Masterpiece Selection Resonating with the Themes of Dress Parade: Cult Guide

Dir: Donald Crisp

The most popular man in the lumber camp near Quebec is Jean, the cook, whose flapjacks are celebrated for their delectability. Jean's compassionate nature is aroused when a dejected stranger known as Silent Jack comes to the camp. Discovering Jack crying one day, Jean learns that his wife has left him. To reunite the couple, Jean pretends that he too is married and induces Jack to write an affectionate letter from him which he then presents to Mrs. Jack. The ruse reconciles the couple, but distresses Jean's sweetheart Marie when she learns that Jean already has a wife. Jean finally explains everything satisfactorily to Marie, and after the two are married, they leave for the city to open a flapjack palace financed by the grateful Jack.

Dir: Donald Crisp

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Believe Me, Xantippe perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

George MacFarland, a wealthy young man who loves adventure, bets his friends Thornton Brown and Arthur Sole $20,000 that he can commit a crime and elude the police for a year. After he forges a check, George heads West and does escape arrest for nearly a year, despite the proliferation of police circulars bearing his name and his favorite expression, "Believe me, Xantippe." In a Colorado hunting lodge, he meets Sheriff Kamman's pretty daughter Dolly, who recognizes and tries to arrest him. According to the terms of the bet, however, he must be captured by a genuine officer of the law, which Dolly is not. With the stroke of midnight, the year elapses and George wins the bet as well as the sheriff's daughter.

Dir: Donald Crisp

Wealthy young bachelor Stanley Jordan attends a Red Cross Benefit at the country club, where he meets and falls in love with Betty Lovering and unwittingly offends social leader Mrs. Vandergraft. Discovering that the Vandergrafts have initiated a campaign to ostracize him from the club, Jordan, incensed, decides to get even: he disguises himself as a Russian Countess and returns to the club, where he is wined and dined. As a member of society, he is welcomed into the homes of the rich, where he proceeds to steal their valuables and donate them to the Red Cross Fund. The series of thefts alarms the neighborhood, and a detective is hired. Just as the detective is closing in on the Countess, it is announced that the Russian has been a victim of assault and is lying on her deathbed. Betty, concerned, calls on the Countess, only to discover that she is none other than Stanley Jordan, the man she loves.

Dir: Donald Crisp

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

When shipping clerk Arthur McArney falls in love with pretty stenographer Elsa Owenson, he finds himself in stiff competition with a fat but wealthy broker named Sankey. Elsa's expensive tastes lead Arthur to spend a week's salary on an evening's entertainment, part with his watch to pay their taxicab fare, and borrow money from his friends to buy her extravagant gifts. Finally, Arthur is forced to take on odd jobs and night duty, which so impresses his employer, Hallet, that he gives the clerk a small raise. After Arthur spends $200 on the proper attire to wear to a lavish Halloween party, Hallet calls him to the office that evening, and Elsa attends the affair with Sankey. To reward his employee's dedication, Hallet promotes Arthur to the post of branch manager. Elsa accepts Arthur's marriage proposal with the promise that she will henceforth economize.

Dir: Donald Crisp

Newspaper publisher Temple Trask, who answers the "Letters to the Lovelorn" column under the nom-de-plume "Mrs. Carfax," becomes the hit of his college reunion when he revives his female impersonation act. Returning home, Temple meets Billy Wise, another college friend, who wagers one hundred dollars that Temple will not go into a restaurant dressed as a woman. He takes the dare, then sees Helen Scott in the restaurant and, although he is a cynic who does not like women because he knows too much about them, he falls in love. When he notices that Adrian Graw, a crook whom Temple knew when he was a cub reporter, is after Helen's fortune, Temple, impersonating Mrs. Carfax, accompanies Helen and her grandmother, Mrs. Keyes, aboard a steamer to protect them. On the voyage, Helen becomes good friends with Mrs. Carfax and falls in love with Temple. After Mrs. Carfax punches Graw during a struggle for Mrs. Keyes bonds, the police arrest Graw and his accomplice, Rena Varsey. Helen, astonished when Temple removes his wig, falls joyfully into his arms.

Dir: Donald Crisp

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of The Way of a Man with a Maid perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

On the estate of Senora Moreno in Southern California, the senora's adopted daughter Ramona lives. She falls in love with Alessandro, an Indian of noble heritage. When her adoptive mother forbids their marriage, Ramona Alessandro elope, only to find bigotry, misfortune, and finally tragedy wherever they turn.

Dir: Donald Crisp

Marcellini, a successful wine dealer, has a sudden heart attack and dies. His will leaves his entire fortune to his only kin, a husband and wife who operate a small farm. Guido, the husband, agrees against his better judgment to move on to the Marcellino estate. Before he knows it he is up to his neck in marriage troubles, people trying to swindle him out of his inheritance and blackmail.

Dir: Donald Crisp

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

Lewis Vickers accidentally kills a man and goes to Central America. Here he meets Robert Lee, who bears a remarkable resemblance to him. Lee is a worthless young chap whose father is anxious to have him return to the United States. On his death bed Lee turns his papers over to Vickers and begs him to assume his name. Arriving in New York, Vickers goes to the Lee home as Robert Lee, and discovers that the dead man has willed him a badly blotted past that includes a wife and two children and a large collection of debts. He also finds a beautiful adopted daughter in the Lee household and promptly falls in love with her. The only way he can stand any chance of winning the girl is by telling the truth about himself. The arrival of his undesirable family and several of its friends and connections helps to bring out the truth, and the picture ends with a runaway marriage between Vickers and the adopted daughter.

Dir: Donald Crisp

Joe, a good natured Italian, runs a basement ice, coal, and wood establishment in the cheap Italian "East Side." Trina, daughter of old Capino, a cobbler, lives next door. She is fond of Joe and is relieved when she learns that Joe's "sweetheart," who arrives from Italy, is none other than his little old "Mama Mia," his mother. Godfrey Kelland, district attorney, is a candidate for the governorship, and Joe's sympathies and efforts are enlisted in his behalf. The Weasel, a notorious crook, is arrested as he seeks refuge in Joe's house, and suspicions are cast upon Mama Mia. Just at this time Mrs. Kelland loses a diamond pin which is discovered in Mama Mia's possession. Baby Kelland has placed the pin in the basket of clothes which Mama Mia is to wash and she is found "guilty" and sentenced to two years in the penitentiary. In the meantime, Joe and his mother have witnessed an attempt upon Kelland's life and assisted him, but nevertheless Kelland is vigorous in his prosecution of Mama Mia. A little later Mrs. Kelland discovers the baby putting another piece of jewelry in the basket and she decides that Joe's mother is innocent. Two crooks from the gang determine to put a stop to Kelland's activities and to "plant" a golf ball filled with nitroglycerin so that Kelland will be blown up as by an unknown accident. They play upon Joe's feelings and induce him to place the ball. Just as Kelland is about to strike the ball, Mrs. Kelland and Trina come into the grounds, and to save them Joe takes the blow upon his own body. Joe's confession that the ball was intended for him incites Kelland's anger, but Mrs. Kelland's story of the baby's innocent part in the tragedy, and her pleadings, soften the politician's heart, the little Italian family is reunited, and Trina's happiness also secured.

Dir: Donald Crisp

The Firefly of France, a famed Allied airman in the First World War, is lost while transporting valuable plans, and it is feared that he and the plans are now in the hands of the Germans. A member of the Lafayette Escadrille endeavors to find the Firefly and the plans, but encounters a mysterious girl and several German spies who want the same thing.