Cinematic Discoveries Resonating with the Themes of Jungle Drums: Cult Guide

Dir: Elmer Clifton

When Janice Webster's (Dorothy Gish) father dies and leaves her guardianship to Ethan Dexter and Henry Jarvis, the vice presidents of the Webster Trust Co., which holds her fortune until she reaches 18, her official fathers become alarmed by her quirky shenanigans. Deciding that marriage is the way to tame her, Dexter proposes and is accepted. Then Winfield Jarvis, Henry's son, proposes and is also accepted. In a muddle as to which to marry, Janice confides in bank teller Steven Peabody, who loves her himself. Later, Steven overhears Dexter boasting of his future control of the Webster millions, but before he can warn Janice, the banker locks Steven in the closet and goes to meet his bride-to-be. Steven escapes and arrives in time to find Dexter and Jarvis arguing over Janice who then reads aloud a letter written by her late father denouncing both vice presidents and announces that she will marry Steven.

Dir: Elmer Clifton

While relaxing in his cabin one stormy night, John Winton, a rising young businessman who has successfully resisted the institution of marriage, is interrupted by cries for help. Opening his door, he finds a soaking wet, pretty girl, who pleads with him to come to her aid. She guides him to a swamp where a man is lying insensible. John carries the man to his bungalow and goes for a doctor. On his return, both have disappeared. John, his curiosity thoroughly aroused, follows the only clue that has been left to him, a glove that is lying on the cabin floor. After a series of mysterious encounters in which the girl is involved, John marries her without knowing who or what she is. Then it is revealed that the whole mystery has been a scheme contrived by John's father to marry his son off by employing the romance of mystery.

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

Dir: Elmer Clifton

Saul Chadron, a brutal cattle baron, is distressed that homesteaders are intruding on his domain and hires outlaws to drive them away. Alan MacDonald, who leads the homesteaders, learns that Chadron has hired Mark Thorne, a vicious criminal, to kill him. His growing love for Frances Landcrafe, a visitor at the Chadron ranch, makes Alan bold, however, and he attends a masquerade held in her honor. Meanwhile, Thorne, claiming that he has killed Alan, demands payment from Chadron, and when the cattle baron refuses, the outlaw kidnaps Chadron's daughter Nola. Alan rescues her, but Chadron's troubles continue as the townspeople, angered over the murder of a child, decide to hang him. Alan intercedes, but Thorne, just before his own murder, shoots Chadron. Alan is then free to turn his attention to Frances and his land claim.

Dir: Elmer Clifton

When an aviator dies performing in a traveling circus, the circus closes and side show con men "Sky-High" Billy Wardell and "Domino" Dominick are arrested for giving out fake watches to wheel of fortune winners. After Domino springs the jail's lock, they jump a freight train and arrive in the next town, where Billy falls in love when Jane Higgenbotham allows them to breakfast on her freshly baked pies. When Billy, who gets a job as a reporter, learns that Jane's father Dave, an inventor, has no money to manufacture his "aerochute," designed to insure airplane safety, Billy opens a stock company and sells shares to villagers and farmers. After Ed Warmbath, a disappointed rival for Jane's affection, learns that Billy is wanted for jailbreak, he informs the townspeople, who demand that Dave return their money. Because Billy sees that Jane doubts his honesty, he volunteers to test the chute in a plane piloted by Murphy, a circus friend. Murphy's drunkenness inspires Billy to jump, and he lands safely, thus winning back the townsfolks' confidence, and Jane's love.

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

Dir: Elmer Clifton

Framed by police inspector Finch and his managing editor, R. H. Steadman, to cover up their own crooked work, reporter John Mull languishes in prison until he escapes, determined to wreak vengeance. In Mull's absence, his sweetheart, Bess Miller, has been dating Burton Grange with whom she plans to elope. When Grange has an altercation with Steadman, in the scuffle, Steadman is knocked unconscious. Grange flees and is arrested for Steadman's murder but escapes and encounters Mull, now a fugitive from justice. After persuading Grange to give himself up, Mull pays a visit to Finch and forces him to confess to Steadman's murder. With Finch's testimony, Mull is also vindicated of charges and is free to marry Bess.

Dir: Elmer Clifton

James Gordon, Sr., owner of the Gordon syndicate, dispatches his roughneck son Jimmy to investigate why production has fallen off in his opal mine on an island off the coast of lower California. After an argument with his fiancé, socialite Lucy Andrews, Jimmy leaves for the island where he is met by Juan, McCool's servant who, along with Jasper Sneedham, has been cheating the company. On the launch, Juan tries to eliminate Jimmy by hitting him over the head, but escapes and swims to shore where he is rescued by Sneedham's stepdaughter Nadine. Nadine takes Jimmy to the hut of mine foreman Fred Haimer, the only honest man on the island. When Nadine overhears her stepfather's plans to take his ill gained fortune and flee, Jimmy and Haimer team up to defeat Juan, Sneedham and McCool. After a number of grueling skirmishes, Jimmy, Haimer and Nadine escape to the mainland where they notify the police who return to the island and arrest the gang. Jimmy then introduces Nadine to his father and is thrilled to learn that Lucy has married a nobleman, thus freeing Jimmy to marry Nadine.

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

Dir: Elmer Clifton

After his mother's death, John Gregory becomes the "Eagle," a thief determined to get even with the mining company that stole his family's fortune. No one suspects that he is a bandit, not even Lucy, the girl he loves, and her brother Bob. John finally breaks into the mining company's main office, but discovers that another robber has preceded him and killed the night guard. The robber is Bob, and when the boy is arrested, John interrupts the trial and takes the blame himself for Lucy's sake. Bob commits suicide, and Lucy, who discovers his written confession just before John is to be hanged, rides wildly to the jail and saves John's life.

Dir: Elmer Clifton

Colonel Court, an agent in the Secret Service, is distressed by the occasional lapses of courage in his son Henry, a college athlete. Unknown to him, Henry's sweetheart Ellen is also an agent working on a case involving a radium smuggler, "National" Jim. To build his son's character, Court puts him on the same case that Ellen has been assigned to, but his courage again fails him. Henry decides to turn to the powers of the psyche and hires three men to communicate power and courage to him through intense concentration. The scheme works: Henry enters Jim's house in time to defeat him in a fight, locate the hidden radium and save Ellen.

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

Dir: Elmer Clifton

When his father commits suicide after being ruined by dishonest stockbroker Abner Hinman, Randolph Shorb resolves to gain revenge and rebuild his fortune by whatever means necessary. With the aid of notorious crook Philadelphia Johnson, Randolph becomes the head of a gang of thieves and is thereafter known as The Ferret. Joe Freeman, the brother of Randolph's girlfriend Mary, moves to the city, where he is robbed by Johnson and forced to hold up a bank. Mary learns of Joe's troubles and rushes to the city to help him but is lured to a rooming house and attacked by Johnson. Joe disappears with the intention of committing suicide, after which Randolph, frantic over both Joe and Mary, goes to the power house and flashes a message in Morse code over all of the city's electric lights. Through his message, Joe regains hope and Mary is rescued. After the gang's arrest, Randolph vows to lead an honest life.

Dir: Elmer Clifton

Two men, one of them a villainous hypnotist, contend for the same woman, unaware that she suffers from dual personality disorder.