Deep Archive Finds Movies That Echo the Spirit of Cassidy: Cult Guide

Dir: Arthur Rosson

Steve Brent, a construction engineer with an excellent reputation, is blamed for having used inferior materials on a bridge that collapses. Bert Thornton, his employer's son, is actually responsible, but not wishing to expose him, Brent surrenders his position. Assuming another name, he goes west to work on a desert irrigation project where the manager's daughter, Mary Ralston, recognizes him but keeps his secret. Ralston is informed by an enemy of Steve's, but Mary helps to protect Steve's name until he is exonerated and becomes free to marry her.

Dir: Arthur Rosson

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

Millionaire spendthrift Sam Morgan marries Constance Winwood, who tries to break Sam's spending habits by convincing Downer, the trustee of Sam's inheritance, to pretend to abscond with Sam's money. During their honeymoon, Sam spends his $10.30 pocket money, then discovers that his checks are bouncing. Unable to pay an increasingly-large taxi fare, Sam and Constance keep the cab and its sleepy driver engaged after they are thrown out of a hotel. After a friendly thief gets Sam a job in a herring refinery, Sam uses his rudimentary knowledge of Spanish to buy a shipload of herring from a South American dealer and sell it to the refinery's directors, who know no Spanish, thus making enough profit to pay his now-exorbitant taxi bill. Constance confesses her scheme, and although it seems that Downer really has absconded, he finally returns. Wealthy again, Sam and Constance adorn their bedroom with taxi meters and headlights.

Dir: Arthur Rosson

Sky Parker, an Arizona cowboy, inherits a fortune from his eccentric uncle in San Francisco; under the terms of the will, however, he must live in his uncle's mansion for a year before claiming the bequest. Sky arrives in San Francisco accompanied by five cowboys, who immediately begin to raise western hell, stealing two Clydesdale horses from a brewery and shooting the gargoyles from the mansion roof. Sky's cousin, Miller, persuades a beautiful young girl, Maize, to help him prevent Sky from obtaining the inheritance, but she soon falls in love with the rugged ramrod and refuses to continue with their attempted fraud. Sky, not knowing of her duplicity, asks Maize to marry him; filled with shame, she runs away instead and boards a fast train. Trying to stop her, Sky chases the train in a car, which crashes; he then steals a cop's motorcycle, boarding the speeding train from that precarious perch. On the train, Maize confesses her guilt, Sky forgives her, and they declare their love for each other. When they return to his mansion, Sky punches Miller and throws him out of the house.

Dir: Arthur Rosson

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Ridin' Pretty perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

John Carleton, a wild eastern youth, is sent west by his father in an effort to make a man of him. The cowhands at first mock John because of his foppish golf suit, but when he rides a mean bucking bronco he wins their friendship and respect. John falls in love with Beryl King, the daughter of a longtime enemy of his father, and is strictly forbidden to visit her. John defies this prohibition and rides to the King ranch, fighting off a number of unkindly disposed ranch hands; he later dances with Beryl at a village party and persuades her to run away with him and be married. On the way to the wedding, John stops at the King spread long enough to invite Beryl's irate father to see his daughter married. Carleton, Senior, turns up later, and the old enemies are finally reconciled.

Dir: Arthur Rosson

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Arthur Rosson

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

Jack Towne, who has just inherited one million dollars, is warned by his Uncle Mark to beware of strangers. Heedless of his uncle's advice, Jack becomes involved with Doris Ames whom he casually meets in a café. Unknown to Jack, Doris, who is in desperate need of money to pay the mortgage on her mother's house, is working for Mrs. Ames, The Menace and Laughing Louie, a gang of grafters hired by Uncle Mark to teach Jack a lesson. With the aid of the gang, Doris traps Jack in a compromising situation and then threatens blackmail. She refuses to go through with the scheme however, when she falls in love with Jack and realizes that the gang is out to blackmail him in earnest. Jack then proves the most cunning by hiring his own detectives to ensnare the grafters. Thus, he demonstrates to his uncle that he can handle his own affairs while also freeing Doris from the clutches of the crooks.

Dir: Arthur Rosson

A professional boxer known as "Smiling Bill Flannigan" accidentally kills an opponent in the ring. He gives up the sport and heads west. He gets a job on a ranch as a cook, and before he knows it he finds himself involved in a war between ranchers and sheepherders.

Dir: Arthur Rosson

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

When District Attorney Johnson is seemingly unable to defeat a gang of drug smugglers, his assistant, Richard Jones, sets out on his own to investigate the lawbreakers. Richard soon learns that Bob Madison, the brother of the girl he loves, is a drug addict under the control of the gang. Bob joins the investigation, which leads them to an opium den in Chinatown owned by Mr. Greer, who is a rival for Bob's sister, Constance. Richard rescues her from one of Greer's drug dens, then discovers that the district attorney is taking bribes from the narcotics ring. As a reward for his outstanding work, Richard is appointed the new district attorney.

Dir: Arthur Rosson

Young Lenore Vance, loses her memory after witnessing the death of her father. She commits a series of robberies due to being brainwashed by her eccentric chemist uncle. She later becomes the person of interest in the murder of her father, being labeled by the authorities as "The Satin Girl". When Dr. Richard Taunton meets Lenore at a party thrown by Millie Brown-Potter, he becomes infatuated with her. After discovering that Lenore has taken pieces of jewelry from himself and Mrs. Potter, he uses a piece of evidence left behind to investigate the crimes himself, and makes the discovery that he Uncle is the one who killed her father. The police are notified, but they discover that he has committed suicide upon arriving at his house. It is later revealed to the audience that the entire story is in a book that Lenore is reading.

Dir: Arthur Rosson

The Hopkinses are a family of squatters struggling against the wealthy landowners or "hilltoppers." When Jerry Hopkins is unjustly imprisoned, his young wife and baby die as a result of the shock, but his sister Polly maintains the faith that has been instilled in her by her grandmother. Later, Polly meets hilltopper Robert Robertson and the two fall in love. Their courtship is disrupted when Robert's sister Evelyn is blackmailed by Oscar Bennett, the man to whom she is secretly wed. In her efforts to help Evelyn, Polly falls under unjust suspicion. Meanwhile, MacKenzie, one of the vindictive landowners, arrests Polly's father and sends her brother to an orphanage. Devastated by these events, Polly's grandmother dies of grief and Polly swears revenge. She has Evelyn kidnapped and brought to her cabin, but the memory of her grandmother prevents Polly from harming her tormentor. Polly's nobility inspires Evelyn, who exonerates Polly, thus clearing the path for her marriage to Robert.