Essential Cult Cinema Drawn from the Same DNA as Flash Gordon: Cult...

Dir: Maurice Elvey

A Royalist and his unknown son seek vengeance on his murdered wife's brothers.

Dir: Bruno C. Becker

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

It is the year 1950; women have taken over men's jobs and have become the aggressors in romantic situations. Lizzie Hap stuffs the ballot box, defeats her opponent, Minnie Fish, and is thereby elected Fire Chief of the all female fire department, and succeeds in winning the hand of her fair loved one, Willie Wart.

Dir: George B. Seitz

The adventures of a gentlemanly crook of astonishing resourcefulness.

Dir: J. Gordon Edwards

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

William Farnum is Drag Harlan, a tough cowboy vigilante. After learning about a gold mine from a dying man, he seeks his daughter (Jackie Saunders) as well as the gold. He falls in love with her, but the same gang that shot the old man is after the gold.

Dir: George Beranger

Writer Frank Theydon goes undercover to research the criminal activity in New York City's Chinatown.

Dir: Aubrey M. Kennedy

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

Wealthy oil magnate Harry Mangin is in love with his competitor James Murdock's daughter Blanche. Mangin schemes to ruin Blanche's father so that the girl will be forced to accept his attention. However, Blanche loves "Sky Eye" Blake, an aviator at the adjoining U. S. aviation field. When Mangin is driven in desperation to muster his own private air force in order to destroy his rival's oil plants, "Sky Eye" takes to the skies to quell the riot. After several daring escapades, "Sky Eye" captures Mangin and wins Blanche for his bride.

Dir: Cecil M. Hepworth

A soldier's tunic button, made from Aladdin's lamp, grants his wishes.

Dir: Maurice Tourneur

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Number 17 perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Having endangered his life by foolishly gambling away funds entrusted to him by the Carbonari, an Italian secret society, London banker Bernard Huddlestone appeals to Northmour, an adventurer, for protection. Northmour takes Huddlestone and his daughter Clara to his castle in Scotland, offering them safety in return for Clara's hand in marriage. There Clara encounters Frank Cassilis, an old adversary of Northmour's, and falls in love. Trouble brews between the two men, but when the Carbonari discovers Huddlestone's hiding place and storms the castle, the fugitives band together to fight the avengers. Coming to the realization that only his sacrifice will appease the attackers, Huddlestone steps out and meets his death. Northmour, deciding that married life would prove too monotonous, gives up his claim on Clara to Cassilis.

Dir: J.P. McGowan

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: William F. Adler

A travelogue/documentary including explorations of the fauna and people of Siam, New Guinea, and Java, with interpolations of an apparently fictitious encounter between the filmmakers and cannibalistic natives of Frederick Henry Island in the South Pacific.