The Auteur's Selection Complementing the Tone of Fantomas - On the Stroke of Nine: Cult Guide

Dir: Edward Sedgwick

When Bud Watkins (Hoot Gibson), loses his ranch and savings to gambling house proprietor "Gentlemen Jim" Slade, the Cocopah Kid, a notorious bandit, lures away Betsy Burke (Laura La Plante), Bud's sweetheart and the daughter of the local sheriff. The Cocopah Kid, mortally wounded, dies in Bud's house; and by impersonating the dead man, Bud regains his lost ranch and saves Betsy from Slade's clutches. Bud's disguise is exposed when a posse catches him, and he gets a reward for capturing The Cocopah Kid and Betsy realizes her true love for Bud.

Dir: Edward Sedgwick

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

Two pals in the A. E. F. are given a furlough. With a borrowed dollar they "clean up" in a crap game and start for Paris. Instead they land in Cardonia, a principality of Spain. Hero is mistaken for a bandit and falls in love with the prettiest senorita in Cardonia. After a series of exciting adventures he saves the girl from marriage with the villain, finds she is the daughter of the Grand Duke, and becomes assistant ruler of the kingdom. The last seen of hero he is back in camp doing k. p. duty for overstaying his leave.

Dir: Edward Sedgwick

The Bearcat, alias The Singin' Kid, crosses the Rio Grande into Three Pines, singing bloodthirsty verses, but in spite of these he makes friends with Sheriff Bill Garfield and likewise with Alys May, daughter of cattle rancher John P. May, by saving her from a runaway. As a reward he gets a job on the ranch and falls in love with Alys, though warned she is engaged to Aitken, her brother's college chum. Aitken and Peter return from college, and Aitken becomes involved in an affair with Mary Lang, a former sweetheart in a neighboring town, who wants a payment to forget the flirtation. The Kid keeps Aitken from paying, and when Mary's accomplice is murdered he takes the blame, but later he proves himself innocent. Aitken departs for the East, leaving the field free to the Kid and Alys.

Dir: Edward Sedgwick

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

Sam Purdy, a banker-turned-politician-turned-sheep farmer is repeatedly blackmailed by his half-brother because of their love for a woman named Mary.

Dir: Edward Sedgwick

Dwight Locke, a blasé millionaire who has seen and done everything, gives a party for his ranch hands at a city restaurant. His fiancée, Jane Norworth, sees him there with a chorus girl and later upbraids him for not being a worker like her chemist brother Milton. When Dwight breaks a glass distillation bottle in Milton's laboratory and cuts his hand, he learns that it contains a poison that will kill in 30 days unless offset by an antidote known only to Professor Sulphite, who has sailed for Russia. Dwight takes up the chase to find the professor within the time limit, with adventures aboard horses, ships, carriages, and trains. Meanwhile, Milton discovers that the container did not contain poison and that Dwight will die if he takes the antidote, so he and Jane pursue Dwight until they find him in Spain, where the lovers are united.

Dir: Edward Sedgwick

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

Hector MacKnight, known to the townspeople as "Goofy" and an irritatingly terrible fiddler, is innocently drawn into a rigged poker game. A general fight brings the sheriff, and a chase ensues. Before the confusion is ended and Hector cleared, he meets Ruth Randolph and becomes involved in a circus while trying to recover the other half of her treasure map. Although the treasure proves to be nothing more than a prehistoric jawbone, Hector receives a reward for capturing the crooks that enables him to marry Ruth.

Dir: Edward Sedgwick

Geoffrey Arbuthnot Islip " Blinky " (Hoot Gibson), the bespectacled son of Col. "Raw Meat" Islip, is scorned by his fellow cavalrymen stationed on the Mexican border because his previous military experience was as a Boy Scout. He redeems himself by rescuing Major Kileen's daughter Mary Lou (Esther Ralston), from kidnappers, following their trail in Boy Scout fashion.

Dir: Edward Sedgwick

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

Cowpuncher Sam Pertune (Hoot Gibson) strikes the father of the girl he loves, Mae Day (Laura La Plante), in self defense and, thinking he has killed him, runs away and joins the U.S. Navy. Learning the man isn't dead, Sam wishes to resign from the Navy but is told he is out of luck. But luck shines on him when, with his ship in port, Mae visits her aunt in San Francisco who is married to the captain of Sam's ship.

Dir: Edward Sedgwick

A romantic cowboy dreams of rescuing damsels in distress. He finally rescues one from a runaway - the girl being the daughter of the wealthy rancher who is trying to force her into marriage with the foreman. He agrees however, to give his consent to the winner of the rodeo. The cowboy wins and rescues the girl again after she has been kidnapped.

Dir: Edward Sedgwick

"Swat" Anderson (Hoot Gibson) is a cowboy who plays on the town's baseball team and can hit the ball so far they have to send a man on horseback to retrieve it. It isn't long before a major league scout signs him to a professional contract. "Swat" can hit and he can run but he can't catch a ball which makes him a bit of a liability. That doesn't keep a gang of gamblers from deciding to kidnap him to ensure they win betting against his team in the championship series.