; and John Barclay, head of the Golden Belt Wheat Co. When Adrian Brownwell comes to town to publish a newspaper, his cash deposits in Hendricks' bank relieve the banker's worry that an expected bank examiner will discover the shortage in bank funds resulting from Hendricks' support of Barclay. Adrian falls in love with Molly and decides to leave Sycamore Ridge when she refuses to marry him. Barclay threatens Molly with the financial ruin of many whom she holds dear unless she marries Adrian, and Bob returns from the East to find Molly the new Mrs. Brownwell. Twenty years later, Barclay has become a financial power, Adrian has fallen into drunkenness, and Molly supports herself by working on the newspaper, which Bob now controls. In a rage Adrian shoots Bob and flees, and happiness comes to Bob and Molly when word comes of Adrian's death in a railroad accident. Barclay's wife's death leads the financier to believe that he is being punished for ruthlessly crushing his rivals, and he distributes his fortune to those whose businesses he has ruined.

Dir: Howard Hickman

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

Nancy is a scrub girl in a fashionable residence, remains honest and law-abiding despite being raised by Mother Hawkins, the fence for many of the city's criminals. She befriends wealthy John Lewis, who argues with his neighbor, Southern gentleman Andrew Calvert, that a lady is made, not born. After Mother Hawkins takes $100 from visiting crook, Gentleman Chi, for Nancy's help in robbing a safe, Nancy leaves her look-out post and Chi, arrested, vows revenge. For protection, Nancy goes to Lewis who sees an opportunity to prove his theory. Five years of wealth and education turn Nancy, now introduced as Lewis' niece, into a woman of refinement and grace. After she befriends Calvert's daughter Virginia, Chi returns. He pursues Virginia, planning to elope with her after she has stolen the family jewels, but Nancy, drawing on her upbringing, steals them back. When Nancy is caught, Virginia confesses, and Lewis, in love with Nancy, proposes to her.

Dir: Howard Hickman

Gordon Kingsley lives happily with his wife Dorothy and little daughter Mary Jane. However, when he visits the home of San Francisco architect Frank Mason, he is stunned to find a portrait of his own wife and daughter. Suspecting the worst of Dorothy, he hires a private detective. Soon after, Gordon asks Frank to design his new house, and Dorothy, fearing that he knows of her association with Frank, slips the latter a note arranging a private visit in his apartment. Frank, a reformed thief, refuses to stage a robbery with his old accomplices, and when they are arrested, one of the gang accuses Frank of informing the police and kills him. Arriving at his apartment, Dorothy assumes that Gordon killed him and is hiding the body when a detective enters. Unaware that Gordon is in the next room, Dorothy confesses that, unable to have a child, she had secretly adopted Frank's baby in Gordon's absence. Relieved, Gordon forgives his wife, while the real murderer is caught and arrested.

Dir: Howard Hickman

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

Ellen Latimer meets artist Gibbs Josselyn at a party where she is snubbed. After they fall in love and marry, they move to Europe, where Gibbs finishes his art studies, because he resents the young, frivolous wife of his father Thomas, an architect. Five years later, after Gibbs has made a name for himself, they return, responding to Thomas' plea to see his grandson Tommy. At their Long Island home, Thomas and Tommy become fast friends, while Gibbs falls prey to his flirting stepmother Lillian, to Ellen's dismay. When Ellen and Thomas find Lillian in a negligee at Gibb's studio one morning after Gibbs supposedly was working and Lillian visiting a friend, Gibbs, innocent of any wrong-doing, leaves after quarreling with Thomas and threatening to kill him. The next day, when Thomas is found dead, Gibbs is imprisoned. After Tommy calmly confesses to shooting Thomas while playing soldier, Gibbs is released and reunited with the faithful Ellen.

