The Definitive Guide Deeply Connected to Leave It to Susan: Cult Guide

Dir: Clarence G. Badger

Rosie Mendelsohn, the daughter of a kindly Jewish tailor in New York City's East Side ghetto, ends her romance with struggling author George Howard at the behest of her father, who prohibits her marriage to a gentile. George disappears from her life, and Rosie attempts to find him by becoming a private secretary to publisher Joseph Rayberg. She persuades Rayberg to host a contest in which authors submit endings to an unfinished manuscript she claims to have discovered. Rayberg, intent on seducing Rosie, agrees to publish the manuscript only after Rosie promises to have sex him when the contest is over. In reality, the manuscript is a portion of George's novel, a humorous story based on Rosie's life. After receiving George's ending to the story, Rayberg locks Rosie in his office, but she escapes into George's arms. Her father relents and blesses their union.

Dir: Clarence G. Badger

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

Slaving to perfect an invention, Noah Vale tries to keep two orphans--Rip and Patch--and himself by peddling books and is helped by Scallops, a girl who occasionally brings them food. He appeals to Fay, a wealthy relative, for help in marketing his invention and arouses the interest of Fay's pretty daughter. Sterrett, Fay's partner, steals the model but returns it when he discovers it to be worthless. Johnny Smith, Fay's secretary, is fired when he proposes to the boss's daughter; and visiting Vale's attic, he is comforted by his epigrams. Johnny takes them to a newspaper editor, and they are so successful that both Smith and Vale are hired. Vale decides to give up inventing for writing, and Johnny marries Miss Fay despite her father's opposition.

Dir: Clarence G. Badger

A young woman reads tales of a gallant White Knight and imagines that such a knight might come to rescue her from her dull existence. Although she is wooed by a wealthy industrialist, she rejects his suit in hopes that her romantic ideal might come. One day a young writer comes to her village, and it seems as if he might be the hoped-for White Knight.

Dir: Clarence G. Badger

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

A young woman goes to visit friends but mistakenly rings at the wrong address. She is greeted and taken in out of the storm by a handsome young man to whom she is immediately attracted. What she does not know, however, is that this young man has been fleeced by her father and has sworn vengeance against him.

Dir: Clarence G. Badger

An English nobleman falls for and marries a beautiful young chorus girl. When he brings her home to the castle to meet his family, she is horrified to learn that she is niece, aunt, and/or cousin of all twenty-three of the staff of servants.

Dir: Clarence G. Badger

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

A naive young Swede is repeatedly victimized by predatory women. When he finally meets a young woman who seems sincere and true, he wonders if he can trust her.

Dir: Clarence G. Badger

Ort Hutchins is a confirmed loafer who spends all of his time fishing while his wife toils over the washtub. One day, while digging for worms, Hutch uncovers a box containing $100,000 in bills, the loot of a bank robbed in the next town. Realizing that he cannot spend the money without arousing suspicion, Hutch resigns himself to taking a job for cover. Accepting an offer from banker Hiram Joy to work his abandoned farm in exchange for a share of the land, Hutch finds himself successful and the farm prospering. Returning to retrieve his treasure, Hutch is sickened when he finds the box gone and in its place a note from the robber. However, Hutch makes an abrupt recovery when he is offered $10,000 for his share of the farm, an offer that forces him to realize that he has become a self-made man.

Dir: Clarence G. Badger

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

An easy-going tramp with a love of food and an aversion to work suddenly gets deeply involved in the life of a farmer and his daughter.

Dir: Clarence G. Badger

Whistling Dick, a hobo known for whistling classical tunes, arrives in New Orleans, Louisiana, to discover that fellow hoboes plan to rob the Lovejoy plantation on Christmas night. Their accomplice is Richmond, a guest and suitor of young Nadine Lovejoy, who loves the overseer, Hunter. On the road, Dick encounters Nadine, Hunter, and Richmond, who offer him a ride and give him a package, which they believe to be a new smoking pipe. After arriving on the plantation, Dick opens the package to find a pair of women's stockings. Richmond's gang of robbers fear that Dick will reveal their plot to the Lovejoys and abduct him. Dick warns his hosts by wrapping a message around a rock, placing it in one of the stockings, and throwing it through a window. It lands on the dining room table during a Christmas dinner party and the plot is thwarted. Dick is welcomed as a guest, given new clothes, and offered a job; but the next morning he resumes his wandering.

Dir: Clarence G. Badger

Coarse country girl Sis Hopkins and general store clerk Ridy Scarboro are so engrossed in their dalliance that a basket is overturned and a large can of oil spills into a pool, creating a slow leak. Wealthy villager Vibert thus becomes convinced that Sis's farm is located on a pocket of oil, and he schemes to gain control of the property by marrying Sis. Vibert sends her to a young woman's seminary for refinement. Sis creates chaos in the school and is a problem for principal Miss Peckover. Vibert eventually realizes Sis will never measure up to his standards for a wife. Ridy, who has been jealous, is overjoyed when Sis returns home. Vibert entices Pa Hopkins into selling the property for a small amount, but Sis shrewdly succeeds in tripling the price. Finally Vibert discovers the can in which he has invested so heavily.