Top-Tier Alternatives In the Shadow of Let's Get Married: Cult Guide

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.

Dir: Henry Edwards

A millionaire bets £25,000 that he can earn his own living for six months.

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of The Amazing Quest of Mr. Ernest Bliss perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Dir: Victor Heerman

In the gold fields of the Canadian Northwest, a man is falsely accused of a crime and determines that a lookalike is responsible.

Dir: Perry N. Vekroff

While in New York seeking work, Cynthia, a young English girl, meets Bruce Crittenden and George Rhode who introduce her to Madame Savarin, a wealthy woman seeking a companion for a sea voyage. She hires Cynthia, and while at sea, Cynthia discovers that Bruce is the ship's purser. Cynthia's father was a famous wireless expert who taught her how to read code, which enables her to overhear a plot to sink the ship and steal Mrs. Savarin's jewels. Soon after, the crew mutinies, and while Rhode and Bruce fight the crew, Cynthia sounds the alarm. As he is attempting to foil the jewel thieves, Bruce falls overboard, and Cynthia swims to his rescue with the jewels strapped to her back. They are rescued by a government patrol boat and taken back to New York where Cynthia and Bruce are married.

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of The River's End perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Dir: Alfred E. Green

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

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 Cynthia of the Minute perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Dir: Maurice Elvey

A Royalist and his unknown son seek vengeance on his murdered wife's brothers.

Dir: Alfred E. Green

Patches, a beautiful girl, lives with her foster-mother Liza Biggs, who dresses her in rags. She is surprised to see Judas, the overseer, give Liza a locket. Jack Merry arrives to purchase cotton from Colonel Silverthorne, a Southern gentleman of the old school, who looks after his dead brother's estate for his niece and nephew, Juliet and Lee. Col. Silverthorne tells Merry that years ago his brother chastised a field hand named Judas, and that little Selma disappeared. Her mother died of grief, while her father had not been seen since, on one occasion, he rowed to a houseboat, and was supposed to have been murdered; and that according to his will, the entire estate was to go to his missing daughter Selma if found within 20 years; if not, the estate was to be divided between Juliet and Lee. That night Judas demands money from Lee on penalty of disclosing the whereabouts of Selma. In the meantime, Merry meets Patches and kisses her hand, exclaiming "May the Princess of Patches have a happy reign." He leaves with Col. Silverthorne, the money for the cotton, and Lee steals it. Lee claims that Waggles, a tramp friend of Patches, is the thief, but Patches believes Judas has the money and he is captured with part of it in his possession. Col. Silverthorne, despite the protests of Juliet and Lee, invites Patches to become one of the family. Years pass. Patches returns from a fashionable school and again meets Merry Judas, who has escaped from prison, also returns, as does Waggles the tramp. Waggles asks Lee where he can find the "Princess of Patches," as he wishes to return a locket which she lost. Lee recognizes the locket as the one proving the identity of Selma, and upon his promise to deliver it to Patches, Waggles surrenders it. This is the locket Judas gave to Liza, and which Patches afterwards secured. Patches, among the daisies, plucks the petals and murmurs "He loves me, he loves me not." "He loves you dearly," exclaims Jack Merry behind her, as he takes her in his arms. Lee is dumbfounded to see Judas, who tells him unless he helps to keep him out of jail, he will produce proofs that Patches is Selma Silverthorne. Lee gives money to Judas and tells Juliet what he has learned; she tells him he must marry Patches. Waggles overhears Judas and Lee and informs Patches. At midnight they secrete themselves on the houseboat and hear Judas tell Lee that he stole Selma, and that the baby clothes he produces are proofs of her identity. The money Lee offers Judas is not satisfactory, and as the two fight, Waggles secures the proofs. They discover the loss, and suspecting someone else is on the boat, light the fuse connected with a box of gunpowder. Lee springs overboard, and Patches confronts Judas, exclaiming: "I know everything and you shall be punished." Judas overpowers the girl and Waggles, binds them, and swims ashore. Patches finally frees herself and releases Waggles. They spring into the water just as the explosion demolishes the houseboat. On reaching the shore, Waggles overpowers Judas, who confesses Patches is the real heiress; and repeats the confession to Colonel Silverthorne a few minutes before Lee and Juliet would have come into possession of the property. Lee, implicated by Judas, disappears and Patches is happy in the love of Jack Merry.

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

Dir: Malcolm St. Clair

A dancing instructor gets involved with a newly rich family.

Dir: George B. Seitz

The adventures of a gentlemanly crook of astonishing resourcefulness.