Hand-Picked Alternatives Movies That Echo the Spirit of In Wrong: C...

Dir: James Kirkwood

Young Dolly Lane has committed herself to becoming a star on the stage, but when she meets handsome and wealthy farmer Steve Hunter, she falls in love and marries him. Unfortunately, Steve soon loses his fortune and the couple is forced to move in with a friend, Teddy Harrington. Not long afterwards Steve's rich uncle dies, leaving him wealthy, but on that same day Dolly is asked to take the place of a stage star who has taken ill. She does and becomes the toast of Broadway, but now Steve wants her to return with him to the West and become a farmer's wife. She relents, but soon becomes bored with that role and longs to return to the stage.

Dir: James Kirkwood

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

Nell Gwynne ( Mary Pickford ) and King Charles II ( Owen Moore ) fall in love after meeting at a fox hunt. Nell soon learns the jealous Duchess of Portsmouth ( Ruby Hoffman ) is a spy and conspiring with the Duke of Buckingham to place Charles at the mercy of the King of France. Nell boldly disguises herself as a fashionable young blade and wins the confidence of the Duchess. Now entrusted with the delivery of important documents, she makes sure they go to the King of England rather than the King of France. Now, Nell has the last laugh on the traitorous Duchess.

Dir: James Kirkwood

When Josiah Whitcomb's son gets into trouble with bad companions in New York City, Josiah leaves the farm and goes into the city to find the boy. There he finds that his country ways are not at all respected in the sophisticated city.

Dir: James Kirkwood

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

Dulcie's once-aristocratic Southern family has fallen upon hard times, so her Aunt Netta decides to take her to California in search of a millionaire husband. While Dulcie pines for Harry, her sweetheart back home, Netta triumphantly arranges an engagement with a wealthy suitor. On her wedding day, preparing to sacrifice herself for her family, Dulcie discovers that her fiance's millions actually belong to other people when he is arrested at the altar on a bank robbing charge. Meanwhile, Harry, who has come West to get Dulcie back, arrives at the wedding just as the police interrupt it. He volunteers to take the arrested fiance's place, and Dulcie accepts his offer instantly.

Dir: James Kirkwood

Mary Pickford plays "Rags," a pretty but wild girl who defends her alcoholic father a disgraced bank cashier, no matter how he mistreats her.

Dir: James Kirkwood

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

A young girl, Anemone (Mary Pickford), who lives with her Aunt (Ida Waterman) is abducted by a crude family of Virginia mountain moonshiners. A fight between two of the young male relatives decides who will marry the girl. Lancer (James Kirkwood) is the winner and marries Anemone against her will. She is reunited some time later with her Aunt, but when she learns Lancer is in dire trouble she returns and stays by his side, realizing she had always been in love with him.

Dir: James Kirkwood

When a young girl who has grown up as a music hall entertainer is brought to live in a stodgy New England town, the quiet town life is changed forever.

Dir: James Kirkwood

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

In the Tennessee hills, the feuding Allison and Watts families pay no heed to the preachings and sacrifices of Jethro Stark, a self-styled evangelist whose motherless daughter Melissa dispels quarrels among children of the feuding families, takes care of her father, and invents money-making schemes to relieve their poverty. While struggling young lawyer Tom Williams and Melissa are in love, she is loved by miserly octogenarian Cyrus Kimball, whose crabbiness Melissa dissipates. When Melissa reads in the newspaper that society lady Mrs. Sanders has offered to give clothes to a deserving girl, she writes a letter requesting a party dress for herself and a new coat for Jethro for the annual revival meeting. Mrs. Sanders visits and her husband recognizes Jethro as a fugitive wanted for murder. When deputy sheriff Sam Allison goes to arrest Jethro, Melissa gets help from the Watts faction, and a battle ensues. After Jethro is killed trying to stop the fighting, his innocence is confirmed, and the feuding families reconcile. Melissa thanks God that Jethro never knew that he was under suspicion.

Dir: James Kirkwood

Ashby Leene, once a famous actor, but now poverty stricken, dies, leaving his grandchild, Lizette, in the care of Granny Page, his landlady. Lizette's new home is one of kindliness and she becomes a friend of Paul, Granny's young nephew, who runs a newsstand. Remembering her promise, Granny spends a good deal of time at the newsstand when Paul is away on deliveries. She resents Dan Nye's attention to Lizette. One day Lizette sells a paper to Henry Faure, an elderly millionaire, who is attracted to the bright-faced girl. Faure has been mentally depressed since the death of his wife and little girl. Longing for someone to love, Faure offers to adopt Lizette as his own daughter. Though Paul and Granny are heartbroken, they consent. For a time Lizette is happy in her new home. While Faure is away on business, Lizette visits her old friends. Faure unexpectedly returns. To his dismay Lizette begs that he let her stay a while longer with Granny. He reluctantly consents. His old depression returns. The housekeeper finally writes Lizette, begging her to return for Faure's sake. Lizette finds an abandoned infant on the doorstep upon her return. She is overjoyed. She is admitted by the butler, who is aghast to see that she has returned with a baby. When questioned, she tells them that she is the baby's mother, etc. Faure asks her about the child's father. Lizette innocently answers that she don't know. She realizes in a vague way that babies have fathers and, seeing that everyone is greatly upset, she decides that if the baby must have a father she will give Dan Nye the honor of naming him. Faure loves her so much that he cannot find it in his heart to denounce her. Nor can the kind old housekeeper, who is highly amused at Lizette's lack of knowledge about babies. Dan Nye is amazed when Faure calls to see him and charges him with being the father of Lizette's baby. He conceals his astonishment, quick to realize that he has an unusual opportunity for blackmail in the affair. When Faure declares he must marry Lizette for the sake of her good name, Nye admits he is the baby's father, but refuses to marry the girl unless Faure pays him an exorbitant sum. Faure agrees to this, upon the condition that he accompany him and marry Lizette at once. The young woman who abandoned the child calls to reclaim it, but Lizette is unwilling to give it up. But she is finally induced to give it back to the rightful mother. Nye is thrown out of the house, and Paul, who has long cherished a love for Lizette, is made happy by her acceptance of him.

Dir: James Kirkwood

A young girl who lives in the London slums is in love with a cunning thief and persuades him to give up his life of crime. Meanwhile, an eccentric millionaire who has been diagnosed with an incurable dementia becomes so despondent that he decides to commit suicide. He disguises himself as a vagrant and wanders into the slums. As he tries to find the courage to kill himself, the young girl encounters him and rationalizes him out of his cowardly act. Her genuine sweetness and strong faith affect him to such an extent, that he begins to believe recovery is possible. Now the girl's sweetheart has been falsely accused of murder, and only the millionaire's licentious nephew can give him an alibi. The girl pleads with the nephew to help prove her sweetheart's innocence. He refuses and tries to take advantage of her. The millionaire arrives in time and shames his nephew to testify correctly. The millionaire now pledges himself to a life of service and charity, and the girl and her sweetheart are happily reunited.