Editor's Top Picks Following the Footsteps of : Cult Guide

Dir: Raymond B. West

The Earl of Selkirk and his family learn of the impending arrival of American pirate John Paul Jones, they flee their castle, leaving behind Nora, the kitchen maid. Left alone in the house, Nora dons the clothes of her mistress and parades herself about the castle until the arrival of the king's light infantry. Because they mistake her for the lady of the house, she invites them to be her guests. Meanwhile, on board the pirate ship, third officer Darby O'Donovan recognizes the little island as his former home. Sent ashore by the commanding officer to investigate, Darby sees Nora, his old sweetheart, seated at the table with the redcoats and, impersonating an Irish gentleman, he interrupts the gathering. Later, a fisherman exposes Darby's true identity and he is arrested. Nora, determined to save her lover, disguises herself as a soldier and signals the pirate ship for help. After a thrilling battle between the pirates and the soldiers, the pirates escape and Darby sails to America accompanied by Nora.

Dir: Raymond B. West

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

Identical twins in appearance only, sisters Helen and Marion Dean have totally different temperaments: Marion possesses a self-sacrificing character, while Helen is vain and heartless. When Marion, a wonderful singer, is crippled by a car accident just before she is to open at the grand opera, the manager of the opera conceives of the idea of presenting Helen on stage while Marion sings the music behind the scenes. A young millionaire, Monte Bruce, watching from the audience, is captivated by Helen and the two are married. Marion accompanies them on their honeymoon cruise, and when an explosion blinds Bruce, Helen begins to flirt with fellow passenger Jack Mason, leaving her crippled sister to take her place at Bruce's side. Helen's scheme goes awry when Bruce recovers his sight but keeps his recovery secret, thus discovering Helen's duplicity. When a fire breaks out on ship Helen and Mason are drowned while attempting to escape, freeing Bruce to marry Marion, who has recovered the use of her legs.

Dir: Raymond B. West

The social climbing Flower family is comprised of Mr. Flower, a banker who has overextended himself financially, Mrs. Flower, a socially ambitious mother, Julia Flower, a marriage-minded elder daughter and Madge Flower, a high-spirited younger daughter. When Madge is expelled from boarding school for her practical jokes and pranks, she joins her mother and sister in Palm Beach, where they are wintering, in hopes of snaring a titled husband for Julia. Julia, fearful that her little sister will impair her success on the marriage market, forces Madge to dress as a child of ten. Julia has her sights set on the Earl of Larsdale, but after a series of misadventures, Madge elopes with the young man who turns out not to be an earl at all, but a prosperous young American who is holding her father's notes. Thus, she saves the day for the Flower family.

Dir: Raymond B. West

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

Thisbe Lorraine, an American who hopes to pursue an art career in Paris, falls in love with German aristocrat Ernst Faber, who makes love to the young woman and then leaves her. Disillusioned, Thisbe resolves to live by her own rules and returns to New York, where her sex novels earn her great fame and wealth. At a grotto café in Greenwich Village, Thisbe encounters "Tea Cup Ann," a fortuneteller who predicts that her sinful ways will bring her only sorrow. Later, Thisbe falls in love with artist Le Saint Hammond, who asks her to pose for his statue of Psyche, but when he learns of her past, her rejects her and then begins to drink excessively. Thisbe's sorrow turns to joy, however, when Le Saint finally returns to her.

Dir: Raymond B. West

Patrick "The Ear" Muldoon, a professional safecracker, passes on his skills to his daughter Peggy. However, after reading Ralph Waldo Emerson's books, Peggy decides to forego a life of crime, after pulling one last job. Unfortunately, she's arrested for that crime and sent to prison for two years. When she gets out of prison she moves to California and meets Robert Benton, who works in a local bank. Theu marry and are living happily--until Peggy's old gang shows up and threatens to tell her husband about her past unless she helps them crack the safe in his bank.

Dir: Raymond B. West

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

Jack Harding, a wealthy ne'er-do-well, becomes involved with a Broadway vamp. When she is murdered, Jack is falsely accused of the crime and must turn for help to his lawyer--his wife.

Dir: Raymond B. West

Salesman Warren Kent develops the idea of "The Unending Courtship" and manages to convince his new wife Betty of his theory, which entails their living separately and only meeting on Wednesday evenings, as they did while they were engaged. Warren's boss, however, who was never enamored of the idea, fires him when he bungles an account and loses the company a large order. On top of that, through a series of misunderstandings Warren comes to believe that his wife is pregnant and his mother-in-law believes that Warren is having an affair with Betty's friend Ethel. Things go downhill for Warren from there.

