Hidden Genre Gems for Fans of California: Cult Guide

Dir: Maurice Elvey

A lady marries a horse trainer but withholds herself until her crippled brother is cured.

Dir: Edgar Jones

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

A mail-order bride arrives at a Maine lumber camp but doesn't like her prospective husband.

Dir: Alexander Butler

In Alberta, Canada, a Cornish emigrant unmasks a rustler posing as the girl's "blind" father.

Dir: W.S. Van Dyke

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

Jack Derry accidentally becomes involved in a mystery surrounding Glory Billings, when fate makes him her rescuer in a kidnapping episode.

Dir: W.S. Van Dyke

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Dallas M. Fitzgerald

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

Confidence artist Flossie Golden attempts to fleece foolish but wealthy James Venable with a breach-of-promise suit. Venable's shrewd attorney, Richard Harding, outwits Flossie by proposing that she marry Venable and live on an allowance of $3,000 per year. Flossie is determined to get even with Harding for ruining her plans. In an attempt to con him, she poses as Innocence Page, but falls in love and marries him instead. Larry, Flossie's former accomplice, endeavors to blackmail her with her errant past, but Harding is already cognizant of the facts and Larry fails.

Dir: W.S. Van Dyke

In the land where the Sun hangs low and the hungry wolves shadows play ominously over the everlasting snow, Joe Mauchin meets Jeanne Verette. He is a trapper, come down to the little post of Mead's Pocket, a vicious mining town, for supplies. She, the daughter of a saloonkeeper who compels her to "drum up trade" among his maudlin patrons. Joe falls in love with Jeanne. A brute of a man seeks to interfere and in the resultant struggle falls dead. Joe and Jeanne flee to his camp miles away and a year's happiness follows. Then the trapper finds Constable McKenzie of the Mounted Police half dead in the snow. Joe revives the officer and carries him to his cabin. Straightway McKenzie arrests the trapper for the saloon death. A desperate fight ensues between the two and the constable, overpowered, flees for aid. He is last seen in the woods, staggering from the effects of a wound, and with a pack of wolves slowly drawing in on him. Joe, in the cabin, draws to his arms Jeanne who is shyly clutching a newly made bit of baby clothes. It is that for which Joe had fought.

Dir: William Parke

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Fate's Frame-Up perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Bruce Wendell, the son of West Virginia coal mine owner James Wendell, graduates from West Point and prepares to lead a fighting unit to the front during World War I. As his father lies dying, however, he convinces Bruce to remain at home and guard the mine. Bruce's fiancée Ann Blair assumes that he is a coward and breaks off their engagement, but her brother Bobbie remains Bruce's loyal friend. Meyer, a German agent, persuades railroad president Parrish to refuse to transport Wendell's coal, but when Bruce adamantly refuses to close the mine, the spy's men decide to blow it up. While Ann is being abducted by Meyer, Bobbie is buried in an explosion at the mine. Bruce rescues Bobbie and then sends a plea to Lieutenant Parrish to rescue Ann. Meyer and his gang are captured and Ann renews her vow of love to Bruce.

Dir: W.S. Van Dyke

Some of the most sanguinary feuds in America have been fought out, not in the mountains of the south, but on the deserts of the great west, where cattlemen and sheepmen often dealt out death to each other with the aid of their old friends, Winchester and Colt. Such a feud is in progress between the men of the desert when Jack, a nomadic cowboy, wanders into the scene. He is outspoken against the outlawry, and the sheriff, in jest, hands him his badge and asks him if he can do any better. Jack accepts the challenge and arrests one of the most recent slayers. The latter's companions immediately storm the jail and rescue him. In the fight Jack is desperately wounded. May, a girl of the ranch, finds the cowboy half dead and hides him in an isolated hut while she nurses him back to health. The feudists discover Jack's hiding place and attack him. He and the girl escape, and while Jack holds a narrow canyon against his pursuers the girl dashes across the desert in search of aid. Jack's life seems as good as lost when May returns with the opposing feudists, who save him. The wedding between Jack and the girl on the battleground reconciles the feudists and restores order on the desert.

Dir: Bruno Ziener

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.