Hand-Picked Alternatives for Fans of Duds: Cult Guide

Dir: Thomas R. Mills

When James Armitage, a wealthy young man, is jilted by Clare Wendell, he leaves for Burma after committing the care of his estate to his lawyer. Years later he is informed that Clare is a widow. His old love for her flames anew and he returns to find that the lawyer has absconded with half of his fortune and that his mansion has been sold to the father of Doris Athelstone. Armitage's love for Clare dies, and an investigation reveals to him that the lawyer is in reality the thief and the father of Doris, and that the young girl, who has not seen her father since she was a baby, is under the impression that he is an explorer. In his love for Doris, who is the sole occupant of his mansion, he keeps this a secret, but is impelled to disclose the facts to her when, entering his house for some papers, he is shot by Doris. He starts out to unravel the mystery and locates the father dying in Yucatan. The old man tells Armitage that he stole to keep his daughter from want, and forgiven, he dies happy. Armitage, returning, marries Doris, but keeps secret that her father was a thief.

Dir: Harry F. Millarde

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

Desperate because a wealthy man has reduced her father to thievery, Rhoda agrees to rob the poor box of the church, although she finds the act abhorrent. During the robbery, Rhoda's father is shot and dies in the priests's arms, seeking absolution, while the man who ruined him looks on. Penitent, the man appoints Rhoda as his representative to return the ill-gotten gains to those he has robbed. Rhoda enters the underworld as an angel of mercy, gaining the sobriquet of "The White Moll." After many thrilling escapades, she brings The Dangler, the leader of a gang of crooks, to justice, saves others from death and finally wins The Pug, the man of her choice.

Dir: Thomas R. Mills

Jacob Spraggins, veteran general of a breaker-boy-to-multi-millionaire campaign, is driven by a troublesome conscience into the ranks of the amateur Haroun al Raschids, who infest Bagdad-on-the-Subway. Donations to hospitals, charities and universities fail to bring him happiness. At last he traces his uneasiness to a piece of legitimate business whereby he swindled one McLeod out of property worth ten thousand dollars. Detectives find the grandson of McLeod, a delivery youth for a large provision store. To him old man Spraggins hands ten thousand dollars in bills. Impressed by the young man's insouciant independence, the money monarch makes further advances, even hints at the possibility of matrimony between McLeod and his daughter, Celia. But Thomas McLeod is already engaged to a parlor maid at a house on his round. Neither he nor Spraggins has any idea that the parlor maid is Celia, who has fallen in love with Thomas's whistling. She whistles, and the accomplishment has helped her from the social life of her father's financial class. Aided and abetted by Annette McCorkle, the romantic housemaid, Celia has donned cap and apron and set out to be loved for herself alone. She has succeeded. So the ten thousand dollar benefaction, having brought peace to the soul of the Caliph, proceeds to bring happiness to McLeod and Celia as well, for their financial way to elopement is now clear, and they go. Mr. Spraggins gives chase, but, recognizing the prospective bridegroom, adds his blessing. It would seem so far that this one benefaction had failed to harm the Caliph-ridden populace of New Arabia. However, a year later old Jacob Spraggins orders all his donations to charities canceled. The working girls can continue to work for all he cares. The sun must shine on the Sunshine Fund without the aid of his money. Celia has a child. The child, Jakey, must have an unprecedented fortune by the time he attains twenty-one. So Mr. Spraggins raises the price of all vinegar three cents. Moving Picture World, November 3, 1917

Dir: Ewald André Dupont

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of A Night in New Arabia perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Fred Hopkins, a jeweler's assistant, replaces the pearl necklace Lord Reading bought as a wedding present with a worthless imitation. A hunt begins, which the flower seller Rahel and the jumping jack dealer David are able to end by finding the jewelry. Hopkins, who is convicted, then commits suicide for fear of being punished with poison.

Dir: Thomas R. Mills

Because of his close resemblance to his mother, who years earlier had left his father for another man, Patrick Yardley is shunned and finally disinherited. Yardley, Sr., prefers his young nephew, Vincent Tessier, who has ingratiated himself to the old man, and has been bequeathed his entire estate. Learning that Patrick is penniless, the mother of his sweetheart, Celia Graham, urges her daughter to abandon him in favor of Vincent. Having lost everything, Patrick leaves England, but in his absence, his father discovers that Vincent, masquerading as Patrick, has betrayed a young woman. Remorsefully, Yardley prepares a new will, but because he dies before presenting it to his lawyer, everything is left to Vincent. Later, however, a friend discovers the final will, and Vincent is ousted from the estate and later killed by Maxton, Patrick's valet. Finally, Celia, who loved Patrick all along, joins him.