Dir: Raymond B. West

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

Pampy lives in a quaint little Dutch village, where she supports her invalid father by selling flowers to tourists. Pampy is so beautiful that she provides inspiration to Donald Luther, an American artist who is visiting the village, and at his request, poses for him. Just as his interest starts to blossom into love, he is called away for two weeks. During his absence Pampy's father dies, leaving her only with directions to her wealthy grandfather's home in New York. A letter containing money for her voyage is intercepted by the unscrupulous Captain von der Bloom, who takes an innkeeper's daughter to the old man and tries to persuade him that she is his grandaughter. Pampy is finally able to sail to America when the village priest buys her passage, and she arrives just in time to prevent the old man from turning over a large sum of money to von der Bloom. The gloom of the old house is then awakened to laughter as it is filled with Pampy's charming presence, and all ends happily as she is reunited with her artist.

Dir: Raymond B. West

Doris Willard, the daughter of a village minister, achieves the realization of her great dream, a year at college. Doris, although a sweet and pretty girl, is greatly handicapped by her clothes. On her arrival at college she is eyed by the other girls with concealed amusement and curiosity and soon realizes that she "doesn't belong." The girls snub her at every opportunity and she is desperately lonesome and longs for companionship. The Saturday before Thanksgiving when everyone else has gone to the big Princeton-Yale game, Doris sits alone in her room. She picks up the newspaper and sees in it a picture that greatly appeals to her. It is a newspaper cut of "Bullet" Dick Ames, the universal choice for the '"All-American Eleven." She conceives a desperate plan. She thinks nobody at her college knows Dick and decides she will make the girls think he is in love with her. She writes a note to herself to which she signs Dick's name. The note is a proposal of marriage. This she drops on the porch of the girls' hall and it is picked up by one of the girls who reads it to the bunch. Daisy Arnold, the undisputed ruler of the "Beauty Squad," will not believe that Dick knows Doris, and writes to his sister, Eleanor, asking both her and Dick down for the holidays. In her letter she tells Eleanor about Doris claiming Dick has asked her to marry him. Dick sees the letter and he and his sister accept the invitation. When Dick sees Doris, he decides to help her out in her deception. Doris is panic-stricken on the night of the reception given in Eleanor's and Dick's honor, but when she is introduced to Dick he says, "Why sure, we are old friends," and Daisy and her friends are much disappointed, their plan for humiliating Doris having fallen through. After meeting Dick, Doris is unwilling to carry out the deception, but he insists, and before his visit is over they are much in love with each other. Doris, however, refuses to marry Dick, thinking he has asked her out of pity, but through Eleanor's efforts he manages to make her understand that he really loves her.

Dir: Raymond B. West

Rumpelstiltskin, a wicked little dwarf with magic power, covets the miller's daughter, Polly. He offers the miller two bags of gold for her and is angrily kicked out of the mill. The dwarf vows eternal vengeance. The King, whose coffers are empty, having heard of the magic power of the dwarf, sends for him and commands him to refill his coffers. The dwarf, in vengeance, tells the King that the miller's daughter can spin straw into gold. The King sends for Polly, places her in a room full of straw and commands her to spin it into gold before dawn, else she, her father and the dwarf will lose their heads. The dwarf tells Polly he will spin the straw for her if she will promise him her first born, if it is a girl. Polly, in order to save her father, promises. Prince Cole, disguised as a hunter, seeks a girl to love. He sees Polly and falls in love with her. She agrees to meet him in the forest, but is captured by the dwarf and taken to his cave, where the Dragon is set to watch over her. With the assistance of the Good Fairy the Prince rescues Polly. The King places the Prince in a dungeon because of his love for Polly. The Good Fairy helps Polly to liberate him and he and Polly step on the magic carpet which the Good Fairy has given Polly and wish themselves far away. They are transferred to the woods, where they are married and a baby girl is born to them. The dwarf searches for Polly and the Prince, finds them and steals their child. The Good Fairy again comes to their assistance and the child is restored to them. The King, whose treasure is exhausted in the search for his son, commands the miller again produce his daughter so that she can spin some more straw into gold for him. The Prince and Polly appear before the King, by whom they are joyfully welcomed. They tell the King the story and the dwarf is condemned to spinning straw the rest of his natural life.