The Essential Watchlist that Capture the Essence of Call the Wagon:...

Dir: Scott Sidney

John Kemp, a wealthy man, after the announcement of his engagement to Eleanor Dutton, overhears her declare her love for another man, at the same time stating that she must marry Kemp for his money. Heartbroken, Kemp goes to the mountain wilderness. Eleanor marries the man she loves and Kemp marries The Morning Star, an Indian. They have a daughter, Alona, whom Kemp idolizes. She meets Frank Colvin, a poor young prospector, and they become attached to each other. Kemp feels it his duty to return to civilization in order to complete Alona's education. He places her in a fashionable boarding school. Upon learning that she is of Indian blood the girls snub her, only one, Myra Agnew, being kind. Myra takes Alona home with her at Christmas time, that she may meet her brother, Blinn, in the hopes that he will marry her. Alona, by accident, learns that Blinn cares only for her fortune, and upon the death of her father she returns to her people, embittered. She again meets Frank Colvin, who declares his love for her. She decides to test him and buys his mine through an unknown agent. He returns to the city, seeks out Alona, and promises to bring his mother and sister to see her. The mother and sister, however, having been informed that Frank intends to marry an Indian, call on Alona and, when they see her real beauty, tell her they do not wonder Frank loves her, and plan a big surprise for him. That night Alona sends her car for Frank and, accompanied by his mother and sister, they are driven to Alona's beautiful mansion. Here he finds her transformed from the simple Indian maiden he believes her to be into an heiress. Now that Alona is satisfied he loves her for herself alone, she reveals her real identity and their happiness is complete.

Dir: Unknown Director

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

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Charley Chase

A young married couple volunteer to take charge of several orphans after the asylum has burned down. Of course they find their hands full with their troublesome charges.

Dir: Scott Sidney

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

Dorothy is a girl who romantically fell in love with a long haired professor with whom she eloped. "The other fellow" is played by Earle, whose black face make-up at a critical situation almost loses him the girl of his choice.

Dir: Reggie Morris

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Scott Sidney

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Oh, Susie, Be Careful perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Scott Sidney

Most of the patients of Dr. Ward Allison are women, and his wife Margery is becoming increasingly jealous of all the time he spends with them. One day he tells her that he has been called out of town, but she is told that he is really staying at the house of a friend and colleague, Dr. Hendon, and the two are planning wild parties with their female patients. What she finds out, however, is even more shocking than what she expected.

Dir: Edgar Jones

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Striking Models 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: Maurice Campbell

Carver Endicott, a young sophisticate, is rejected by his fiancée for being too foppish and dull. When she feigns an interest in his father, Carver attempts to disgrace his family name by working as a farmhand and later as a busboy in a hotel. However, the newspapers only praise him for his self-sacrificing principles; and finding that he cannot bring shame to the family through menial labor, he takes up with a notorious actress. But when this maneuver also fails, he returns to his former fiancée, who has no further complaint about his being an inexperienced dullard.

Dir: Scott Sidney

Nan is the soda fountain queen in Dead Dog. She is in love with Billy, but she got a letter from a New York lawyer saying that she and her cousin, Hezekiah, a New England school teacher, would have to marry in order to share a bequest of some thousands of dollars. Hezekiah was on his way west and because Nan would lose the money if she turned him down, she conceived the idea of rejuvenating the wildness of Dead Dog to frighten poor Hezey out of marrying her. With the scene all set and Hezekiah duly shocked, Nan made her entry, riding her horse up the steps and into the bar. In spite of his terror, Hezekiah was willing to go on with the ceremony, and just as Nan and he were about to say "I do," Billy made his entry and began to shoot up the place. This was too much for Hezekiah, and he started running, caught the observation platform of a train starting for the east.