Essential Cult Cinema Mirroring the Impact of Blackie's Redemption: Cult Guide

Dir: John Ince

Older couple Abe and Angie Rose lose their life savings in worthless mining stock; their last $100 is for Angie to live in the Old Ladies' Home, while Abe must content himself with the poorhouse. Their parting at the gate of the institution affects the inmates so deeply that they make arrangements for Abe to remain there as "Old Lady 31." Once there, the ladies almost nurse Abe to death, and when inmate Blossy's new husband, Captain Darby, suggests he escape, Abe welcomes the opportunity. Remorse overtakes him, however, and he returns to discover that the mining stock is worth enough money to buy back the Roses' old house.

Dir: John Ince

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

Helen Merrimore, the daughter of a mine owner, is snubbed by New York society. Weary of being courted for her wealth, she attends under an assumed name a house party being given by Ned and Edith Loring. There she falls in love with Schuyler Livingstone, the impoverished heir of the elite Livingstone line. Edith Loring, who secretly loves Schuyler, arranges to have dinner with him at a questionable roadhouse. They are discovered by Edith's husband, Ned, but Helen, who has happened to come there, protects the innocent Schuyler by telling Ned that she herself arranged the dinner meeting to announce her engagement to Schuyler. Helen later learns that Schuyler earlier has been persuaded by her father to marry her--sight unseen, buying Schuyler's name with Merrimore money. The estranged but still engaged couple give a ball in Merrimore's mine, during which there is a cave-in. She and Schuyler come to recognize their true love just as they are rescued.

Dir: John Ince

Wealthy, beautiful Juanita Holland leaves the comfortable surroundings of her home in the North and journeys to the Cumberland Mountains to educate the illiterate mountaineers. Finding herself in the middle of a fierce feud between the McBriars and the Haveys, Juanita urges the clan members to end the violence and settle their differences in the courtroom. She and clan leader "Bad Anse" Havey fall in love, and under her influence, he convinces his followers to let the law punish the murderer of Jeb Havey's father. After one of the McBriars is found guilty and hanged, "Old Milt" McBriar swears that his family will obtain revenge and organizes a party to go after Bad Anse. When they shoot the young man, seriously injuring him, Juanita seizes a rifle and opens fire. Fearing that Anse will not recover, she marries him that night, but he eventually regains his health.

Dir: John Ince

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

Philip Eaton is a passenger in a Pullman sleeping car headed to Chicago. However, he's not quite what he seems to be--he's actually Hugh Overton, who has just escaped from prison to clear himself after having been falsely convicted of murdering Matthew Latrone, a corrupt financier who cheated Hugh's mother out of her estate. It turns out that Latrone is still alive and sends out a killer to eliminate Hugh. Complications ensue.

Dir: John Ince

Unknown to her, Mary Manchester is a double for the ailing Mrs. Adelaide Rutherford, a wealthy woman who has been driven insane by her husband's cruelty. Rutherford is in league with Jasper Haig and Dr. Babcock. Together these men hold in trust sixty million dollars which upon Adelaide's death will revert to her brother Stanford Gorgas. Fearful of Adelaide's imminent death, the conspirators plan to substitute Mary in her place, thus preventing Gorgas from inheriting the money. After imprisoning Mary in Adelaide's house, their plan backfires when Gorgas meets her and, suspecting something is wrong, learns of Mary's plight. After Gorgas helps Mary escape, she is recaptured by Haig, who decides he must now eliminate Gorgas. Assuming that a fluttering behind the curtain is his adversary, Haig takes aim and shoots, only to kill Rutherford instead, thus freeing Mary to spend her future with Gorgas.

Dir: John Ince

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

Alias "the Dancer," fashionable society crook Jimmy Burke is hot on the trail of the Brent diamonds. Upon learning that Molly Brent and her diamonds are the stars of an amateur play, Jimmy obtains the leading man's part and devises a plan to steal the jewels. Molly falls in love with her leading man, who plans to switch the gems with fakes during the performance. After the play, the police question the couple and Molly declares that the robbery was part of the drama. When she discovers Jimmy's deed, she begins to cry and "the Dancer," realizing that he is in love with his victim, renounces his profession.

Dir: John Ince

Young society girl Joyce Lyndon is engaged to energetic Grant Garrison, who lures the judge's daughter to a roadhouse for the night and meets his death at the hands of an abandoned wife. Joyce escapes in fright and meets Martin Antrim, who protects her in exchange for an introduction to her circle of friends. Antrim elicits a confession from Garrison's widow, and Joyce recovers an incriminating handbag from the innkeepers when they attempt to blackmail her.

Dir: John Ince

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Held in Trust perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Joe and Eleanor Woodbury lead an unhappy married life: she is fond of the gay life, and he is not. Together, they visit Nadia, a lovely young woman who tells the future by gazing into a crystal ball, and Joe and Nadia fall in love at first sight. Although Eleanor is having an affair with Gene Deering, a lounge lizard, she wants to stay married to Joe and therefore tells Nadia that she is pregnant. The diminutive crystal-gazer promises to stop seeing Joe, and Eleanor resumes her illicit relationship with Deering. Following a raid on a roadhouse where they are carousing, Eleanor and Deering are involved in an automobile accident and she is slightly hurt. The doctor who attends her later informs Nadia that Eleanor is not expecting a child, and Nadia telephones Joe to tell him of his wife's double deception. Joe then tells Eleanor that he is going to divorce her and goes to Nadia.

Dir: John Ince

On a visit to the city of Boston, a village girl is taken advantage of by a man there and returns home feeling sullied and ashamed. A young man who had once sought her hand returns from years away in Europe and reiterates his suit. She returns his love and agrees to marry him, but has difficulty telling him the truth about her misadventure. When she finally does, his response seems to doom the pair to tragedy.

Dir: John Ince

Muriel Ashley is engaged to Ferdie Walton. Ferdie's father opposes the marriage; Muriel's parents favor it. The couple are married by a strange parson who wanders into the Ashley home, then after they leave for the honeymoon, Ferdie's father discovers that the clergyman is a crook. He notifies the hotel and the young couple are ordered out. They return to the bridal suite by way of a window, but the hotel catches fire and they escape. They go to the Ashley home where they learn they are actually not married. The "clergyman" who married them breaks into the house and is captured. Rev. Dr. Jenkins identifies him, however, as a genuine clergyman who has been suffering loss of memory; thus the marriage turns out to be legal after all.