Cinematic Discoveries Resonating with the Themes of Is Zat So?: Cult Guide

Dir: Lloyd Ingraham

While walking along the street one day, Arthur P. Hampton, an impoverished young doctor, and his chums, Stub Masters and Johnny Stokes, are persuaded to part with their last remaining funds by tag day solicitor Mary Jane Smith, with whom the doctor promptly falls in love. Doc's friends then hit upon a get-rich-quick scheme. Knowing that his Uncle George has promised a large sum of money upon his nephew's marriage, they persuade Doc to send out fake wedding invitations naming Mary Jane as the blushing bride. Uncle George, elated at the good news, writes to Mary Jane's aunt, Angelica Burns, an old sweetheart, to invite Mary Jane and Angelica to be his guests on an ocean voyage. Meanwhile, Mary Jane pays a visit to the doctor's office and, upon seeing the wedding invitations, becomes so flustered that she trips and sprains her ankle. Doc comes to her rescue and then begs her to pose as his wife. She agrees, but at ship-side, Stub and Johnnie confess all to Uncle George, who flies into a rage until Doc announces that he and Mary Jane have chosen a wedding at sea.

Dir: Hal Roach

An American book salesman (Lloyd) is persuaded to go to the kingdom of Thermosa to impersonate the Prince. He is greeted by a peasants' revolt before the real prince shows up to claim his throne and princess. The revolution succeeds, and the American is elected president of the new republic.

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

Dir: Unknown Director

The village youths are rivals for the hand of the local belle. Their battles lead them to the village store, where chaos soon reigns, terminating in the place being blown up, leaving Bobby a happy victor.

Dir: Alfred E. Green

While on vacation from college, William Bankinton is shipwrecked. His mind a blank, he is picked up by a derelict ship upon which there are only a lion and a stowaway named Broot. After Broot commits suicide, Bankinton and the lion are cast adrift upon the shores of Africa where they exist in a primitive state for several months. One day, when Nakhia, the daughter of the Bedouin chief Ali-Es Hadji is out riding, she is beset by danger. Bankinton comes to her rescue and gradually he and the girl fall in love. Ben Saada, the bandit chief, desires Nakhia, and tries to kidnap her. The lion and Bankinton once again come to her defense, and in the ensuing fight, Bankinton is struck on the head and his memory is restored. He then proposes to Nakhia, and the couple set sail to America where they are reunited with Bankinton's family.

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

Dir: Malcolm St. Clair

A dancing instructor gets involved with a newly rich family.

Dir: Maurice Campbell

Carver Endicott, a young sophisticate, is rejected by his fiancée for being too foppish and dull. When she feigns an interest in his father, Carver attempts to disgrace his family name by working as a farmhand and later as a busboy in a hotel. However, the newspapers only praise him for his self-sacrificing principles; and finding that he cannot bring shame to the family through menial labor, he takes up with a notorious actress. But when this maneuver also fails, he returns to his former fiancée, who has no further complaint about his being an inexperienced dullard.

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

Dir: Alfred E. Green

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Charley Chase

A young married couple volunteer to take charge of several orphans after the asylum has burned down. Of course they find their hands full with their troublesome charges.

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Don't Weaken! perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Dir: Jerome Storm

Ne'er-do-well Homer Cavender ventures to the city from Mainsville in an effort to find fame and fortune. Both elude him, and after clerking for two years, Homer returns home for a vacation. Impressed by his flashy clothes, the townspeople assume that Homer has achieved success. Attempting to win Rachel Prouty from his rival, Arthur Machim, Homer continues the deception by announcing that his employer, Kort and Bailly, has dispatched him to enroll stockholders for a proposed new plant to be built in Mainsville. Machim discovers the sham and denounces Homer as a crook. Meanwhile, Homer returns to New York, convinces his employers of the merits of his plan and comes home triumphant, with a proposal for both the new plant and for Rachel's hand in marriage.

Dir: Bud Fisher

Mutt and Jeff go on strike and make their own film.