Deep Archive Finds Movies That Echo the Spirit of His Father's Wife: Cult Guide

Dir: Frank Hall Crane

After a touring theatrical company goes broke on the road, press agent Jack Bartling persuades a local Suffragette leader, Mrs. Eubanks, whose husband is a Senator and soap manufacturer, to hire him for publicity. When Jack and the Eubanks' daughter Nell fall in love, her parents object, however the Senator promises his consent if Jack can keep Nell, also a Suffragette, out of prison, and Mrs. Eubanks vows her approval if Jack converts her husband to the cause. At a protest in front of the Governor's house, Jack saves Nell from being arrested, thus alienating Mrs. Eubanks who wanted her to be arrested. The Eubanks move to New York, and after Jack locates them and sneaks into their apartment disguised as a window washer, he convinces Mrs. Eubanks to have Suffragettes all over the country clip the Senator's ten-cent coupons for his "Floating Lily" Soap. After the Senator agrees to support the Suffragettes rather than pay off $650,000 for the coupons, the Eubanks finally approve Jack as their son-in-law.

Dir: Frank Hall Crane

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

Ludwig "Old Dutch" Streusand and his daughter Violet live in New York, and after years of hard study and labor Old Dutch completes his invention: the "teloptophone," a device which, when attached to a telephone, enables the speaker to see the party at the other end of the wire. He goes to John Rockmorgan with his invention and after he proves its worth, Rockmorgan agrees to finance his invention and gives him a check for $5,000 on account. Old Dutch and Violet have had a hard time life; now that his invention is a success, he feels that they deserve a Palm Beach vacation. To escape the publicity arising through the invention of the teloptophone, he also thinks it wise to assume another name to avoid being questioned and annoyed about his invention. He arrives at a Palm Beach hotel and registers under the name of John Mueller and daughter, and settles down to a period of rest and comfort. Harold, John Rockmorgan's son, has also gone to the hotel, and when he sees Violet, love awakens in his heart. They meet and she is happy in her first love affair. In the meantime, the vaudeville team of Bings and Bings is discharged from the theater in which they are playing because their act is so bad. They are in desperate straits and the male member of the team has the idea to go to a fashionable Florida hotel and somehow get hold of some of the millionaires' money. Old Dutch has become a great favorite with the children of the hotel, and on the day that Bings and Bings arrive there, he loses his pocketbook while playing with the kids. Mr. Bings has the good luck to spot it, and before they register he goes through the contents and sees the $5,000 check made out to Ludwig Streusand. When he finds that no such man is stopping there, he boldly signs the name of Ludwig Streusand and daughter. When Joubert, the hotel proprietor, learns that such an illustrious person is stopping with him, he immediately begins to give receptions and balls in his honor. Old Dutch is so wrapped up in having a good time that he is unaware a man is masquerading under his name, so when his week's bill is presented he is unable to pay it, as his check for $5,000 and all means of identification have gone with the pocketbook. Joubert is furious that Old Dutch cannot pay his bill and tells him that he and his daughter must either go to jail or work off their board bill, Old Dutch protests and says that his name is Streusand and John Rockmorgan is his partner. Joubert laughs at him and points at whom he thinks is the real Streusand. Harold tells the proprietor he feels sure that Old Dutch is speaking the truth. When Joubert asks him how long he has known him and in what way he can identify them, he is left without an answer. So they are put to work, Old Dutch in the stable and Violet in the kitchen. Meanwhile the vaudeville team of Bings and Bings are having the time of their lives. The female end of the sketch is doing her best to win Harold Rockmorgan, who still believes and loves Violet. After having been forced to perform various duties around the hotel, on the night of a banquet given in honor of the false Streusand, Joubert forces Old Dutch to be headwaiter. In the meantime Old Dutch has induced Harold to phone to his father to come down and identify his partner. At first he refuses, but Harold gets the teloptophone from Old Dutch and tells his father that he plainly sees the stenographer seated on his lap and unless he does come at once he will tell mother. That settles the old man. During the banquet Bings is called upon for a speech, and as he is telling his eager listeners what a wonderful man he is, Rockmorgan arrives downstairs in the hotel. The clerk hastens to tell Joubert. Old Dutch overhears the good news, and knows that his time has come. He tears down to the office, followed by Bings and the surprised guests. He runs up to Rockmorgan who quickly explains that Old Dutch is the real Streusand and the other is a faker. Bings and Bings' day is over, Harold and Violet are free to get married, and Old Dutch takes up his pleasure again.

