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

Dir: Lloyd Ingraham

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

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

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

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

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

A young woman of wealth revenges herself on a young author whose peculiar ideas about women have led him to act and speak in an insulting manner. This young man isolates himself in the mountains for the purpose of writing a story on the primitive woman, where he is discovered by his friends, to whom he vows that no woman shall cross his threshold. The mischievous young woman of the story, determined to place him at her feet, goes secretly to the home of a mountain woman with whom she lives in the guise of a wild girl of the hills. Purposely sliding over an embankment where she knows she will fall in his path, she is rewarded by having him pick her up and carry her to his cabin, where she pretends to be too much injured to be moved that day. The mountain woman is sent for and the two remain in the cabin of the author for several days. Finally she is discovered by her people, when it also comes to light that the woman-hating author has fallen to the charms of his pretty visitor.

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.

Dir: Lloyd Ingraham

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

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

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 visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Miss Jackie of the Army perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

A mountain girl with an army-hating father, meets a handsome army captain, who teaches her how to love her country.

Dir: Lloyd Ingraham

A small-town girl returns home from schooling in the East to find that her father's small store and indeed the whole town are in danger of being eliminated by a ruthless land developer. The developer has a son who falls for the young girl, and together they try to come up with a plan to save her father's store and the town.

Dir: Lloyd Ingraham

Rosemary van Voort lives in the countryside with her elderly Dutch parents. She carves beautiful wooden dolls, and her work catches the eye of a group of artists who are having a picnic in the area. Among them is Ricardo Fitzmaurice, an aspiring opera singer. The group convinces Rosemary to move to New York City in order to take full advantage of her talent. Soon she becomes wildly successful, but a problem arises--the temperamental Madame Fedoreska, who is in love with Ricardo, has been driven insane by his growing affection for Rosemary and threatens to kill her. When the Madame turns up shot to death, the police look at Rosemary as a suspect--and even worse, she has no alibi.