The Cult Collection Inspired by the Vision of Jacqueline, or Blazin...

Dir: Dell Henderson

Stubborn Emily Delmar sneaks out of the house to go to a nightclub, and when she discovers that she has left her house keys at home, decides to spend the evening at the apartment of Richard Trotter, a young man who is pursuing her. Trotter comes home to find her there, and proceeds to take her to the house of her Aunt Geraldine. On the way there they stop at a beachfront hotel for dinner, and Emily, not ready to go to her aunt's house just yet, hatches a scheme to stay overnight and have a swim. Unfortunately, her Aunt Geraldine and Herbert Threadgold, a rival for Emily's affections, arrive at the hotel, see Richard and Emily there and assume "the worst". Complications ensue.

Dir: Dell Henderson

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

Alice Avery, the orphaned daughter of an actress, is raised to adulthood in a small town by her strict Aunt Jane and Uncle Ezra. When artist Richard Danforth comes to town to rest, Alice falls in love with him. When he leaves, he promises that if Alice comes to New York he will care for her, so Alice decides to follow him there over the objections of her aunt and uncle, who want her to marry a local boy. In New York, Richard is surprised by her appearance and sends for Sarah, Alice's childhood guardian, to look after her. Nancy Arnold, one of Richard's models, is in love with him and jealous of Alice, and Alice is jealous of her. When Alice interrupts a quarrel between Richard and Nancy over her, she decides to run away and get a job on the stage. She becomes a famous actress and eventually is found by Richard, who realizes that he is in love with her. She then gives up the stage to become his wife.

Dir: Dell Henderson

Engrossed in his business affairs, John Kirby fails to assess the seriousness of his wife Helen's objections to the constant parade of business chums and their mistresses who come to dinner. When Kirby gives Helen the ultimatum of accepting the status quo or filing for divorce, she divorces him and obtains a position as a stenographer in the office of one of her husband's friends, but leaves after he makes advances toward her. Finding employment as a model in a dress shop, Helen is invited by one of the girls to attend a masquerade ball with two gentlemen friends. Helen agrees and discovers that her escort is her ex-husband. Although he cannot identify Helen because they are masked, Kirby suspects that his date is his ex-wife and arranges for another meeting in which he asks Helen to remarry him, and she agrees to make him her second husband.

Dir: Dell Henderson

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

Nell Gordon is unfortunate in her ancestry; her father is a crook, but she possesses qualities of resourcefulness and loyalty. Though she loves her father, she detests his associates, particularly one, Bill Whipple, who is her constant suitor, Joe Dunham, who does the scouting for the trio, finds a likely bank in the town of Wheaton, the fact that a new bookkeeper is needed there opening a way for the gang to get into the bank, as Nell is an expert. Working on her love for her father, who is a very sick man, Whipple and Dunham persuade Nell to go to Wheaton and take the position. Boarding with the Rev. Dr. Singleton, Nell wins the confidence of Jim Brooks, the cashier of the bank, and of Tom Hoadley, his best friend and sheriff of the county. What the girl is working for, of course, is the combination of the safe, but before she has a chance to get it, she begins to realize that she is in love with the cashier. On the very day that she learns the combination and copies it. Jim proposes to her, and, after a mental struggle, she decides that her love for him is greater than her loyalty to the gang, and she surrenders, concealing her identity, she had come to the town under an assumed name. Becoming suspicious of Nell's delay in forwarding word to them, Whipple and Dunham attempt to force her father to write a note ordering her to act quickly, but the old man refuses and is shot. The crooks go to Wheaton and try to force Nell to rob the bank. She has undergone complete reformation and has even confessed her identity to Jim's friend and is planning to leave Wheaton rather than bring disgrace upon the man she loves. She discovers that her father has been murdered by the crooks and decides to be revenged. Apparently consenting to their demands, she gets them into the bank, but not until she has warned the sheriff. Nell is wounded in the fight which follows, and when she awakens finds herself in the arms of the man from whom she attempted to escape because she loved him.

Dir: Dell Henderson

The spoiled, somewhat "mama's boy" young son of a railroad magnate and the pretty young daughter of the magnate's partner set out to stop their respective fathers' incessant quarreling. In the process, they realize that they are falling in love with each other.

Dir: Dell Henderson

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

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Dell Henderson

Lucille Vale is in love with struggling architect Paul Arden, but her mother believes that Allen Granat is a more suitable match. Lucille's mother prevails, and Lucille leaves Paul a note in their secret hiding place saying that she is going to marry Allen. Paul is injured when thrown from a horse and does not receive the note. He is nursed back to health in the home of entomologist Thomas Wiggan, whose son Johnnie is in love with Marion Vale, Lucille's younger sister. Two years later, Lucille and Allen return to the estate, very much in love, and engage Paul's services. The note is found, still waiting in the secret hiding place. After many complications, and with the help of her friend Suzanne Russell, Lucille recovers the possibly incriminating note.

Dir: Dell Henderson

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

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Dell Henderson

After Miriam Gibson is seduced and abandoned by a handsome adventurer, who marries an old woman with money, she becomes a prostitute to get money for her new-born child. When the baby dies, Miriam, now without hopes, goes to London and becomes the mistress and housekeeper of barrister Geoffrey Sherwood, who has become a drunkard after having been jilted by his fiancée Valentine, when she married a wealthy baronet. Miriam hopes to marry Geoffrey, but when Valentine, who is unhappy with her baronet, begins to trifle with Geoffrey, he responds and discards Miriam. Geoffrey soon realizes the shallowness of his affair with Valentine, who has not divorced the baronet, and his sense of shame is awakened by Miriam's kindness and consideration for others. They marry in a little Scottish kirk, and sail for Buenos Aires to begin a new life.

Dir: Dell Henderson

Press agent J. Butterfield Conroy, known affectionately as "Butts," is left only $500 when his wealthy father dies--until he can show that he has been "of service to humanity" in a scientific capacity. In a New York restaurant, Butts meets Mary Bruce MacDowell when her uncle Angus, an entomologist, chases a butterfly around his table. Smitten with love, Butts follows Mary to Bug Hollow, a resort where the professor is searching for a rare insect. After losing all his money playing poker, Butts starts to walk to Manhattan, when he meets Frank Morrison, an acquaintance, who hires Butts to invent a reputation for him as a scientist so that the professor will allow him to court Mary. Although Butts is successful, Mary, loving Butts, refuses Morrison. After Butts rescues the professor from his burning laboratory, set on fire by Brazilian swindler Ybor Cavallo, the professor consents to Butts' and Mary's marriage and Butts is awarded the rest of his father's estate.