Dir: Frank Hall Crane

Charles Nelson is a self-made man and has amassed a fortune. His family consists of his wife, son Kenneth, and daughter Alice. His wife has become absorbed in society, requiring all the money her husband can made to support the large establishment and entertain. The wife, son, and daughter are out night after night, leaving Mr. Nelson much alone; while he pays the bills, he has little of the society of his family. He turns to vaudeville performer Kitty Claire for consolation and companionship. His son Kenneth gets into an argument with a friend at his club and hears that his father is keeping a woman in an establishment uptown. Kenneth returns home under the influence of liquor and insults his mother's companion, Mary Burke. Mr. Nelson enters, sees the situation and asks him what it all means. Kenneth turns on him and tells him that everyone knows he is keeping a woman in an apartment uptown. This conversation is overheard by Mrs. Nelson, who asks Mr. Nelson if it is true. He replies, "Yes." They agree to part. Kenneth clings to his mother. His sister Alice sympathizes with her father. She realizes that it is their own fault; they have given him nothing in return for all his labor in their behalf. Mr. Nelson is now living at the Alpine apartments, to which comes Kitty Claire. He tells her that the end has come. Meanwhile Kenneth, has come to see his father. Kitty, going out, hears him ask if his father is in, and seeks an acquaintance with Kenneth, who becomes infatuated with her, moves to the same hotel, and begins to live a Bohemian life with Kitty Claire and Dick LeRoy, another vaudeville performer. He finally asks Kitty to become his wife. She replies, "It is impossible, there is another man." The boy, crushed and brokenhearted, demands the man's name. Mr. Nelson enters at the point when Kenneth demands the name of the man. Kitty points to Mr. Nelson. Humiliated and ashamed Kenneth decides to end his life. He is about to write a letter when his mother arrives; she sees the pistol and tries to keep him from carrying out his plan. They are interrupted by a knock at the door; Kenneth is called down to the office by the clerk; while he is gone Mrs. Nelson seizes the opportunity to telephone Mr. Nelson, who arrives with Alice. Kenneth and his father are reconciled, also Mrs. Nelson, and her husband and the family are reunited.

Dir: Frank Hall Crane

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

Scandalous European temptress Lila Despard, travels to America to escape her lover, criminal Jack Firthenbras. On the ship, she meets Andrew Livingston, a United States Navy planner, and Senator and Mrs. Gales. Her new friends host a party for Lila in Washington, D.C., where a spy named Dromiroff threatens to expose her past unless she steals Andrew's secret naval plans. In order to secure the papers, Lila makes love to Andrew, but the plan backfires when she falls in love with him. Eventually, Lila agrees to marry Andrew, but during their honeymoon, Dromiroff abducts her from the bridal suite. At headquarters, Lila is shot while destroying the documents, and before dying, she telephones Andrew to confess her misdeeds. The conspirators are killed when their car plunges from a cliff.

Dir: Frank Hall Crane

Cowboy Mark West lives with his sister Mary, who suffers from a serious spinal disorder. While on vacation at the West's ranch, Violet Ridgeway, an Eastern socialite, toys with Mark's affections and then promptly forgets him. After Violet leaves, Mark works hard and earns the money to pay for an operation for his sister, which Doctor Welsh and Doctor Boyd agree to perform even though they know that it will probably result in her death. As expected, Mary dies, and Mark receives a letter detailing the doctor's risk-taking. A vengeful Mark kills Dr. Boyd, but Welsh, who is engaged to Violet, flees to safety. Mark goes to prison, but later Violet marries him in order to satisfy a stipulation in her late aunt's will. On his way back to jail, Mark escapes, and when Welsh and Violet reunite, they travel past Mark's hideout, and he captures them. Peblo, an evil Indian who is infatuated with Violet, kidnaps her, but Mark kills him. During the fight, Welsh behaves like a coward, and an enlightened Violet escapes to freedom across the Canadian border with Mark.

