Hidden Genre Gems for Fans of His Robe of Honor: Cult Guide

Dir: Rex Ingram

When the king is drugged and abducted by his ambitious brother, a lookalike relative must take his place to keep the evil sibling off the throne.

Dir: Rex Ingram

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

The captain of a sailing ship has an affair with the wife of one of his passengers, and gets mixed up in a mutiny at sea and a revolution.

Dir: Rex Ingram

Joe Bascom, only son of a widow, lives in a Connecticut village. He loves Elsie Tillinger, daughter of the deacon, the wealthiest man in town; but the deacon forbids Joe to speak to her. Joe leaves home to make his way in the world, but his employer, Mr. Morgan, a wealthy racehorse owner, accuses him unjustly of stealing. Actually, Morgan's son, Lester, is guilty of the crime, but Joe is sentenced to a prison term; there he becomes acquainted with Mugsy and Gilly, two crooks. Meanwhile, though courted by young Morgan, Elsie remains faithful to Joe. Mrs. Bascom, who makes superlative peach jam from her orchard, is in debt to the Deacon Tillinger, and he intends to buy her orchard and make Lester head of a jam industry. But Joe arrives with his crook friends, outwits the deacon, and takes over the peach orchard. Mugsy and Gilly are reformed by the goodness of Joe's mother and fall in love with Betty and Jessie; and after exposing Lester Morgan's deceit, Joe marries Elsie.

Dir: Rex Ingram

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

Hector Brown, affectionately nicknamed "Humdrum" by the residents of Norwalk because his life is so monotonous, wants to marry Alicia Boothe. Humdrum's brother-in-law Ed Danforth spends all of his money on get-rich-quick schemes, however, so the young bank clerk is forced to support the entire Danforth family. After Danforth and bank president Carlos Tanner rob the bank in which Humdrum is employed, the bank is forced to close, and Humdrum goes to San Francisco to look for a job. In his absence, Alicia inherits a large sum of money and travels to the city to find her fiancé. There she meets Tanner, who takes her money, promising to invest it for her. Having been double-crossed by Tanner, Danforth tells Humdrum the truth about the bank robbery and goes to the police. Humdrum catches the steamer on which Tanner is about to depart, holds the crook until the police arrive, and returns to the Norwalk bank with the stolen funds. He and Alicia marry following his appointment as president of the bank.

Dir: Rex Ingram

An American diplomat in China is murdered, and a wealthy Chinese friend of the family raises his daughter Mignon. When she grows up, she wants to return to the U.S. and is tricked into accompanying slave trader Foo Shai to New York. Once there, however, Foo Shai keeps her captive and abuses her. Local artist Lawrence falls in love with her, but he cannot free her from Foo Shai's clutches. It is up to her friend Chang to try to help her.

Dir: Rex Ingram

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

An extended family split up in France and Germany find themselves on opposing sides of the battlefield during World War I.

Dir: Rex Ingram

When millionaire John Saunders threatens to disinherit his son Wallace if he marries circus rider Queen Tina, Wallace elopes with Tina and becomes a trapeze performer. They lead a happy life until Tina dies giving birth to their daughter Alice. Years later, when the circus passes through Wallace's hometown, John, regretting his action, attends and witnesses Wallace's death by trapeze accident. Alice, now a circus rider herself, goes to live with John, who, despite Alice's antics involving her pet pig Rudolph, sliding down the stairs on a tray, and vaulting over the furniture, grows fond of her. When John tries to marry Alice to his sister's sissified son, she uses Rudolph to frighten him and his mother. After Alice and George Reynolds, whom she knew from the circus, fall in love and elope, John, thinking that George is after her fortune, is furious, but George proves his ability as a cartoonist and earns $1,000 a week to win John's admiration.

Dir: Rex Ingram

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

Melodrama of a young Italian lady induced to emigrate to New York where her patron abandons her. Her brother then follows, to avenge her dishonor, using a dagger belonging to an artist, who is incriminated.

Dir: Rex Ingram

After losing his father, a playboy moves in with his miserly uncle, who seeks to cheat him out of his inheritance.

Dir: Rex Ingram

To teach his fickle daughter, Jacqueline, the dangers of faithlessness, novelist Léon de Séverac reads her his latest story: In maneuvering for the favors of Zareda, a captivating Parisian adventuress, Baron de Maupin sends his son, Ivan, to war and takes the poison he intended for the Marquis Ferroni. Zareda marries the marquis, but she causes him to duel with Ivan, her true love, when Ivan returns. Ferroni is vanquished but lives long enough to imprison Zareda and kill Ivan. Jacqueline is impressed by this story and accepts her faithful suitor, Henri.