The Auteur's Selection Complementing the Tone of Kiss or Kill: 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

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of I'll Get Him Yet perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

A young woman is in love, but the man of her affections wants only her and no part of her vast wealth.

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.

Dir: Elmer Clifton

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

Dave Marco, a claim jumper, and his boss Earl Foster, a crooked investment broker, hire chemist Ralph Brandon to sign papers proclaiming the wealth of a certain mine. Foster then convinces Ralph's mother to invest all of her money in the mine, which actually is worthless. While she and her pretty daughter Holly are waiting in Foster's San Francisco office, they meet Jack Mason, whose rich mine has not yet earned him any profits, and the two young people fall in love. Inspecting her mine in Keno County, Mrs. Brandon learns that it is worthless, but when she confronts Foster, he threatens to have Ralph arrested for signing false documents unless Holly agrees to marry him. Meanwhile, Marco tries to jump Jack's claim but is prevented from doing so by Jack and a sheriff's posse. Foster weds Holly in an illegal ceremony, but Jack and Ralph overtake their train with the aid of a car and then a motorcycle. Finally, Ralph kills Foster, freeing Holly and her mother from his clutches.

Dir: Elmer Clifton

When young inventor Bob Moore fails in his efforts to provide his father, a safe manufacturer, with a lock that is burglar proof, he contacts The "Eel," the most talented safecracker in the city, to offer him a job in his factory. The Eel, deciding to go straight, accepts the offer, but when he later learns that Irene Hardin has been given a valuable necklace by her father, The Eel plans one last job to secure Irene's pearls. Meanwhile, Irene's father, also a safe manufacturer, places the pearls in his own safe and tells Bob that if he can open it, Irene will be his. Bob, in love with Irene, opens the safe and places the pearls on the handle. After he departs, The Eel enters the house and steals the pearls. Bob is accused of the crime, and to exonerate himself, pursues The Eel. After a lively fight, Bob recovers the necklace and returns home to claim his bride.

Dir: Elmer Clifton

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

Daughter of impoverished vaudeville actor Lew Moore, Sheila ( Dorothy Gish ) works as a waitress in a chocolate manufacturer's candy shop, where she delights the customers with her tomboyish antics. Tom Ballantyne ( Richard Barthelmess ), the proprietor's son realizes that Sheila is excessively fond of dancing, asks her out without the benefit of a proper introduction, and she indignantly refuses. Soon afterwards, however, the two fall in love and secretly marry. Sheila's father insists that Tom's parents be informed, but when the young groom breaks the news, they react with such anger that Tom leaves home. Meanwhile, Sheila remains with the Ballantynes as their ward on the condition that she keep her marriage and her lineage a secret. One evening, Sheila decides to visit her father's theater but is discovered there by the Ballantynes. Infuriated, she vents her anger at the snobbish family and returns home with her father, but Tom follows her, and in the end, all of the parties are reconciled.

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

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

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

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.

Dir: Elmer Clifton

Boots is a young servant girl who polishes shoes in an English inn. She is an incurable romantic, addicted to melodramatic stories of love and adventure. When she discovers a Bolshevik plot to blow up a government official, she takes it on herself to foil the plot.