The Definitive Guide Inspired by the Vision of Daughters of Desire: Cult Guide

Dir: Burton L. King

Engrossed in the perfection of a new high power explosive, the husband seems to neglect his wife. She is further piqued by the introduction into their home of a man whose presence is unexplained, but who is really a Secret Service operative guarding the invention. The Government has asked that the wife be kept in ignorance. In this frame of mind the wife lends a ready ear to Aachen, who suggests that the husband be taught a lesson by the abstraction of this all-absorbing formula. Through this means he gets the formula, but in the end the Government gathers him in, and the only permanent result is a needed lesson to the innocent little traitor.

Dir: Burton L. King

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of The Soul of a Magdalen perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

The sole support of her invalid mother and young crippled brother, Heloise Broulette is forced to become the mistress of Leland Norton in order to secure the money for an operation to save her mother's life. Mrs. Broulette recovers, but when she discovers the real source of her daughter's income, the news kills her. After her mother's death, Heloise leaves her career behind and goes to the country where she takes a job as a secretary to author Carter Vail, who falls in love with her. Ruth finds herself in a dilemma when Vail's sister Alice visits friends in the city and falls in love with Norton. Honor bound, Ruth sacrifices her own happiness to save Alice from Norton. In revenge, Norton informs Vail of Heloise's past, but Vail responds that she has the soul of a Magdalene despite the life that she had been forced to endure.

Dir: Burton L. King

When Vera, the daughter of steel king Daniel Maitland, marries Blair, a young lawyer, her father cuts her off with only a small allowance. A few months later, Blair becomes famous by securing the acquittal of one of his friends who had killed his wife's lover, basing his plea on "the unwritten law." He then succumbs to the fascination of another woman. Vera discovers them in a compromising situation and shoots Blair. At her trial, her lawyer is pleading for mercy when Vera explains that she does not want mercy, but justice. She asks if there is one law for a woman and another for a man and explains that she shot her husband because he betrayed her trust. At that moment, it is revealed that the whole episode is being composed by novelist Elaine Esmond, who interrupts her story to go to the opera with her sweetheart.

Dir: Burton L. King

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of More Truth Than Poetry perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

John Ashton, a young mechanical engineer, is completing the plans of a new submarine. The government is interested in his work, and he has promised to have it done by the tenth of the month, which gives him only six days in which to complete it. More and more he has been resorting to whiskey to keep his brain active. Robert Gray remonstrates with him, but to no avail. His fiancée, Grace Sealey, telephones him and urges him to attend a dinner party on the ninth. He accepts, though against his will. He falls asleep and dreams that he prepares to attend the dinner; he is still intoxicated when he arrives. Grace's father at once breaks off the engagement, and he leaves the house in disgrace. He goes home and finishes his plans on the morning of the tenth, and then, still wearing his evening clothes, wanders out into unknown streets. He goes into a saloon on the waterfront and drinks until he is insensible. There he is noticed by the captain and mate of a freighter, and shanghaied on board the vessel. When he comes to his senses he is far out at sea, and is told that the cruise will occupy six months, but that he may have all he wants to drink. At the end of the cruise Ashton and the captain, coming ashore, take a farewell drink together. Meg, a human derelict, attracts the captain's attention, and he attempts to force his attentions upon her. Ashton comes to her assistance, angering the captain, who gets two stevedores to attack him. Meg takes him to her own meager quarters and takes care of him. Gradually she induces him to stop drinking. Passing the building where he formerly had his office, he sees Franklin Darrow, a government engineer, and Gray, and hears them speak of Grace's wedding. She is to marry Wilfred Carleton, a broker, thinking Ashton dead. The news sends Ashton back to drinking heavily once more. But Meg learns of his real identity and helps him to win back his self-respect. They are married and Ashton's ambition returns. He resumes his work and seeks out his former friends. But Meg is unused to the new life. Her husband's work takes him more and more away from her, and she decides to take radical measures. Since he fell in love with her when under the influence of drink, she induces him to drink again, preferring his society in idleness and sordid surroundings to his neglect in luxury. The new plans for the government's submarine are made while he is intoxicated. They are wrong, and the crew of the first boat launched is drowned. Meg confesses what she has done, and takes the blame on herself. He flies at her throat, and waking up, knocks over the things on his desk. His original plans are as yet unfinished. He puts from him "the devil at his elbow," whiskey, and he and his fiancée have an early marriage, with the promise of a life full of achievement and ambition that is not clouded by an enemy which steals away the brains.

