The Auteur's Selection In the Shadow of Love and Lunch: Cult Guide

Dir: William A. Seiter

When his daughter is trapped underground in a mine explosion, a wealthy minister in a mining town is snapped out of his attitude of "miner's safety" to save her.

Dir: William A. Seiter

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

A newly married couple decide to spend their first Sunday at home. Mr. Newlywed boasts to his office associates of his wife's cooking and they immediately invite themselves for a Sunday dinner. Some friends of his wife decide to make their first Sunday at home anything but a quiet one. They advertise in the papers for a cook, giving the Newlywed's address, with the result that many applicants call for the position. Their cook, thinking that she is to be fired, packs her grip and in a huff leaves them. Nothing is left for the Newlyweds now but to cook their own dinner. The antics in the kitchen and the resulting dinner which is served to their guests are very funny. In the end they all proceed to a lunch counter where they eat a hearty meal.

Dir: William A. Seiter

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: William A. Seiter

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

Jack wants to spend their vacation in the mountains and Daisy wants to spend it at the beach in Santa Barbara.

Dir: William A. Seiter

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: William A. Seiter

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Close to Nature perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Harry Elrod takes a job as a bellboy when he is disinherited by his uncle and fails in his efforts to elope with actress Kitty Clyde.

Dir: William A. Seiter

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: William A. Seiter

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

Alice, an energetic vixen, lives in a country estate with her gouty uncle, who denies her any companions. She plagues him with pranks until he leaves the estate. Now free to seek adventure, she dresses as a maid and convinces a passer-by, Richard Comstock, a celebrated author, that the estate is a boardinghouse. She has the servants pose as distinguished guests. The uncle returns and spoils the spoof. Later she meets Richard at the hunt club ball, which Galloping Dick, a gentleman burglar, also attends, in a strictly professional capacity. When jewels are discovered missing, Alice, thinking Richard is the thief, hides him in the cellar, where they run into Galloping Dick's accomplice. Alice and Richard are at first denounced as thieves, but the actual culprits are apprehended.

Dir: William A. Seiter

Fanchon Browne promises to marry elderly Peter Armitage to extricate Nethercote, her guardian, from financial difficulties. Before meeting him, however, she meets an attractive young man in the woods and persuades her friend Lilah to vamp the old man. Lilah, however, vamps the wrong Armitage, who turns out not only to be the nephew of the elder Armitage but also the young man with whom Fanchon is involved. Meanwhile, Fanchon's aunt falls in love with the elder Armitage, and Tony, a prizefighter, who adores Lilah, presses his suit. Fanchon borrows money from old Peter's safe to aid young Peter in speculation; when the safe is reported robbed, young Armitage is accused, but guilt is fixed on the butler. Thus, Fanchon is free to marry Armitage, Jr., and her aunt accepts Armitage, Sr.

Dir: William A. Seiter

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.