The Essential Watchlist that Capture the Essence of Man Bait: Cult ...

Dir: Donald Crisp

While Bill Burnham is jailed for drunkenly shooting up the town, he receives a letter saying that his father has died, his sister Janet is about to marry a worthless count, and the family fortune is in danger. Unable to leave, he convinces his friend, Johnny Wiggins, a motion picture cowboy, to go to his home in Palm Beach, which Bill left as a boy, and impersonate him. Although Johnny's Western manner irritates Janet and her aunt, they put up with him because Bill's sanction for Janet's marriage is needed for her to receive her inheritance. When the count discovers that Johnny is not Bill, he tries to elope with Janet, but is prevented when Johnny lassoes him from his moving automobile. After Johnny forces crooked broker Milton C. Milton, at gunpoint, to make restitution for the losses Janet suffered through Milton's bad stock investments, Johnny marries Ruth, the maid, and leaves, promising that when Bill returns, things will get livelier.

Dir: Donald Crisp

The Firefly of France, a famed Allied airman in the First World War, is lost while transporting valuable plans, and it is feared that he and the plans are now in the hands of the Germans. A member of the Lafayette Escadrille endeavors to find the Firefly and the plans, but encounters a mysterious girl and several German spies who want the same thing.

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

Dir: Donald Crisp

A young woman, disheveled and greatly distressed, stops criminologist Marcel Levington on the street and begs him to find a doctor for a man who is dying inside a nearby house of ill repute. Marcel and his friend, Dr. Rogers, enter the house and find the man, a prominent lawyer, dead, his heart pierced by a hatpin that the doctor recognizes as the one he recently gave his daughter Toinette. Rogers announces that the man has died of heart failure, returns home and demands an explanation from his daughter, who explains that she was lured into the house and attacked by the man. Realizing that Toinette killed the lawyer to defend her honor, Rogers and Marcel agree to protect her. Marcel retrieves Toinette's pocketbook from the proprietor of the house, Mrs. Clifton, who had planned to blackmail the girl, and then returns to Toinette, with whom he has fallen in love.

Dir: Donald Crisp

In the mining town of Gunsight, an unscrupulous lawyer named Andrew McBain applies the obscure "Apex Law" to trick Rimrock Jones out of his newly discovered copper mine. Undaunted, the reckless young prospector locates an even richer mine. Having no money to develop the Tecolote, Rimrock borrows $2,000 from stenographer Mary Fortune, who, when the mine proves its worth, decides to retain a vote on the board rather than take back her loan. Plagued by deafness, Mary travels to New York to consult a specialist, followed by Rimrock, who now loves her. Stoddard, a Wall Street financier who has designs on Rimrock's mine, hires a vamp named Hazel Hardesty to detain Rimrock in the East, but Mary returns to Gunsight in time to prevent Stoddard from taking control of the Tecolote. Rimrock reappears to save Mary from Stoddard's gang, after which he locks the loyal Mary in an embrace.

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

Dir: Donald Crisp

Mr. Kendall, a wealthy man who had sent his infant son to a home after the death of his mother at birth, decides that it is time for his son to come home. On his carriage ride to the father he has never seen, however, the boy mysteriously disappears. At the same time, a woman deposits a little boy on the cart of Italian junk man Niccolo Darini, and then disappears. Niccolo becomes strongly attached to the waif, and although his neighbors advise him to take the child to the police, he refuses. Kendall posts a reward notice in the paper for the return of his son, and when Niccolo's rival for the hand of the beautiful Nita Lapi reads the notice, he tells the police of Niccolo's ward. Niccolo is forced to give up his little charge, which breaks his heart. However, the Kendall's rightful heir is found when a beggar, run over by a car, confesses on his death bed that the child with him is really the Kendall boy. Niccolo's beloved ward is then returned to him, along with a check from Kendall for $5,000 dollars. Niccolo's happiness is made complete when Nita agrees to marry him.

Dir: Donald Crisp

Marcellini, a successful wine dealer, has a sudden heart attack and dies. His will leaves his entire fortune to his only kin, a husband and wife who operate a small farm. Guido, the husband, agrees against his better judgment to move on to the Marcellino estate. Before he knows it he is up to his neck in marriage troubles, people trying to swindle him out of his inheritance and blackmail.

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

Dir: Donald Crisp

Self-effacing Simpson Hightower leaves his small village after he loses his father's canning factory to Stephen Douglas, who also wins Simpson's plump girlfriend Tiny. Simpson then goes to work in a New York provisions office along with stenographer Hope and office boy Jimmy. Hope and Jimmy scheme to introduce Simpson as a silent partner when the Danish consul proposes a large contract. After a series of errors, Simpson is discharged and persuaded by his friends to return to his home town posing as a successful businessman accompanied by his secretary "Pep" and valet Jimmy. With their help, Simpson manages to get the Danish contract and buy his factory back. He also outgrows his love for Tiny, who has gained even more weight, and recognizes his love for "Pep."

Dir: Donald Crisp

Wealthy young bachelor Stanley Jordan attends a Red Cross Benefit at the country club, where he meets and falls in love with Betty Lovering and unwittingly offends social leader Mrs. Vandergraft. Discovering that the Vandergrafts have initiated a campaign to ostracize him from the club, Jordan, incensed, decides to get even: he disguises himself as a Russian Countess and returns to the club, where he is wined and dined. As a member of society, he is welcomed into the homes of the rich, where he proceeds to steal their valuables and donate them to the Red Cross Fund. The series of thefts alarms the neighborhood, and a detective is hired. Just as the detective is closing in on the Countess, it is announced that the Russian has been a victim of assault and is lying on her deathbed. Betty, concerned, calls on the Countess, only to discover that she is none other than Stanley Jordan, the man she loves.

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

Dir: Donald Crisp

Lewis Vickers accidentally kills a man and goes to Central America. Here he meets Robert Lee, who bears a remarkable resemblance to him. Lee is a worthless young chap whose father is anxious to have him return to the United States. On his death bed Lee turns his papers over to Vickers and begs him to assume his name. Arriving in New York, Vickers goes to the Lee home as Robert Lee, and discovers that the dead man has willed him a badly blotted past that includes a wife and two children and a large collection of debts. He also finds a beautiful adopted daughter in the Lee household and promptly falls in love with her. The only way he can stand any chance of winning the girl is by telling the truth about himself. The arrival of his undesirable family and several of its friends and connections helps to bring out the truth, and the picture ends with a runaway marriage between Vickers and the adopted daughter.

Dir: Donald Crisp

The most popular man in the lumber camp near Quebec is Jean, the cook, whose flapjacks are celebrated for their delectability. Jean's compassionate nature is aroused when a dejected stranger known as Silent Jack comes to the camp. Discovering Jack crying one day, Jean learns that his wife has left him. To reunite the couple, Jean pretends that he too is married and induces Jack to write an affectionate letter from him which he then presents to Mrs. Jack. The ruse reconciles the couple, but distresses Jean's sweetheart Marie when she learns that Jean already has a wife. Jean finally explains everything satisfactorily to Marie, and after the two are married, they leave for the city to open a flapjack palace financed by the grateful Jack.