Deep Archive Finds Movies That Echo the Spirit of Destiny's Toy: Cult Guide

Dir: John B. O'Brien

Mae Carter is the ward of Col. Aitken and the fiancée of his nephew Robert. They plight their troth and after much teasing from Mae, Bob succeeds in giving her an engagement ring. While Mae and Bobby are out riding one day the shoe of Mae's horse becomes loosened. She calls for Bob to exert his masculine strength and jerk the shoe from the horse's foot to save the horse further pain. After several unsuccessful pretenses to release the shoe they go to a blacksmith. Mae discovers in the blacksmith a man of extraordinary strength. He jerks the shoe from the horse with one pull, and thereby wins the admiration of Mae. That night Mae dreams that she is the cave woman of Robert, a cave man. While eating shrubs she is attacked by another giant cave man and about to be carried off when a rescuer appears, and he proves to be none other than the blacksmith. In the morning she pays a visit to his shop and takes a snapshot of him, much to the distress of Robert. She breaks off her engagement with Robert and is about to elope with the blacksmith when her uncle, having dealt with many women in his time, and knowing feminine ways better than Bob, concocts a scheme whereby he will induce the two to live at his house for a month to find out if they still love each other, at the end of which time he promises to consent to the marriage. The girl gives an engagement party and his conduct makes her see how impossible a match would be between the two. Thoroughly disgusted, she breaks off her engagement and returns to Robert. A marriage between her and Robert is arranged by the Colonel for the following day, and the blacksmith learning of it becomes jealous. When the ceremony is about to take place, the blacksmith comes to the house and steals the bride and plans to take her to a neighboring town and marry her himself. He gets away with her and after many hair-breadth escapades he finally gets caught in the quicksand with the girl but Robert releases him and the wedding takes place.

Dir: John B. O'Brien

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of The Street of Seven Stars perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Harmony Wells, a gifted violinist, moves to Paris to complete her musical education. Her money soon disappears, and she is forced to live in an inexpensive pension house, where she meets Dr. Peter Byrne, a promising American surgeon who has come to Paris to study. The doctor falls in love with Harmony and proposes, but although she returns his love, she refuses him, determined to pursue her career. One of Peter's patients, a crippled child named Jimmy, who is dangerously ill, asks Harmony to brighten his hours by playing for him. Realizing that the boy is about to die, Harmony seeks out his mother, a dancer who deserted him for the vaudeville stage, but the woman arrives at her son's bedside too late. Shortly before Harmony's debut, she visits Jimmy's grave, where she meets the grief-stricken mother, who advises her to "play for your own children as you played for my little boy." Rushing back to Peter, Harmony accepts his proposal of marriage.

Dir: John B. O'Brien

A daughter of the slums has a little brother and makes a brave attempt to earn enough for both herself and Jimmy after her father is sent to jail on a fake charge trumped-up by "Nifty" Mendez, who is very anxious to get her in his toils. Betty escapes from the city and Nifty. On the road Jimmy is struck by Rodney Channing's motor. The injury is not serious but Jimmy must remain in Channing's home for some time. During the visit, love grows up between Channing and Betty, who is now of course very happy. But a newspaper announcement and the author send Nifty again into her life and simultaneously with his entrance comes the exit of happiness. Betty fears to tell her fiance that her father is in jail, so she gives Nifty the pearl necklace lately presented to her and leaves the wonderful home. "As the days pass" however, Channing's cousin finds it necessary to visit a modiste's shop in search of a wedding gown and Channing accompanies the bride-to-be. There he finds Betty, for she is the model who displays the gown.

Dir: John B. O'Brien

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

Hulda, a plucky Dutch girl, brings her three little brothers from Holland to America to live with their rich Uncle Peter. Hulda finds love with a poor artist.

Dir: John B. O'Brien

On the eve of her elopement with Henry Traquair, Margaret Fielding is accidentally discovered in Traquair's apartments by his friends, Captain Richard Haynes and Walter Maxwell. Because the conditions, though innocent, appear compromising, Traquair introduces Margaret as his wife. An hour before the time set for the wedding, Traquair receives a telegram announcing the failure of his bank and his financial ruin. He declines to proceed with the marriage and Margaret returns home; despondent over his financial losses, Traquair ends his life. During the next three years, Maxwell loses his sight, meets Margaret, and marries her, unaware that she was Traquair's "wife." They are very happy until Haynes visits and remembers Margaret from Traquair's apartment. She denies being involved in the incident, but when Maxwell's sight is restored he also recognizes Margaret. He packs his things and is about to leave when Haynes rushes in with a letter written by Traquair just before he died, which has followed Haynes half around the world and now establishes Margaret's innocence.

Dir: John B. O'Brien

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

Eleanor Alderson and her young sister Jane lose their positions as models when Eleanor prevents Jane from accepting buyers' invitations. Eleanor accepts help from a retired seeress and becomes known as "Isis the Eastern Mystic," establishing herself and her sister fashionably. One of Jane's joyrides results in her being compromised with Hamilton, a married man whose wife seeks evidence for divorce. Eleanor arrives at the roadhouse in time to save Jane, but Mrs. Hamilton files her suit, naming Jane. Eleanor has met and loves Ernest Bickley the harum-scarum scion of a wealthy family. To avoid scandal, Jane accepts the hospitality of friends in a nearby city. Adventuress Mrs. Herriard sets her cap for Ernest and, learning of his love for Eleanor, attempts to break up the match while a guest at a party at the Bickley home, where Eleanor is also visiting. In her exile, Jane falls in love with George Saunders, a chum of Ernest's, but she is panic-stricken when he attends the party, fearing that he will learn the truth. A news story of the divorce trial, accompanied by a photograph of Eleanor, causes her to be regarded as the co-respondent, and to protect Jane, she finally acknowledges that she is the woman in the case Ernest refuses to believe Eleanor's self-accusation. He learns that she has a sister, and by a clever scheme, leads her to believe that Jane is at the door, Eleanor falling into the trap and disclosing the secret. Her loyalty to her sister wins the entire Bickley family and Jane's name is cleared of the stain when it is learned she was innocently led into the affair.