Dir: Raoul Walsh

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

Dave Henderson, an orphan who has become the beneficiary of a rich man's will, falls in with race-track crooks Martin Tydeman and Bokky Sharvan who bilk him out of his $100,000 inheritance. In retaliation, Dave steals the money from Tydeman's safe, but is caught and sentenced to five years in jail. In prison, Dave becomes friendly with Millman, who is about to be released, and reveals the money's hiding place to him, arranging to rendezvous at the end of Dave's term. Once released, Dave is hounded by members of Tydeman's gang as well as the police, who are waiting for him to retrieve his bounty. While taking refuge at the house of Capriano, an old bomb maker, Dave falls in love with the old man's daughter Teresa. However, Capriano sets a trap for Dave, who awakens in a drugged state to find the $100,000 missing. With the help of Millman and Teresa, Dave recovers the money, turns it over to the police and resolves to go straight.

Dir: Jack Conway

Lucy Hegan, the proprietor of a settlement house for the poor, is engaged to Hugh Gordon, the head of a large pharmaceutical and chemical firm who, unknown to Lucy, is also the ringleader of a powerful drug and white slave operation in the Chinese quarter. While conducting an investigation into illicit drug traffic for his paper, newspaper reporter Allan Martin meets Lucy and falls in love with her. In the course of her work, Lucy has befriended reformed crook Monk Mullen and his mother, and when Monk learns that she is to marry Gordon, the ex-crook provides Allan with proof of Gordon's underworld drug trafficking. Armed with his information, Allan leads a raid on Gordon's headquarters, and in the ensuing battle, the drug king is killed by his henchman, Ling Choo Fang, thus freeing Lucy to marry her young reporter.

Dir: Tom Mix

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of A Mother's Sin perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Wealthy Eastern railroad magnate Buchanan Atkinson sends his wayward son Timothy to Calm City, Arizona for safe keeping. Once there, Timothy falls in love with Alice Spencer whose father, the superintendent of the railroad in Calm City, is threatened with the loss of his position because of the great number of recent train robberies. To prove his love for Alice, Timothy decides to track down the bandits. Locating their hideout in a cave, he discovers that they are about to abduct Alice and escape across the Mexican border. Timothy rescues Alice, saves the loot and becomes the town hero. Accompanied by Alice, he returns East and is redeemed in his father's eyes.

Dir: Joseph Henabery

When respectable Lloyd Norwood becomes infatuated with moll Goldie Lewis, he falls into a life of debasement that results in his being accused of the murder of gangland henchman Joe the Swell. Norwood's wife Mary, convinced of her husband's innocence, determines to clear his name. Disguising herself as a vamp and infiltrating the underworld, Mary extracts a confession from the real murderer, Pussyfoot Connor, whom she dupes into believing that he sees the ghost of the murdered man. Later, to have witnesses to the story, Mary takes a midnight dinner with gang leader Jack Frost, arousing the jealousy of Connor, who enters and accuses Frost of instigating the murder. The police, alerted to the scheme, rush in and arrest the criminals. Finally, a phone call to the prison warden results in Norwood's release as a wiser man.

Dir: Thomas R. Mills

After Mary Allen drops a blood-stained knife, Judge Robert Craigin's dead body lies next to her. Mary secures a secretarial position with Judge Bruce Craigin, the dead man's younger brother. Professor Galt, a criminal psychologist, and Detective Hooker believe that Mary committed the crime. Craigin and Mary fall in love and are married. Galt persuades Craigin to let Mary furnish their new home because a clue to the solving of the murder is the artistic furnishings of the room in which the murder victim was found. The similarity between the decor of the house and the crime room convinces Craigin that Mary murdered his brother, but Thomas Gray confesses to the crime. He had been in the room waiting to avenge his wife's wrongs on Craigin. When Craigin attacked Mary, she lifted her paper-knife and fainted, and Gray killed Craigin, leaving the murder weapon in Mary's hand. Mary and Bruce find happiness together.