Must-Watch List in the Vein of Daredevil Jack: Cult Guide

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: W.S. Van Dyke

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

Tex Hartwell comes to the aid of an old cobbler by protecting him from the blows and insults of Jim Mackey, a skinflint banker. Mackey orders his hired guns to get Tex, but Tex is too quick for them. On the strength of his fast draw, Tex is hired as a trail rider by Dee Winch, being given the job of keeping diseased cattle off Winch's grasslands. Mackey's men later stampede a herd of infected cattle onto Winch's land, and Tex is fired in disgrace. Fanny Goodnight informs Tex that Mackey is the leader of the cattle runners, and Tex forces him to sign a confession to that effect. The old cobbler later kills Mackey, Tex is cleared with the cattlemen, and he and Fanny decide to ride a trail of their own together.

Dir: W.S. Van Dyke

Out of the elite and civilized east into the rough and primitive west there comes a little party which judged the desert must be larger than all New York, and their trail a little longer than the Gay White Way. Ruth Harkness, who has inherited the Flying W ranch from a relative, heads the timid little band. A prim and conventional aunt and uncle and Willard Masten, her fiancé, all dolled up according to his Fifth Avenue tailors ideas of the west, accompany her. Headlong the little party plunges into the meshes of a conspiracy of two cowboys to mulct the girl of her holdings. Rex Randerson, a happy-go-lucky ranger with a clear-gray eye, steps in to frustrate the plot, and incidentally falls in love with Ruth. This enrages Masten, who joins the conspirators and extends their plot to include Randerson's death. The girl and the ranger are caught in their "death trap'' and count themselves lost, but the fearlessness of Rex in a single-handed battle with the villains saves the day. Ruth thanks him by consenting to become his bride, and an old-fashioned cowboy wedding ends the dark adventure.

Dir: W.S. Van Dyke

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

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: W.S. Van Dyke

Young mother Mary Gordoon is too poor to take care of her infant daughter, Ann, and leaves the child at an orphanage. Ann grows up with a crippled leg in the orphanage, and has fallen in love with a fellow orphan, Jimmy.

Dir: W.S. Van Dyke

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

Mollie Andrews is a little New England school teacher who goes out to Rawhide, Montana, to "teach the west" its manners. She is of romantic nature, and the picturesque statue and habits of Dan Clark impress her deeply. She marries him. Clark is a bad man at heart. He treats Mollie brutally after the first blush of honeymooning; then slays one of his own kind, and escapes across the border to Canada. The year that passes teaches Mollie some things about mankind she never knew before. One was to appreciate Constable Calhoun, of the Royal Mounted Police, who occasionally called on her, as a real friend. But though their mutual regard for each other ripens finally into love, Mollie remains true to her husband. When he turns up again she exacts a promise from Calhoun, on the strength of his love for her, that he will not harm Clark until the latter strikes the first blow. The beast within Clank still runs amok, however, and he attacks the policeman, unjustly accusing him of undue attentions to Mollie. A struggle ensues in which Clark falls dead. Thus Mollie is released from her marriage vows, and her future brightens with Calhoun awaiting her.

Dir: W.S. Van Dyke

James Manning comes to Chicago to achieve his fortune. Tug Wilson offers him a job running errands, then frightens him into taking a steady position when James realizes he is involved with opium smugglers. Milly Amory a ruse for the crooks, falls in love with Manning, but Manning has a sweetheart back home, Mary Slocum, and she comes to search for him. To get rid of the girl, Milly poses as a medium and warns her away, until Manning finds out and exposes her tricks to Mary, fights for his life with Wilson, who is killed by Milly, and returns to Harmony, Illinois with Mary.

Dir: W.S. Van Dyke

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Forget Me Not perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

A woman, engaged to one man, is forced to marry another, who is subsequently arrested, leaving his wife with a terrible decision to make when her former fiancee comes looking for her.

Dir: W.S. Van Dyke

Through a forged will, a crook assumes control of a valuable estate. He poses as the brother of a dead man, and endeavors to dispose of the deceased man's two daughters, one of whom is in love with the forger's son.

Dir: W.S. Van Dyke

Captain Duncan McTeague, ashore in Southport, finds a deserted baby boy with a note and half of a dollar bill pinned to its clothing. The note states that the mother hopes some day to return and identify the child with the other half of the dollar bill. McTeague raises the child. When he is four years old, the captain discharges his mate Martin Webber, who seeks revenge by kidnapping the boy. A woman turns up who proves to be the missing mother. Webber is killed and the mother and Captain McTeague are united.