Essential Cult Cinema Mirroring the Impact of Brothers Under the Sk...

Dir: E. Mason Hopper

Social worker John Warfield meets socialist radical Guido Garcia, and together they establish a refuge in San Francisco for life's unfortunates. Goldie Shepard, whose father is an alcoholic, develops an interest in socialism and becomes Warfield's stenographer. Goldie's hatred of the rich increases when her father is killed by an automobile in which society woman Lorraine Van Allen is riding. As a result of the accident, Lorraine becomes a supporter of the refuge. Meanwhile, Warfield's mother dies in England and leaves him a large estate. When Warfield marries Goldie and takes her to England, he is shocked to see her fondness for luxury, and soon decides to donate his estate to the poor and return to San Francisco. Guido, who had been Goldie's suitor, learns of her marriage and murders her, after which he leaps from a bridge to his death. Later, Warfield marries Lorraine, and they convert the English mansion into a children's home.

Dir: E. Mason Hopper

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

Young Polly Eccles is raising her sickly young brother Billy. When her doctor advises taking Billy away from their dank slum, she packs them both up and they head for California. While hitchhiking there, they are picked up by Kirk Drummond, who just happens to be driving to California himself. Upon their arrival, Kirk's wealthy father John is horrified that he has hooked up with a "lower-class" woman like Polly and does everything he can to make life miserable for her so she will leave. However, an incident occurs at the mine John's father owns that could turn out badly for all concerned.

Dir: E. Mason Hopper

Quartus Hembly, a man without a conscience, is the ruler of the town of Copper City, having made himself rich at the expense of his workers. When Donald Keith, a young lawyer, arrives in town, a hidden spring within him is touched after Hembly viciously kicks his dog. Keith refuses to leave town and warns Hembly that he will fight to see that the people get their rights. Keith's only ally is Thora Erickson, the daughter of Hembly's henchman. Keith's opportunity to topple Hembly presents itself when he rescues Bill Wheeler, who, out of gratitude, confesses that it was Hembly who dynamited the log jam years earlier. With the lawyers and the courts in the palm of his hand, Hembly is acquitted, but the townspeople are so outraged that they capture Hembly and tie him to the whipping post. He is rescued by Keith, who forces a full confession for all Hembly's crimes and then allows him to leave town. Keith is then made district attorney, Thora becomes his bride, and Copper City becomes a decent place in which to live.

Dir: E. Mason Hopper

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

Weak-willed Roy Hanford, driven from his father's house by the coldness of his stone-hearted wife and the sanctimonious attitude of his father, the deacon, flees to the city. There he is befriended by Breeze Ballard, a salesman for the Ajax Hardware Company who arranges for Roy to work in the office. Roy falls in love with the firm's secretary, Jeanie MacGregor, and the two are married. A year later, Roy is happy with his wife and newborn child when his father appears, accompanied by an officer carrying a warrant that charges Roy with bigamy. To save himself from the penitentiary, Roy denies the marriage and deserts Jeanie. Jeanie follows her drunken husband, who falls from a cliff and dies. She then becomes a target for the hypocritical deacon who attempts to rally the villagers to drive her from town. The deacon is defeated by the appearance of Breeze, who produces proof of Jeanie's marriage and pledges his own love to her.

Dir: E. Mason Hopper

Yano is a small delivery boy for his uncle, who keeps a curio shop in Chinatown. His loves are Tama, his sweetheart, and Bengi, his dog. Bengi is seized by dog catchers, but is rescued by Letty Stanford, for which Yano promises his fealty. Later Letty is kidnapped by Germans because of her war activities, and it is Yano who goes to her rescue and gets her free in spite of his diminutive size. The Little Japanese has paid his debt.

