Must-Watch List Comparable to the Style of Inside the Lines: Cult Guide

Dir: David Hartford

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

Jack Farber, a young theological student who wants to get firsthand experiences of life before taking over his father's pulpit, goes to the big city against the wishes of his aunt. There he is the victim of circumstances and is sent to jail when a crook plants a purse in his pocket to avoid arrest. Upon release, Jack has difficulty in finding work because of his prison record and is unable to keep his conviction a secret because of the vigilance of Tim Corrigan, the detective who arrested him. Steve, whom Jack has befriended in prison, arranges for him to see an attorney, who advises him that if he serves his home pulpit for a year, he will inherit his aunt's fortune. He goes there with his crook friends, who agree to lead a clean and honest life, but Corrigan appears and warns him to leave town at the behest of Amos Pendleton, his uncle. Instead of delivering his prepared sermon, Jack tells the congregation the story of his misfortune. Steve confesses to framing him, and Corrigan declares Jack innocent.

Dir: David Hartford

After flunking out of college and failing to make good working in his father's plant, Bob Morris is given a check by his father and told to hit the trail. The trail leads Bob to the High Sierra region, where he gets framed by a gang of tramps and is tossed in jail. Lumber-camp owner John Hobart knows he is innocent, gets him out of jail and puts him to work as a lumberjack. They become great friends but then comes a woman, Mary, whom John is in love with but she prefers Bob who is closer to her age. Friendship and loyalty gets tested.

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

Dir: David Hartford

Mary Lawton bids farewell to her father, Mark Lawton, and his business partner, John Adams, to whom she is engaged, leaving Arizona to study art in New York. After a time, John visits Mary unexpectedly and discovers to his sorrow that she has forgotten him in the convivial whirl of her new life. Upon his return to Arizona, he learns that Mark has died, and in his grief and disappointment, he sets fire to the house he built for Mary. Still in New York, Mary visits sculptor Trovio Valdez and is about to surrender to his advances when she sees his bronze statue of John. Realizing her love for her old sweetheart, she abandons her Bohemian friends and accepts a position as a governess with oil magnate Frank Marsh. Frank wants John's oil-rich lands but offers to give up his claim if Mary will be his wife. She agrees, but when Frank realizes that her heart belongs to John, he rides out of their lives, and they finally reunite.

Dir: David Hartford

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

Robert Fisher Clarke, a dreamer and engineering genius, on his way to Chicago, astonishes the Pullman porter by leaving the train at a small way station on the Sault Ste. Marie rapids. Clarke has seen a wonderful vision of a model industrial town situated on the banks of the river, utilizing the harnessed power of the great rapids. After he has succeeded in gaining backing for his project, a conflict between certain financiers so hampers the completion of his plans that he decides to bid farewell to the rapids. Before going, he proposes marriage to Elsie Worden, but when Jim Belding, a young engineer in his employ, meets with an accident in the river, Elsie suddenly awakens to the fact that it is Jim she loves and not Clarke. Clarke accepts his fate and takes with him little Sue, a child he has rescued from the rapids.

Dir: David Hartford

Sgt. Philip Raine of the Royal Northwest Mounted Police is sent to the mountains to capture killer Bram Johnson. Raine encounters a dying Frenchman--whom he believes to be Johnson--who gives him a tiny baby and a rabbit snare made of golden hair. Overtaken by a blizzard and set upon by a pack of wolf dogs, he is escorted by Celie, a beautiful blonde, to the stockade where she lives with Johnson. She shields Raine from Johnson, but she and Raine are later captured by "Black" Dawson, a jealous rival. At the critical moment, Bram arrives and saves them. Before dying, he explains the mystery of Celie, who was found as a baby in an explorer's icebound ship.

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

Dir: David Hartford

A fisherman in the Bay of Fundy loses his sweetheart while he is at sea.

Dir: David Hartford

A woman finds herself all alone in a remote harbor with the man responsible for the murder of her father. With seemingly nobody around to protect her, she has to be resourceful.

Dir: David Hartford

Yvonne Dupré, the sole survivor of a once-noble French family, makes a modest living selling her paintings to Leon Naisson, who resells them for exorbitant prices as the work of a famous artist. Leon confides to Yvonne's gypsy model, Romildo, that he is sexually attracted to the artist. Romildo drugs his lover, the fiery apache dancer, Juliette, who closely resembles Yvonne, then invites Leon to rape her for one thousand francs. Leon discovers that she is not Yvonne, but convinces the artist's sweetheart, Dick Gray, that she has been unfaithful. As police close in on Leon, he frames Yvonne by planting forged paintings in her studio. Following Yvonne's arrest, Juliette is informed by her foster sister that she was stolen by gypsies as a child and is actually Yvonne's twin sister. Juliette exposes Leon's operation to the police, reuniting Yvonne and Dick.