Essential Cult Cinema Drawn from the Same DNA as East Lynne: Cult Guide

Dir: [object Object]

From Alphonse Daudet's 1884 novel comes a variation: A scheme by a beautiful vamp to marry a wealthy young man fails, and the woman returns to her former lover, a sculptor. She is shocked to discover he has committed suicide, and the tragedy catapults her into insanity.

Dir: [object Object]

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

In Paris, wealthy young American Horace Martinache takes a young flower girl to a hospital after knocking her down in his auto, and leaves money with friends to pay for her education. Years later, when Horace's nephew Eric plans to bring home a young actress whom he met in Europe and wants to marry, Horace's mother and sister ask for his help in breaking up the romance. Horace, an unmarried colonel, indulges them and agrees to court her to make her lose interest in Eric. The actress, Sara St. Ypriex, recognizes Horace as her benefactor and encourages him. Horace, unaware that Sara was the flower girl, falls in love with her. After Eric fails to respond to Sara's cries of alarm when one of her other suitors, Roscoe Vandercourt, tries to attack her, Horace protects her, but Vandercourt escapes. Sara accepts Horace's marriage proposal and Vandercourt, really an international crook, is trounced by Sara's father, who earlier served a prison term because of Vandercourt's treachery.

Dir: [object Object]

Walking aimlessly in the desert, crazed by thirst and hunger, Lucy Mannister and Gaston Sinclair are overtaken by her husband George, who has pursued them around the world. Threatening to shoot them, George extracts a confession from Sinclair, once George's friend, that a group of George's Wall Street associates had conspired to ruin him. They made it appear to Lucy that George was having an affair with the notorious Sylvia De La Mere. After Lucy saw Sylvia embrace George, she despaired and left with Sinclair, who said he loved her. George lets them live, and he returns to New York, where, with the help of Sylvia, who now loves him, George terrorizes the group. One by one he leads them, and then Sylvia, to either financial ruin, disgrace, or death. When George learns that Lucy is no longer traveling with Sinclair, and that she has never even kissed him, he locates her, forgives her, and takes her back.

Dir: [object Object]

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

In a prologue, blind poet John Milton dictates Paradise Lost to his daughters. Serama, the consort of Lucifer, is driven from Paradise by the Archangel Michael, who commands Conscience to enter human souls to judge and punish them. In the main story, society girl Ruth Somers, a reincarnation of Serama, prepares to marry Cecil Brooke, the wealthiest man of her set. Her guardian, Dr. Norton, an incarnation of Lucifer, constantly accompanies her. Ruth is summoned to the Court of Conscience, where the witnesses, Lust, Avarice, Hate, Revenge and Vanity, testify about Ruth's history of seducing and abandoning men. This behavior resulted in the suicide of Madge, the lover of Ned Langley, whom Ruth enthralled and promised to marry, and also the deaths of two rivals for her love. Ruth is ordered back to earth to learn her sentence. When Ned interrupts the wedding, Ruth scorns him and he shoots himself. After Brooke leaves her, the Court dooms Ruth to live with the torment of remembrance. Ruth sends Norton away, then kneels and repents.

Dir: [object Object]

Gambler Dave Garrison has caused the fury of James Riddle and Mary Ballard by seducing the former's sister Bessie and by deceiving the latter's brother Billy out of thousands of dollars. As a result, Mary and James join forces and come up with a plan to outsmart Dave. In effect, Mary bets herself against Dave's money, agreeing to sleep with the gambler if his horse, the favored Shooting Star, wins a race, while Dave must pay her $10,000 if the horse loses. To make the odds more in her favor, Mary switches horses, putting the lumbering lookalike May Belle in place of Shooting Star. As a result, Mary and James gain their revenge on Dave, after which, made confident by their good fortune at the racetrack, they decide to try their luck as husband and wife.

Dir: [object Object]

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

Architect John Chance, before building a "Dream City" for a religious cult leader, Prophet Stein, visits Paris and rescues an American girl, Cynthia Grey, from riotous masqueraders at a carnival. After they part, Cynthia returns home. Meeting Stein aboard a ship, and having an idealistic nature, she becomes a follower of Stein, who thinks her beauty will attract others. Chance builds the city, agreeing to say it was made by the "comrades" so that Stein's motto, "Beauty Through Toil," will seem to be true. Cynthia and Chance fall in love and when Stein, a married man, attempts to seduce Cynthia, Chance tells the newspapers, which expose Stein and his financially fraudulent practices. The "comrades" burn the "Dream City" and Chance saves Cynthia, while Stein, attempting to leave with his ill-gotten money, dies when a burning beam falls on his head.

Dir: [object Object]

A thousand dollar prize is offered to the winner of a dog race, and Jan Ducet would have used the money to doctor up his little child's bad leg if he had won. But he lost; and the winner, Otto Franke, runs away with Jan's wife. A priest takes care of the little girl while Jan gives chase and finds the regretful woman in the snow. A fight follows and Jan hurls Otto from a high cliff and returns home with his wife.

Dir: [object Object]

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

A priest hears a murderer's confession but can't reveal the truth, even though his brother is being tried for the crime.

Dir: [object Object]

Marcia Glendon an expatriate, has lived in Berlin for years. Courted by both German General Von Lentz and American spy Frank Graham, Marcia attempts to aid her country when war breaks out by capitalizing on the general's attraction to her. Misunderstanding her actions, Frank repudiates Marcia as a traitor. Subsequently, the spy is caught, and Marcia purchases his freedom by offering herself to the general. Frank is freed and transports the German secret plans across the German border to the American lines. He returns immediately leading an American regiment just in time to save Marcia's honor.

Dir: [object Object]

Harry Larrabee, a young playwright, lives in the same studio apartment house with Carolyn Vaughn, a painter of miniatures, with whom he falls in love. "The Wolf," a famous criminal, supposed to be dead, returns and communicates with his wife, a friend of Carolyn's. He forces his wife and her brother to aid him in a plot to rob Carolyn of her valuable jewels. Harry, by one of his famous "inspirations," discovers that a crime is being committed, rescues Carolyn and bears her away in a taxicab. He is himself suspected of the crime, but, undisturbed by the web of circumstance by which he is entangled, his wonderful inspirations give him the key to the conspiracy which led up to the crime. In an unusual and powerful finale the guilty parties fight among themselves and justice triumphs in an exciting climax.