The Auteur's Selection In the Shadow of Live Sparks: Cult Guide

Dir: Ernest C. Warde

Spoiled, lazy Harold Chester Winthrop Gordon finds that he has been disinherited, barred from seeing his sweetheart, and expelled from his club. He decides to reform himself and begins by crossing out his first three names with an "x." Thereafter known as "Three X Gordon," he says goodbye to pretty Dorrie Webster and sets out with his friend Archie for the West. Because they are penniless, however, they get only as far as a New Jersey town, where they become farmhands. Shocked at first by the long hours and hard labor, Three X and Archie soon find the work so physically and morally beneficial that they decide to establish a farm for the regeneration of millionaires' sons. The plan is a success, and Three X even makes a man of Dorrie's lazy brother. With the declaration of World War I, Three X proudly leads his clients into his country's service, promising to return to Dorrie.

Dir: Ernest C. Warde

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

Hillaire Latour, a warmhearted Canadian trapper, marries Rosalie Dufresne and then travels into the woods to seek his fortune as a lumberman. At the camp, he befriends "Spud" Lafferty, who for six years has tried unsuccessfully to return home with his money, each time falling prey to a beautiful woman who works in the saloon "down the hill." When Hillaire learns through a letter that he is a father, he asks for his money and begins the journey home, but on his first night away from camp, he enters the saloon, where he is robbed by the beautiful Louise. Forced to return to the lumber camp, Hillaire saves his money, but the next year he is cheated again. Louise is on the verge of robbing him a third time when Hillaire, in a rage, wrecks the dance hall and forces her to return his money. At the police station, Hillaire is reunited with his family, who have finally come in search of him.

Dir: Ernest C. Warde

When the circus comes to town, a mild-mannered man, whose good nature is viewed as weakness by wife, has the chance to prove himself when a lion escapes.

Dir: Ernest C. Warde

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

Lemuel Deering's son Harvey graduates from college at the top of his class, then returns home to become a partner in his father's steel business. Because Harvey appears to be an exemplary young man who neither drinks nor smokes, when bills from liquor dealers, tobacconists, and billiard emporia pour in, the proud father is mystified. Harvey stoutly denies having contracted the bills, including one for $25,000, and Lemuel, though puzzled, believes him until the workers threaten to strike and the bank places an attachment on the mill. Lemuel is about to disown his son when Harold Morrowton, Harvey's college roommate, confesses that he forged Harvey's name to the bills because his own father refused to give him spending money, and Harvey adds that because the two were fraternity brothers, he could not betray Harold's trust. Exasperated, Lemuel orders both young men to pay their debts through hard labor in the mill.

Dir: Ernest C. Warde

John Benton is the head of a company that makes parts for ships. He is a fair and honorable man, but his partner Henry Vance is not. Vance and employee Daniel Grey sign Benton's name to orders for boilers they know to be defective. Their partners in the scheme, which involve installing the boilers in the ship so it will sink at sea and they can collect the insurance, are the agent who carries the ship's insurance and a government inspector. After the ship sinks, the conspirators hire a safecracker to plant money in Benton's safe to make it look like it was he alone who profited from the scheme. Benton is sentenced to prison. He serves 12 years and is released, and when he gets out he finds out what really happened, but the men who were responsible for it are now wealthy and have become powers in city politics. Determined to clear his name, he comes up with a plan to expose the crooks by using their tactics against them.

Dir: Ernest C. Warde

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

In Hong Kong, William Neal helps Kirk Marden fight off a group of rowdies. Back in New York, Kirk again turns to William's assistance when his father's rivals plot to take control of the Marden railroad. William teaches Kirk how to open safes so that Kirk can procure papers outlining the takeover plans. While Kirk is robbing the safe, Janet Leslie, daughter of one of the conspirators, enters, and Kirk forces her to marry him so that she cannot testify against him. Kirk succeeds in reconciling his father with his rivals and in winning his new wife's love.

Dir: Ernest C. Warde

Sylvia Leigh's only recollection of her father was a dim memory of a distinguished-looking man who brought her to boarding school when she was a youngster. From that time he never came to see her, but letters came from him with foreign postmarks stating that "important business" kept him away. After her graduation an old family servant took her to the home she had never known. Within a few months her father appeared. Not the parent she had pictured, but a broken old man whose mind seemed ham ted by some shadow from the past. One day while they were motoring in the park he suddenly drew a revolver, and aiming it at a passing auto, exclaimed, "That man wrecked my life." But before he could pull the trigger he fell exhausted from the effort and the other car passed before Sylvia saw his face. Her father became seriously ill from the excitement. On his deathbed he made her promise to run to earth the man who ruined his life. With no clues or an inkling of what the secret was, she attempted to locate him by an ad in the papers, only to fall into a trap. A roughly-clad young man came to her rescue. Some weeks later she was surprised to find this same young man as a guest at a dance given by a girlfriend. But this time he was clad in evening dress and perfectly at home among society. Then came the blow. An incident revealed him to her as the man she had vowed to bring to atonement. She shadowed him, caught him in a compromising position, kept him captive and phoned the police. Then the fact that she still loved him rushed over her. She realized also that her father's secret was still a mystery. What will he do? Keep a deathbed promise and turn him over to the law or obey her heart? Love wins out. As a knock comes on the door she tells him she still loves him and to escape. But he only smiles, opens the door to the officers, who greet him familiarly, and then he make some remarkable disclosures to Sylvia, which brings happiness to her troubled heart.

Dir: Ernest C. Warde

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

A murderer is driven slowly insane by a sequence of coincidences and suggestive events which will not allow him to escape his own sense of guilt for his crime.

Dir: Ernest C. Warde

Dr. Primrose, the vicar of Wakefield, enjoys life with his wife and five children. His two daughters, Olivia and Sophia, are courted by two apparent gentlemen, Mr. Burchell and Squire Thornhill, who is Dr. Primrose's landlord. But when Mr. Burchell is supposed to have seduced and abandoned Olivia, the Primrose family finds its fortunes dwindling in every sense. It is learned that Burchell is innocent of the seduction, and the real villain is unmasked, but not before Primrose and his family come very near disaster.

Dir: Ernest C. Warde

At the request of her dying father, heiress Laura Fairlie marries Sir Percival Glyde, despite her love for Walter Hartridge and the warnings of Ann Catherick, a half-witted girl who bears a striking resemblance to Laura. After the marriage, Glyde schemes to appropriate his wife's money. When he learns that Ann has escaped from an asylum and has perished, Glyde takes Laura to the asylum and commits her, claiming that she is Ann. He then informs everyone that his wife had died, and buries the body of the insane woman in her place. Walter and Laura's half sister, Marian Halcombe, become suspicious, however, and remembering Ann's previous warnings, discover what Glyde has done. After Glyde meets his death in a fire, Walter rescues Laura and the two lovers are reunited.