The Definitive Guide Deeply Connected to Great Day: Cult Guide

Dir: Harry Beaumont

Inheriting a fortune allows Harry Lathrop to indulge in extravagant spending and wild wine parties with chorus girls, decides to change his ways after his childhood sweetheart, Betty Dalrymple, gives back her engagement ring because he arrives drunk for dinner. Disgusted with himself on a "morning after," Harry persuades his attorney to give him no money for the next year. In another city, Harry answers an ad for a handy man and becomes the manager of a kennel on the estate of Mrs. Johnston DeLong, Betty's aunt. Betty, visiting her aunt, scorns Harry, but he remains when he sees Walter Randall, whose chauffeur brags that "every dame falls for him," show an interest in Betty. When Betty does not succumb to Randall's advances, he takes her to a deserted cabin. Harry follows, fights Randall and the chauffeur, and rescues Betty, who embraces him in a downpour.

Dir: Harry Beaumont

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

Margaret Sherwood's fiancé has disappeared in the Arctic and she hasn't heard from him in two years. Yet she does not believe he died. Price Latham, in love with Margaret, offers to organize a new expedition to prove otherwise. In return, she promises to marry Latham, come what may. Latham sneakily tries to sabotage the trip but Providence, in the form of an Eskimo hunter with a spike, dispenses Margaret from keeping her word. The fiancé, found at last, takes the young girl back to friendlier skies under the northern lights.

Dir: Harry Beaumont

Beneath the moonlight of the southern skies Molly Carrington, daughter of the south, pledges her heart and hand to "Jimmie" Maxwell on the eve of the young man's departure to New York, where his knowledge or cotton has won him a good position in a cotton broker's office. They are married and depart for the metropolis. Due to Maxwell's transition from his calm and uneventful home life to the maelstrom of worldly battle, he succumbs to liquor's lure, and from a stalwart husband is dragged to the depths or Demon Rum's depravity. He loses his position and Molly leaves him, returning to her southern home. As a "down-and-outer" Maxwell sees in a Mobile paper a rumor that his wife plans to divorce him and marry his former rival. Alfred Lewis. His smoldering love for Molly flares up to expose vividly the curse which drink has placed upon him. Maxwell throws off his alcoholic yoke, becomes a man again, and wins back his position. He finds Molly waiting for him the first day he enters the office.

Dir: Harry Beaumont

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

Lord and Lady Algy separate on cordial terms, after he breaks his promise not to gamble again on the horses. When the wife of soap magnate Brabazon Tudway, is courted by Algy's philandering elder brother, Algy tries to help his brother escape Tudway's wrath by hiding Mrs. Tudway in his apartments. Tudway discovers her there and is about to accuse Algy when Lady Algy appears and, believing Algy to be innocent, tells Tudway that his wife was there to meet her. Although Algy and his jockey disgrace Lady Algy by getting drunk at a masked ball on the eve of the Grand Derby, the race in which Algy plans to stake his entire fortune on his pet racehorse, Lady Algy saves his fortune by betting her own money on a dark horse that wins. Algy know penitent, swears he will give up gambling forever, thus reuniting with his loving wife.

Dir: Harry Beaumont

Skinner is afraid to strike his employer for a raise for fear he will be discharged. Mrs. Skinner scoffs at his fears, however, and finally induces him to demand an increase. Her humble spouse gets the proverbial "cold feet" at the final moment; so to "cover up" before his wife, he fibs a little and tells her he got the raise, taking the money from his private bank account. She forthwith makes him purchase a dress suit and "spruce up." Although it almost wipes Skinner's bank account out, he buys the clothes. Skinner is frantic; he sees the wolf at the door. But, by virtue of his dress suit and good appearance, he gets acquainted with some wealthy people and is enabled to put over a big business deal for his firm. Rushing into his company's office with the order, he demands a raise and a partnership in the firm. He gets both.

Dir: Harry Beaumont

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Lord and Lady Algy perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Finding himself broke and out of a job in Paris, American William Ruggles joins the Turkish army and is sent to fight in its war in the Balkans. During a particularly hard-fought battle, he rescues a wounded Turkish soldier. Before he dies the Turk, out of gratitude, leaves William his fortune--but with the proviso that he take care of the Turk's three beautiful young wards. After he leaves the army, William and the three young girls--Roxana, Rosa and Bulbul--move to Paris, where William meets up with young Ruth Downing, the daughter of his former employer. They fall in love, but Roxana--who is also in love with William--is determined that nothing will stand in the way of her getting him and she will do whatever it takes to achieve that end.

Dir: Harry Beaumont

A police patrolman must overcome enormous odds, including the apprehension of two villainous characters, before he can marry the girl of his dreams, the daughter of a millionaire.

Dir: Harry Beaumont

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

Engaged to the wealthy Freddy Ruyter, Barbara Wright favors her father's handsome Irish chauffeur, Dan Murray, and marries him. The newlyweds struggle to survive on Dan's meager income, but Barbara's father, furious with them both, nearly destroys their happiness by securing Dan's dismissal from several jobs. Dan wins $300 in an auto race but immediately gives it to Minnie Molloy, whose ailing husband has been ordered West for his health. Unaware of the reason for Dan's actions, Barbara sadly returns to her triumphant father. Mr. Wright's lawyer offers Dan a large sum of money to have the marriage annulled, and when Dan refuses, the lawyer discovers the truth about his "other woman." Touched by Dan's generosity, Mr. Wright accepts him into the family, and Barbara happily returns to her husband.

Dir: Harry Beaumont

Architect Frank Melbury, whose drinking has made him a social outcast, and "Lovey," his derelict friend, are both hungry, so Frank burglarizes Regina Barry's home. He takes food and jewels, but when he overhears Regina telling her friend Elsie of her dissatisfaction with her fiancé Dr. Stephen Cantyre because she desires more out of the ordinary man, he decides to return the jewels. He is confronted by Regina, but she allows him to flee. Frank and "Lovey" then seek the help of "The City of Comrades," a social welfare home for the regeneration of derelicts. There Frank is helped by Dr. Cantyre, and is so reformed that he gets a job as an architect. Regina does not recognize him when they meet again, but he later reveals himself and she rejects him. He then enlists in the Canadian forces and is blinded in the Halifax explosion. Later, when Regina is about to marry Cantyre, she hears that Frank is ill in the hospital. She nurses him and agrees to be his wife.

Dir: Harry Beaumont

Having followed the road of romance through many countries, Lord Quex finally falls in love with Muriel Eden. After resisting Lord Quex because of his reputation, Muriel finally capitulates to his charms and agrees to marry him. In her heart, however, Muriel still treasures an affection for Caption Bastling, a fortune hunting womanizer, and when Muriel is told of Lord Quex's continuing contact with the Duchess of Dowager, a situation brought about through the scheming of the Duchess, Muriel turns to Bastling and agrees to meet him at her friend Sophie Fullgarney's manicurist shop. There, Sophie, who has discovered Bastling's true nature, exposes the captain by flirting with him as Muriel arrives for her rendezvous. Seeing Bastling faithlessness makes Muriel realize that Quex is the man for her.