Dir: Burton L. King

Lucy Winter, raised in the lap of luxury, has reluctantly accepted the suitor of her father's choice. George Turner, whose aunt has recently died, leaving him a necklace of peculiar antique beauty, has decided to search for his father, whom he has always believed dead. Passing a beautiful old Southern mansion that somehow seems strangely familiar, he sees a "Gardener Wanted" sign, applies for the position, and is accepted by the girl Lucy, with whom he falls in love, to the chagrin of her banker father, who orders him to leave after recognizing the necklace which the boy has given Lucy in lieu of an engagement ring. During a troubled sleep Father Time leads Winter's conscience to review his past. This extends over 18 years, during which Winter is installed as gardener at the Turner mansion and becomes the pal of his master, Carlysle. They love the same girl, Lucy Lee, who elopes with Winter. Their married life is one continued struggle. Previously Turner has given the antique necklace to Lucy as a wedding gift. This she later places in Carlysle's hands as security for one of the loans he made to her in their struggle against poverty. She led her husband to believe the money came from her mother, but he knew the truth, and accepted Carlysle's friendship, planning his ruin at the same time. Through the loss of Lucy's love, Turner passes many restless nights, eventually resorting to morphine, which finally masters him. Winter rises to the position of bank cashier, forecloses a mortgage on the Turner mansion, ousts Carlysle as bank president, and becomes president himself. Turner has been wrongly convicted of murder and sent to prison for life. Lucy, realizing the despicable character of Winter, and really in love with Carlysle, dies of a broken heart. Father Time leads Winter's conscience back into his body, and he wakes, calling "Lucy. Lucy!" George Turner arrives at the house and reads a number of letters, including one from his father, accusing Stephen Winter of being the cause of his troubles. He determines on revenge and hastens to the Winter mansion. Pity takes the place of anger at sight of Winter, and the old man tells George how it happened, giving his promise that he will secure his father's pardon. Soon George is able to bring his father from prison to the Winter Mansion. Winter tries to make amends to Carlysle, and the two leave the room arm-in-arm, and the young people give each other the previous promise, "I will."

Dir: Burton L. King

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of The Devil at His Elbow perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Bianca, a Corsican, supports her frivolous sister, Rosa, by making laces. The sculptor, Manatelli, visits her cottage to buy laces, and sees her modeling in clay. Impressed by her talent, he offers her free instruction if she wishes to come to Paris. Bianca accepts and promises to send for Rose as soon as possible. In Paris she meets Etienne Du Inette, head of the Internationale, a powerful secret service organization. He and Bianca are instantly attracted to each other. Jules Lavinne, also in the service of the Internationale, goes to Corsica on a secret mission. He sees and desires Rosa. One day a mysterious veiled woman slips a note under Etienne's door, warning him to go to Corsica and watch Lavinne, who is a traitor. He soon has occasion to protect Rosa from Lavinne. Lavinne learns the assumed name Etienne is using on the island and signs it to a note asking Rosa to meet him. In Paris, Bianca finishes and exhibits her first piece of work, and it is purchased by a wealthy patron. She sends for Rosa, but a letter from old Maria tells of the girl's disgrace and attempted suicide. Bianca rushes to her sister, who is dying. She finds the note which lured her sister to her destruction. It is signed, "Pierre Renard." Bianca vows to follow Pierre Renard "To the Death." She meets Jules Lavinne, and instinctively dislikes him, but when she learns that he belongs to the Internationale she forces herself to be gracious to him, hoping that he will aid her in finding "Pierre Renard." Lavinne, determined to win her, avoids meeting Etienne. Bianca asks Lavinne's aid, and he promises to find the man for her if she will marry him. Having vowed to avenge her sister at any cost, she promises. That night Lavinne telephones that he has a photograph of Pierre Renard. Bianca asks him to bring it to her at once. Before he comes he writes a note which he instructs his man to deliver to Etienne. It reads, "Bianca is in great danger. Go to her at once." Lavinne engages tickets on the midnight train, and tells his valet to take his portmanteau to a prominent hotel, where he arranges to have a priest ready to perform the ceremony. He shows Bianca the photograph. She is speechless with horror when she sees that it is a picture of Etienne. Lavinne instructs her to ask him whether he was not known in Corsica as "Pierre Renard." When he arrives she does so, and he admits it, also admitting that he knew Rosa there. She plunges a dagger in his breast, and he falls to the floor. Unwilling to keep her bargain with Lavinne, she attempts to take her own life. Lavinne prevents her, and forces her to accompany him to the hotel where the priest is in waiting. No sooner is the ceremony performed than Lavinne boasts of having won her by trickery, saying that it was he himself who lured Rosa to her death by the use of the name "Pierre Renard." Just then the valet knocks at the door, and Lavinne admits him. Behind him follow the woman of mystery and two gendarmes. The woman is Lavinne's wife, and he is arrested as a bigamist and a traitor. He returns to Bianca the dagger with which she struck down her lover. She rushes back to her own apartment, to kill herself beside his body, but she is amazed to find him gone. Her old nurse leads her into the room where he is lying asleep. The medallion of herself worn over his heart has saved his life.