Dir: E. Mason Hopper

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Without Honor perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Florence Burgess, a singer in the Cafe Fanchon, supports her lame sister, Frances, but keeps her struggle secret. Oscar Morse, a theatrical manager, is attracted by Florence's beauty and talent, and offers her an engagement. When they meet he demands the usual payment his girls have to make, and is refused. The café has been closed, she is out of work and decides to trick Morse. She gets him drunk, and he signs a paper she has substituted for the contract he planned. Florence the next day admits her deception and Morse, fearing publicity, accepts the situation and stars Florence in "The Green Goddess." She makes a big success, her stage name being Flo Burke. At a little country hotel where she has gone to rest after the first year's work, she meets Fenton, the minister, whose efforts closed the Fanchon, but he does not recognize her. He tells the story of his mission work, she becomes interested, they fall in love, he not knowing that she is the actress, Flo Burke, the register showing Miss F. Burgess. She finally keeps her secret, saying she is the sister of the actress. Fenton is preaching, Florence hears him, determines to give up the stage, but Morse demands the payment of a large forfeit, and she is bound to the stage. Frances, who has been sent to a sanatorium, starts with her sister for New York, the train is wrecked, and Fenton, when the bodies are brought in, finds one bearing cards which tell him it is Flo Burke. Another woman, not dead, has cards of Florence Burgess. Florence sees in a paper in the hospital the announcement of the death of Flo Burke, and sees that it means her escape from the stage. She marries Fenton, but is full of remorse over her deception, and plans to use her money, which had come to her through her own will, which had left it to her sister, for the work of Fenton. Morse goes to the church rectory to see Fenton about a problem play, sees Florence, she denies knowing him, he returns to his office, finds a diary she had kept, and it reveals her secret. He returns, demands full payment of the contract forfeit, and Florence is up against a dilemma. If she gives the money to Morse, she must explain to her husband; if she gives it to her husband Morse will drag her back to the stage. Seeking a way out of the labyrinth, she promises Morse to read the play, and advises Fenton to favor it for production by Morse. He comes to the house, meets Fenton instead of Florence, who overhears her husband praising the play, and decides to give her husband the money. Morse flies into a rage, threatens to denounce her, but Fenton stops him; there is a fight, Morse accidentally shoots himself with his own pistol, and with her husband's love safe Florence feels that she has escaped from the labyrinth.

Dir: E. Mason Hopper

Colonel Dabney Mills, whose Southern plantation is heavily mortgaged, makes a trip to New York hoping to borrow money from James Adams, his granddaughter Anna Belle's husband. When the colonel arrives, he learns that Adams's entire capital is tied up in a big stock deal, and that he is therefore unable to lend the colonel any assistance. While Adams is away, one of his business partners entrusts the colonel with $5,000 to retain for his grandson-in-law. Desperate, the colonel speculates in cotton on the tip of an old friend and loses the money. Conscience-stricken, the colonel returns to his plantation determined to take his life, but Adams, successful in his deal, arrives just in time to prevent the tragedy.

Dir: E. Mason Hopper

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

Mynderse Van Dyun, a wealthy old New York aristocrat, has one goal in life, to see his granddaughter Catherine and grandson Pell married; for, although they are cousins, the marriage would perpetuate the family name. Catherine, however, is in love with Paul La Farge and detests her drug-addicted cousin, who seduces and then secretly marries her maid, Nora Duffy. After a son is born to Nora, who dies in childbirth, the infant is taken to the Van Dyun house where, only a few days before, Pell, in a dispute involving drugs, had been thrown from a window by his valet and killed. When the old man refuses to acknowledge the child, Catherine and Paul adopt the baby, leave the Van Dyun house and are married. Five years later, Catherine comes to visit the old man with his great-grandson, and, seeing what a fine boy he is, the old aristocrat is forced to admit that the boy is worthy of bearing his name.

Dir: E. Mason Hopper

"Tough Luck" Baxter, returning from a prospecting trip, meets Happy Jack Clarke, a former citizen of Baxter City, a boom town which became a ghost town when the gold petered out. A game of cards decides that Clarke will go back to Baxter City with "Tough Luck" in search of ore. Meanwhile, the Firefly, a New York music hall entertainer out of a job, is ordered by her parasitic husband Bert Wilcox to perform at the dance hall in Baxter City. Upon her arrival, she finds the town deserted and strikes out on the open trail. Overcome by the desert, she is rescued and brought back to Baxter City by Danny Ward, a former Yale athlete. Together, "Tough Luck," Clarke, Danny and Firefly organize a family and strike gold. Danny, having fallen in love with Firefly, proposes to her on the very night that her worthless husband comes to town. Wilcox loots the assayer's office, is caught, convicted, and thrown out of town. Out of loyalty, Firefly accompanies him. Danny follows them and finds Firefly abandoned in the desert by Wilcox who has stolen her money and water. Justice is served when Wilcox perishes in a den of rattlesnakes, thus freeing Firefly to return with Danny to Baxter City.

Dir: E. Mason Hopper

Dr. Manning cherishes Gloriana, his newly-adopted young daughter, but Mrs. Manning, who directs overseas charity projects, has as little concern for Gloriana as she does for the poverty-stricken people in her own city. After listening to her new mother philosophize about the importance of charity, Gloriana takes some money from Mrs. Manning's desk and gives it to Miriam, her impoverished governess. Mrs. Manning at first accuses Miriam of theft, but when Gloriana confesses, Mrs. Manning suddenly realizes that she has been blind to the poverty that surrounds her, and she vows to start devoting her energy into helping those who are closer to home.