The Recommended Vault Deeply Connected to Mother and Son: Cult Guide

Dir: John P. McCarthy

John Evans tells his grandson about the exciting days of '75 in the West. At Fort Sheridan, Captain Evans fights the Indians of the plains, while his wife Martha grows bored of the monotonous life at the fort. One day, while Evans is helping to rescue a wagon train surrounded by Indians, Martha elopes with trapper Brett Arnold. When Evans returns, he resigns from the army and takes his young son Jimmie to Montana, where he becomes a ranch foreman. Martha, who immediately became disgusted with the drunken Arnold and jumped from their stagecoach during their elopement, now sings in dance halls to earn a living. A year later, when Evans -- who has kept away from women -- and Jimmie are in Red Butte for trading, Jimmie's dog runs into a saloon. Jimmie follows and finds his mother. After Evans thrashes Arnold, who also has found Martha, Jimmie reunites his parents.

Dir: Edgar Jones

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

A mail-order bride arrives at a Maine lumber camp but doesn't like her prospective husband.

Dir: Bruno Ziener

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Alexander Butler

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Eva, wo bist du? perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

In Alberta, Canada, a Cornish emigrant unmasks a rustler posing as the girl's "blind" father.

Dir: Robert N. Bradbury

A simple country girl, brutally mistreated by her stepfather, awakens first the sympathy, then the love, of The Boy. The Spider, who lusts after The Girl, makes a bargain with the stepfather and takes her to the city where, kept prisoner, she is soon broken in health and spirit. Cast out and near death, she is taken in by The Boy. Following the demise of The Spider, The Boy takes her to church, where he prays, and after many hours she is restored to health.

Dir: Hugh Ford

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

The 'dead' wife of a steel process inventor returns, as does her 'dead' husband, a war amnesiac.

Dir: Wilfred Lucas

Brian O'Farrell (Snowy Baker), is an English 'new chum' who takes a job at an Australian cattle station. He is teased by station hands because of his appearance (including spats and a monocle) but he soon impresses them with his skills at riding and boxing. The station manager, John MacDonald (Wilfred Lucas), takes O'Farrell to Sydney to meet his daughter Edith (Kathleen Key) who is working in the slums. Edith is kidnapped by criminals after witnessing a crime but O'Farrell rescues her. It is later revealed he is the owner of the station.

Dir: Victor Heerman

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

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

Dir: William Parke

Bruce Wendell, the son of West Virginia coal mine owner James Wendell, graduates from West Point and prepares to lead a fighting unit to the front during World War I. As his father lies dying, however, he convinces Bruce to remain at home and guard the mine. Bruce's fiancée Ann Blair assumes that he is a coward and breaks off their engagement, but her brother Bobbie remains Bruce's loyal friend. Meyer, a German agent, persuades railroad president Parrish to refuse to transport Wendell's coal, but when Bruce adamantly refuses to close the mine, the spy's men decide to blow it up. While Ann is being abducted by Meyer, Bobbie is buried in an explosion at the mine. Bruce rescues Bobbie and then sends a plea to Lieutenant Parrish to rescue Ann. Meyer and his gang are captured and Ann renews her vow of love to Bruce.

Dir: Maurice Elvey

A lady marries a horse trainer but withholds herself until her crippled brother is cured.