Dir: Burton L. King

Having forced Jim Carson to leave town in order to avoid a trumped-up embezzling charge, now Albert Temple is rid of his only serious rival for Helen, whom he soon marries. Jim goes to Alaska, where he adopts Bob Adams, the son of a murdered friend, and then makes a fortune in a gold strike. After eighteen years in the Yukon, Jim returns to his hometown with Bob, who falls in love with Helen and Albert's daughter Dorothy. Because he so hates Albert, however, Jim refuses to consent to a marriage between Bob and Dorothy until Helen tells him that Albert is not the young woman's father. In reality, Dorothy is Jim's own daughter, and when he learns this, Jim quickly changes his mind about the marriage.

Dir: Burton L. King

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Just a Song at Twilight perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Extravagance has always marked the lives of Norma Russell and her father, Courtland Russell. As a consequence, debt overtakes them, and Russell is forced to borrow a large sum of money from Howard Dundore, the banker. Even this hint of coming trouble does not cause them to economize, and soon Russell has to ask Dundore for an extension of his note. This the banker refuses to do unless the note is accompanied by the signature of a depositor of the bank. Russell forges the name of Robert Mackay, one of the bank's wealthiest depositors. Dundore knows the name is forged, but instructs his confidential man, Horace Scott, to pay the note and subtract it from his private account. He then accuses Russell, and to save her father from the consequences of his forgery Norma is obliged to consent to marry Dundore. She cables her lover, Franklin Hall, a businessman, who has gone to South America to look after a rubber investment, that she cannot marry him. Hall returns at once, pays back the amount of the note, thereby beggaring himself, and marries Norma. Dundore pretends to be friendly to the young couple, tells Hall he knows his investment has gone badly, and offers him a position in the bank, which Hall accepts. Dundore then seizes the opportunity to have Hall's accounts falsified in order to make it appear that he has stolen large sums of money. He continues to call at the Hall's home, and on one occasion makes love to Norma. Hall comes in unexpectedly, the men come to blows, and Dundore accuses Hall of having taken money from the bank. He is arrested, brought to trial and sentenced to five years' imprisonment. The only man who could have testified in his behalf, Horace Scott, has been given money by Dundore, with orders to leave the city. Norma feels that her husband's trouble is a judgment upon herself for her extravagance, since he has always gratified her every wish. Left without means by his imprisonment she turns her talents to scenario writing, at which she is immensely successful. Her father, who has been ousted from his clubs for non-payment of dues, and who lives in a little apartment with his daughter, secures work as a motion picture actor. One evening when they are returning from the studio in the motor car of the director, they see an old man run down by another car. Norma takes the injured man home. When he regains consciousness days later his mind is a blank. During his ravings Norma gleans enough to suspect that he has knowledge of her husband's supposed crime, and tries in every way to bring back his memory. All efforts fail. She takes him to the prison to see her husband, and Hall recognizes him as Scott, but he does not recognize the husband. Norma decides upon an idea, and with the aid of her director carries it out. She writes a scenario embodying the facts in the case of her husband's false accusation, and has it acted for the screen. Then she invites Dundore to see her latest picture at a special showing, and has Scott present. The picture is called "The Banker." As its action progresses there is a shout from the auditorium. Scott jumps to his feet wildly exclaiming: "That's the way he did it; Hall was not to blame. Dundore made me do it." In the ensuing excitement Dundore escapes. He hurries to the railroad station, engages a special and leaves the city, but fate follows him, and he is killed when his engine crashes into a line of "dead" freight cars. Hall is released on the testimony of Scott, whose memory has been brought back by Norma's plan, and Norma and her husband begin life happily once more, both she and her lather having learned a bitter lesson on the folly of extravagance.

Dir: Burton L. King

Sonia Smirnov, a Paris opera singer known as "The Black Butterfly", starts an affair with young Alan Hall. Hall, however, is still pining over his previous lover, a young peasant girl. Sonia--a former poor peasant girl herself--discovers a secret involving Hall and his former lover that neither knows about, but that involves an incident in Sonia's youth that could affect all of them.

Dir: Burton L. King

When the dominating financier takes the girl as his private secretary he secures not only an efficient girl but a beautiful one. It is then that his son decides to take an interest in business. His father suspects that his son has suddenly become imbued with business affairs because of the striking young woman secretary he has engaged and tells him that if he intends to go into business he can do so but he does not want him about the office. The son is unsuccessful in many deals and when some bonds are missing the guilty parties manage to successfully charge him with stealing them. In the meantime he had been visiting the charming young secretary of his father and often met his father's cashier coming out of the apartment. He had become furiously jealous and the climax came when he discovered his sweetheart in the arms of the cashier. It is when he is accused of stealing the bonds that he begins to realize that his father's cashier and the pretty secretary are in a plot to ruin his father. And right here is where the story becomes intensely interesting and the suspense is finally lifted. Of course the business rivals become staunch friends again as of yore. But the lovers have come over a rough road in their romance and a pleasant future is also assured for them.