Must-Watch List in the Vein of Don Mike: Cult Guide

Dir: Lloyd Ingraham

Julia Deep works at the exchange desk of Timothy Black's department store by day, but her evenings are spent in the library of Terry Hartridge, a fellow resident in Mrs. Turner's boardinghouse. Terry has never seen Julia, since he is too busy squandering his inheritance on easy living and showgirl Lottie Driscoll, but the two meet when Terry, having learned that he has spent his last cent, enters the room with a gun. Julia prevents him from shooting himself and they become fast friends. Black gives Terry a job, and the young man adopts a renewed and more sober interest in life. Lottie later reappears but Terry convinces Julia that the actress means nothing to him, and the young couple pool their resources and settle down.

Dir: Lloyd Ingraham

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

Following her grandfather's death, spirited young Susan Gaskell is placed in the charge of her cousin Martha Brown, the housekeeper for wealthy bachelor Bernard Marshall. Distressed by his brother Ted's involvement with adventuress Eva Thornton, Bernard decides to divert the young man's attention with Susan and hires Henri Delafaire to dress the girl in modern clothing and educate her in deportment and manners. Henri is so successful that he, Ted, and Bernard all fall in love with Susan, although Bernard conceals his affection. Susan is in love with Bernard; to please him, she agrees to marry Ted, but the night before the wedding, the young man sends Bernard a telegram stating that he has married Eva. Bernard finally confesses his love for Susan and they become engaged.

Dir: Lloyd Ingraham

In China, a man is arrested and tortured for a crime committed years before by his twin brother.

Dir: Lloyd Ingraham

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

Hunchbacked Japanese artist Marashida, marries Jewel, the daughter of Yasakuj. Their happy married life is destroyed when the daughter of an American missionary, Alice Carroway, known as Ali-San, persuades Marashida to pose for her sculpture of the deformed god Ni-O. While Marashida's character gradually deforms, Yasakuji recognizes in Ali-San the traits of the legendary Fox Woman, who because she had no soul of her own, stole those of others, sometimes turning warriors into crazy beasts. After Jewel, to please Marashida, indulges Ali-San's demand that she be her "playmate," she suffers further humiliation when Ali-San makes her the servant in her father's mission. Finally, Jewel discards the American clothes she is made to wear and, dressed in her wedding robes, goes to her ancestors' tomb to commit harakiri. When Yasakuji climbs up Ali-San's balcony, and she sees his face in her mirror, she accidentally falls off the balcony to her death. Released from Ali-San's spell, Marashida takes Jewel's dagger from her, and they live happily again.

Dir: Lloyd Ingraham

When the son of a leader of a Paris underworld family known as The Apaches is arrested and tried in court, the boy's mother asks the judge for mercy, but he refuses. In retaliation, the family kidnaps the judge's young daughter and raises her to be one of their own, schooling her in the ways of crime. One day she steals a valuable pin from a young American artist; he catches her, but an attraction develops between them--and her "Apache" family is not happy about it.

Dir: Lloyd Ingraham

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

Trying to cope with the bleak reality of the slums by indulging a taste for fiction, Maggie becomes a compulsive liar. As a result, when she pleads innocent to a shoplifting charge after the real thieves accuse her of the crime, no one believes her, and she is thrown into jail. While Bobby, a reporter who has taken an interest in her, works for her release, Maggie keeps a journal. Then, when authorities give the journal to the judge who sentenced her, he recognizes Maggie as a gifted writer, after which Bobby presents him with evidence clearing her of all guilt. Bobby and the judge rush to the prison to release Maggie; sadly, they discover that she has taken her own life in her cell.

Dir: Lloyd Ingraham

A young man fights to overcome a piratical arms smuggler and to win the heart of a rich man's daughter.

Dir: Lloyd Ingraham

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

Young and wealthy Molly Allison can't be "presented" into society until her older sister Julia is married, but that doesn't stop Molly from pursuing her usual wild ways. She finds herself in turn pursued by Count Renaud, unaware that he is a criminal interested in swindling her out of her money. To discourage the Renaud's attentions--and because she already has a boyfriend, Billy Wilcox--she tells Renaud that she is actually an Indian squaw who is just living in the Allison household. That doesn't stop the Count, however, and he turns his attentions to Molly's sister Julia.

Dir: Lloyd Ingraham

As part of a divorce settlement, Theodore Ainsley gets custody of his older daughter Millicent, and his wife Elinor gets their younger daughter Jean. The two girls, normally inseparable, can't bear to be away from each other and run away together, but are soon caught by the authorities. Another custody hearing ensues, during which the girls' attorney Horace Craig makes an unusual, and somewhat shocking, proposal.

Dir: Lloyd Ingraham

Young Jackie Kernwood, the daughter of the colonel commanding an army post, is bored with the routines of post life, and to break the monotony she organizes a girls' brigade, of which her father disapproves. When the colonel forces her to disband the group, she makes up her mind to run away and become a nurse in the Red Cross. Before she can do that, however, she stumbles across evidence of a spy ring headed by an officer on the post that is plotting to blow up a troop train--and it looks like the chief spy is her boyfriend, Lt. Adair.