Dir: Howard Hickman

Richard Emerson and Mary Ashby undertake a marriage of convenience: she marries him for his wealth, and he marries her both for her social standing and to quash rumors of an affair with his brilliant secretary, Eleanor Lathrop. After the ceremony, the couple separates. Mary returns to their elegant country home, while Emerson, accompanied by Eleanor, travels West to work in his railroad construction camp. Time passes and Mary, despite her luxuries, discovers that only her husband can make her happy, while Emerson realizes that his opportunism has only brought him loneliness. Successful beyond his wildest expectations, Emerson returns to New York with Eleanor on the eve of his third anniversary. Visiting Mary, he discovers an anniversary dinner awaiting him, and a reconciliation seems possible. However, later that evening, Eleanor arrives and confesses her love for Emerson. The two women duel for his possession, with Mary emerging victorious.

Dir: Howard Hickman

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Josselyn's Wife perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Rachael marries Clarence Breckenridge, whose daughter Billy is only a few years younger than she. Clarence, an alcoholic, is devoted to Billy, but because both father and daughter are indifferent to Rachael, she finally divorces Clarence to wed her old friend, Dr. Warren Gregory. Soon afterward, Rachael learns to her distress that Warren is no longer the home-loving man she had befriended but a social "high-stepper," much like her first husband. Several years pass, during which Billy elopes with worthless pleasure-seeker Joe Pickering, which leads Clarence to kill himself. Meanwhile, Warren develops an attachment to actress Magsie Clay. Magsie admits to Rachael that she loves Warren, and the young wife agrees to a divorce, but Warren, unwilling to leave Rachael and his children permanently, departs for Europe. When their little son Jim is severely injured, Rachael begs Warren to save him, and through this ordeal the couple's love is renewed.

Dir: Howard Hickman

Professor Lampton's work of excavating the tomb of Akhnaton (Ikhnaton) is held up by lack of funds, and Prince Dagmar, scion of a Balkan royal family, finances him with the ulterior motive of robbing the tomb of its treasures. Michael Amory, an artist assisting Lampton, loves Margaret, but believing her to be in love with the prince he departs with Gondo Koro, a Bedouin prophet who knows the location of the tomb. Dagmar sends Millicent, an adventuress, to obtain the information from Michael, and when Dagmar enters the tomb at night Michael surprises him. The thieves wound Michael, but they are captured and he and Margaret are reconciled.

Dir: Howard Hickman

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

Ranch owner Jack Kennedy is in need of some cowhands. Young Betty Craig, a friend of Jack's sister Florence, bets her that she can disguise herself as a man and get a job at the ranch, fooling all the cowboys As "Bob Craig", she gets hired, but although Jack and the cowboys aren't fooled by her "disguise", they decide to have some fun with "Bob" and put her through a series of practical jokes to test "Bob's" mettle. However, things don't turn out quite the way the boys expected--and Betty has an even bigger surprise in store for them.

Dir: Howard Hickman

Hamid-Ali, an Arab chieftain and bandit, captures an English baby during a raid on a caravan and, naming her Sheka, puts her in a harem to be prepared for the slave auction. At the auction, Sir Derek Anstruther, who has fallen in love with Sheka, disguises himself as an Arab and bids for her. After a fight, he kidnaps her and marries her at the English consulate. In England, Sheka has embarrassing moments conforming to British customs of dress and manner, which are intensified by the plot-tings of Derek's former sweetheart. When Derek neglects her because of financial worries, Sheka decides to sell herself to the libertine Duke of Wryden for the amount that Derek needs. Derek rushes to the duke's home when he hears of Sheka's plan, but after he learns that the duke investigated her and discovered she was his niece and an heiress to a large estate, Derek and Sheka are reunited.

Dir: Howard Hickman

Margaret Wayne is devoted to her husband John Rutherford Wayne and their small son "Sonny Boy." Her husband forsakes her for pleasure-loving Rita Kosloff. Family friend Philip Northrop tells Margaret of her husband's unfaithfulness. To make her husband jealous, Margaret pretends to be interested romantically in Philip, not knowing that he actually is in love with her. After Philip implicates Margaret in a compromising situation, her husband is eager to divorce her. He gains custody of their son and marries Rita. "Sonny Boy" becomes ill, and Margaret, who has become a nurse, is summoned to care for him. Margaret's devotion saves the boy's life and makes John realize that he has made a mistake. Philip then decides the only way out is to kill himself and Rita, which he does on a joyride. Margaret and John are finally reconciled.