Dir: Frank Hall Crane

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of As in a Looking Glass perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Dora, the daughter of a wealthy man, marries a good-looking young fellow from the country who has made an auspicious start in New York business life. Having won the girl by trickery, he proceeds to reveal a baseness of disposition that makes his young wife's life a terrible burden. He becomes a drunkard who abuses his wife and baby. Dora resents his cruelty and he robs her of the child, surreptitiously conveying it to his mother, then going away to sea on a fishing schooner. Bereft of husband and child, Dora falls prey to grief. Fresh suffering awaits her when news comes that her vicious young husband was drowned at sea. Concealing her identity, she makes her way to the fishing village where her husband was born, becomes his mother's paying guest, recognizes her child, and inspires the love of her husband's brother, now a clergyman. Dora's troubles are about to recommence with undiminished severity. Her husband married her under a false name, so she is in ignorance of his relatives, and in this state of ignorance she lends a willing ear to the wooing of the Rev. John St. John, her late husband's brother. The wedding ceremony is about to take place when a storm at sea arises, a ship in distress is sighted, there is a call to man the life-boat, and Dora's fiancé volunteers. Among the rescued is Dora's legal husband Frank, who re-asserts his claim to wife and child, grows jealous of his brother, and once more becomes a drunkard. One of his New York reprobate companions appears to demand money. There is a quarrel and both men are killed. The sinful man has reaped as he sowed, and like so many of his kind has made others suffer for his misdeeds, particularly the fond girl who married him.

Dir: Frank Hall Crane

Lucy Millington is an independent woman who looks upon men with contempt. Novelist Donald Prime, who has written a book on women, considers himself an authority on the subject. Both are lured into the desolate backwoods of Arcady by adventurers who plan to keep them in captivity until a fortune bequeathed to them has been safely deposited in the hands of their rivals. While attempting to find their way back to civilization they face many dangers including a canoe trip in perilous waters and an encounter with a band of outlaws. Finally, through sheer pluck and daring, they reach their lawyer just in the nick of time to claim their inheritance. During their days stranded in Arcady, they discover their love for each other, and so after they leave the lawyer's office, their next stop is to the justice of the peace.

Dir: Frank Hall Crane

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

A wealthy society matron is enchanted by a world-renowned opera singer. Her jealous boyfriend, seeing his meal ticket slipping away, hypnotizes the singer and renders him mute. His ploy works, and the singer, now unemployable, soon runs out of money and is reduced to utter poverty. However, a figure from his past is in a position to help him regain his former fame and fortune

Dir: Frank Hall Crane

Ruined by a powerful financial ring, Farrington commits suicide, after which his daughter Paula vows to take vengeance in her own hands and hunt the man behind the ring. At a house party, Paula meets Dr. Smith, who falls in love with her, but a misunderstanding separates them. Unsuccessful in locating the man, but knowing that papers in the house of Van Brunt, one of the ring members, will identify the leader, Paula secures the papers with the aid of Old Bill Fitch, a reformed burglar. To her horror, she discovers that the man is Dr. Smith's father. Paula relinquishes vengeance for love, and Dr. Smith's father, realizing the error of his ways, agrees to make reparations.

Dir: Frank Hall Crane

While developing a powerful explosive, naval officer Paul Towne introduces his friend Richard Tracy to Judith Corbin, his friend since childhood. For years, Paul had assumed that he would marry Judith, but when Richard proposes, Judith, tired of waiting for Paul, accepts. Soon after the marriage, Richard becomes more interested in the new explosive than in his new wife, and to pay off gambling debts, he agrees to steal the formula and sell it to a foreign government. While spying at close range on a test of the explosive, however, Richard is killed, after which Judith, who has long since realized her mistake in becoming Richard's wife, accepts Paul's marriage proposal.