Top-Tier Alternatives In the Shadow of Behind the Door: Cult Guide

Dir: Irvin Willat

Peter Kennedy, a pernicious landlord who desires his tenant, Nora McCree, realizes that the only way to possess Nora is to eliminate her husband Patrick. To accomplish this, Kennedy arranges a fight between Patrick and another man, in which the latter is badly wounded. Patrick is told that his opponent has died, and at Kennedy's suggestion, joins the army and goes to Africa to fight the Boers. In his absence, Kennedy, unable to win Nora by fair means, does everything in his power to make her feel the pinch of poverty and thus capitulate to him. Things are at their worst for the McCree family when little Eileen, after listening to fairy tales told to her by the Irishman Flynn, dreams of her father and finds him the next day, unconscious under a large tree after having been waylaid by Kennedy upon his return home. With Patrick's return, Kennedy's plans are dashed, and the McCree family is united once again.

Dir: Irvin Willat

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

When Adam Larey, a young mining engineer, shoots his brother Guerd in a quarrel and wounds the sheriff in escaping from town, he seeks refuge in the desert and is saved by Dismukes, an old prospector. After severe hardships, he stumbles on the home of the Vireys, the parents of his sweetheart, Ruth. Virey, who believes his wife is unfaithful, starts an avalanche which destroys both himself and his wife. Adam informs Ruth of the tragedy, and she urges him to return to atone for his past. He finds his brother has sustained only a minor injury, and thus he is free to marry Ruth.

Dir: Irvin Willat

Alain de Montcalm is the son of a French trading post proprietor. When a murder and kidnapping occur, Alain pursues the abducted girl and her captor across the far northern wasteland of ice.

Dir: Irvin Willat

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

Pioneer rancher August Naab finds Easterner Jack Hare in the desert and takes him home, where Naab's Spanish-Indian ward Mescal cares for and falls in love with Jack though she is betrothed to Naab's wayward son Snap. To avoid marrying Snap, Mescal flees into the desert and is captured there by desert pirate Mal Holderness, a ruthless man seeking to control the surrounding area's water rights by buying or seizing the local ranches. Because Naab has refused to sell, Holderness begins a feud, taking Mescal prisoner and killing her prospective bridegroom Snap, who has followed her into the desert. As the leader of the law-abiding community, Naab, with a group of sympathetic Indians, burns down the neighboring town serving as a hideout for Holderness and his gang. Mescal is rescued and returned to Jack.

Dir: Irvin Willat

During World War I, a professional thief known as The Lone Wolf is assigned to steal a cylinder with important information from behind the German lines and bring it to Allied intelligence headquarters. However, German agents set out to stop him, headed by the man who was responsible for the death of the thief's sister.

Dir: Irvin Willat

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

Harold Mark marries Thora after treating her injured grandfather, then migrates to New York City with his young wife to study surgery. While Harold devotes himself to his studies and to social problems, Thora seeks expression with Greenwich Village bohemians and falls prey to the flattery of sculptor Monsieur Duparc, who convinces her that she is neglected by her husband. After the Marks separate, Harold becomes chief surgeon of a state hospital, and Thora spends a year as the guest of Duparc's aunt. On his way to persuade Harold to divorce Thora, Duparc is injured in an automobile accident. Harold unselfishly performs lifesaving surgery on Duparc, while a crazed patient sets fire to the hospital. Afterward, Harold returns to Thora's country home. She follows and they are reconciled.

Dir: Irvin Willat

When cowboy Nick McCredie notices in a second-hand book an inscription to "Emily, the prettiest girl in school," he writes to her and learns that she is a lonely Eastern farm girl living with her grandmother. Instead of sending his own picture to her, Nick encloses a photo of his handsome friend Pen Walton. After Nick sees Walton stealing two horses, Nick agrees to keep quiet, when Walton promises to reform. Meanwhile, Emily's grandmother dies, and her new guardian tries to force her to marry him. She writes to Nick, who proposes by letter. Nick meets her, but identifies himself as "Andy," and when she says she would be disappointed if Nick was not as handsome as his picture, he shows her the way to Walton, and rides off alone. After Walton rustles another horse and plants Nick's glove as evidence, he abducts Emily. She escapes, and riding the stolen horse, she leads the rest to the ranch in time to stop Nick's hanging. After the real identities are revealed, Nick and Emily marry.

Dir: Irvin Willat

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

A mutual attraction develops between Roger Wainright, a wealthy New York idler visiting his Florida estate, and Gale Brenon, daughter of a federal revenue agent. During a raid on a fashionable gambling resort, Mr. Brenon is killed, and suspicion is focused on Roger, who escapes to Gale's home. She helps Roger escape into the swamp but joins the search for him when she learns of her father's death. Gale weakens when she finds Roger, but he decides to surrender. Ultimately, Mildred Van Buren exposes Deputy Brown to be Brenon's murderer.

Dir: Irvin Willat

A widely respected deep-sea diver is approached by a ring of con artists who want him to be the front man for a phony scheme to recover gold from sunken ships. When he refuses, they send a sexy young woman to seduce his son, and then blackmail the father into going along with their scheme.

Dir: Irvin Willat

Nance Pelot is bravely trying to support herself and her father Joe, the town drunk, by playing piano in an unsavory roadside inn owned by Larry Shayne. Chet Todd, the son of a shop owner, is in love with her, but her reputation has been sullied by her profession, so Chet's mother disapproves of her. Nance inherits a small farm from her mother, and when Shayne discovers that the property is valuable, he plots to cheat her out of her inheritance. After a series of misadventures, including a revival meeting and a blinding snowstorm, Joe stops drinking and Chet rescues the farm from Shayne. When Nance sells the property, she gains a respectable income, as well as the respect of the community and her future mother-in-law.