Dir: John B. O'Brien

A woman overcomes her fear of childbirth and embraces motherhood.

Dir: John B. O'Brien

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

Mary Lawson was on trial for the killing of Dr. Brundage. He had come to the little village and with his up-to-date methods had made great inroads into the practice of Dr. Kirk. Mary's mother, a confirmed invalid, was one of those who had turned to the new doctor. Mary in repulsing the advances of Dr. Brundage, had said, "You have destroyed my faith in mankind. I feel as though I could kill you." Mary's mother took a turn for the worse, so she went to summon Dr. Brundage, but on arrival at his office found him dead in a chair. Other arrivals found Mary alone with a knife in her hand and this coupled with her previous statement, which had been overheard, was the means of her conviction. Through the help of a cripple she managed to escape. Securing work in a faraway city she soon became the wife of a fellow workman, John Harlow, who turned out to be a wealthy clubman, working only on a wager. Her happiness was complete till the day when she ran across Dr. Kirk, now penniless and ragged. He forced her to take him in as her "uncle." One day, led to the vicinity by her picture, detectives came to the house. Mary, on seeing them, told her whole story to her husband. He, instead of turning her over, assisted her to escape in a sailboat. A storm arose and the boat was driven on the rocks. In the morning Mary came to, to find herself on the rocks but her husband was nowhere in sight. Overhearing voices speak of the other body, she made her way to the house for one last look at her husband. While there the detective approached only to tell her of the confession of Dr. Kirk.

Dir: John B. O'Brien

Robert Armstrong, falsely accused of a murder committed thirty years ago in a western gambling hall, faces the alternative of imprisonment or paying blackmail. A letter from Tom Mason, formerly a miner, prepares him for a visit, at which time he must make his choice. Armstrong confides in his son, Dick, assuring him that the murder was committed by Mason, who used trickery to make it seem that he (Armstrong) was the culprit. Dick broods over the injustice to his father, and Armstrong cannot conceal his nervousness. The visitor comes and makes his demands. Armstrong grapples with him as the lights are turned off. Suddenly there is a shot, and when the lights are turned on again Mason is lying dead on the floor. Fearing the servants will enter, Dick drags the body through a window to the grounds outside, takes Mason's pistol out of his pocket, fires a shot into the body and places the weapon in the dead man's hand. Dick returns to the house and a policeman hurries to the scene. Dick thinks he has covered up his tracks, but Burke, chief of detectives finds the other bullet in the body and has no difficulty in connecting the murder with the Armstrong family. He does not succeed in getting a confession from either father or son, and decides to resort to strategy. Phyllis Lord is a model in Martel's establishment for women's apparel. The discrepancy between the gowns she wears to display to customers and her own modest raiment eats into the girl's consciousness. Then, too, she is befriending Bessie Allen, a young wife who has been deserted by her husband, and finds herself unable to help Bessie as she would like. A wealthy woman who is buying gowns boasts of having won five hundred dollars at Crandell's, a fashionable gambling resort, on a five dollar wager. Phyllis obtains a card of admission to Crandell's, without permission borrows one of Martel's gowns, and visits the gambling house. She loses the money she has brought and fifty dollars more which Crandell loans her. Burke, who has been watching the girl, has Phyllis dismissed from Martel's, making it appear that she has stolen money, and she is placed in such a position that she is obliged to accept Burke's offer to help him with a case. She consents to get a confession from Dick Armstrong. She is installed in a handsome apartment and given beautiful clothes. Bessie Allen, who is ill, is taken to a hospital. Burke puts a dictaphone into Phyllis's apartment. The pre-arranged courtship progresses favorably. Dick finds the trick Phyllis has played and denounces her. Phyllis is heartbroken, and anxious to atone for what she has done. She goes to Dick's father, and Armstrong, greatly agitated, writes a confession saying that he alone shot Mason. At police headquarters Dick is put through the third degree, and finally he gasps, "I did it." Phyllis, in the next room, hears him, and rushes in with Armstrong's confession. Burke's lieutenant makes out a warrant for his arrest. Phyllis goes home, exhausted, when a messenger brings a letter from Bessie, written just before her death. The letter encloses her marriage certificate, and photograph of the husband who deserted her. Phyllis rushes to the minister who performed the ceremony, and takes him to Burke's office. It is Burke who is Bessie's husband, and as he has illegally married another woman, Phyllis threatens him with arrest on a charge of bigamy. She offers to exchange her documents for Armstrong's confession, and Burke accepts. Then Phyllis falls sobbing into a chair, holding out her hands in supplication to Dick.

Dir: John B. O'Brien

Robert Powers devotes himself to a life of dissipation until he meets Lillian Vale, the daughter of the curate of St. Anthony's church. Lillian marries Powers, determined to reform him. Years later, the happiness of their home threatened by the appearance of Hattie Lee, one of Powers' former lovers. While Lillian is at her father's deathbed, Powers is lured away by Hattie Lee one night. That evening, the house catches fire and when he returns, the place is in ashes. Frenzied with the belief that his son has perished in the flames, Powers goes to beg the forgiveness of his wife and discovers that she has saved the child's life. Her all-forgiving nature and the love of their son causes Powers to rise from his past life with a triumphant soul.