Cinematic Discoveries Following the Footsteps of My Baby: Cult Guide

Dir: Arthur Hotaling

The jealous husband suspects that his wife is fickle but cannot discover any evidence until the butler hands her a letter one morning. He snatches it from her, and only waiting to read "My Dearest Sweetheart," tears it up and storms about the room. The wife pleads with him, but he goes out and buys a revolver. The wife, changing her clothes, also goes out. The cook, spying the discarded dress across her mistress' bed, puts it on, in celebration of an evening with the butler. When the husband returns and sees, in the half-lit dining room, the cook with his wife's dress on, in the arms of a man, he draws his revolver and fires. The cook, though unhurt, falls to the floor. The husband turns in the hall just as his wife enters with a man by her side. The wife introduces her father to the trembling husband, who then realizes his mistake in not reading all of the letter which told of the parent's coming. The three go into the other room where the cook and the butler laughingly tell of the mistake in identity.

Dir: Unknown Director

The Judge needs a present for his wife's birthday, so Harry suggests a new corset. They go to the shop, but he's so embarrassed to ask the saleslady he hides in a phone booth.Harry goes in, but finds a GUY wearing one, and runs out.They both dress as women to get back in, but Mrs. Rummy gets there and chases him out.

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

Dir: Reggie Morris

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Arthur Hotaling

When the worthless husband refuses to fire up the furnace, his wife, weighing a full three hundred pounds, decides to go to work and be independent. She answers an ad asking for lady barbers. The lady barber shop is reaping a harvest, due to their staff of pretty girls, who coax in the patronage. And not the least patronizing of these patrons is the worthless husband. He and a dozen others partake in the various services the pretty girls render, from shaves to shines and manicures. And many are the flirtations carried on between the customers and the fair employees. The husband comes back for the third time that day for a shave. By that time his wife is established as one of the tonsorial artists. When she sees him in the chair and hears from the proprietress that he has been flirting with the girls, she orders him tied down and then smears his whole face and head with lather. After that punishment is inflicted, she turns him over her knee and spanks him.

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

Dir: Henry Edwards

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

Dir: Richard Smith

Two female candidates for Chief of Police live across the hall from each other, and their political rivalry follows them home, leading to plenty of hi-jinks.

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

Dir: Jerome Storm

Ne'er-do-well Homer Cavender ventures to the city from Mainsville in an effort to find fame and fortune. Both elude him, and after clerking for two years, Homer returns home for a vacation. Impressed by his flashy clothes, the townspeople assume that Homer has achieved success. Attempting to win Rachel Prouty from his rival, Arthur Machim, Homer continues the deception by announcing that his employer, Kort and Bailly, has dispatched him to enroll stockholders for a proposed new plant to be built in Mainsville. Machim discovers the sham and denounces Homer as a crook. Meanwhile, Homer returns to New York, convinces his employers of the merits of his plan and comes home triumphant, with a proposal for both the new plant and for Rachel's hand in marriage.

Dir: Vernon Stallings

Krazy Kat is held in jail and Ignatz finally bails him out after encountering "guilt".

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: Arthur Hotaling

The director believes he has a whale of a melodrama idea and after much pleading induces his company to stage the picture on credit. This they do. The director then takes the film to a motion picture buyer and tries to sell it to him. They go into the projection room and the picture is run off. It is a wild story, of a pretty girl, a black-mustached villain, a broad-shouldered hero and crooks that pass in the night. But somehow it fails to strike the pleasure of the prospective buyer. For he takes the film and throws it at the director. Entangled in the film, the director returns to his company, awaiting their pay. On the way the film catches fire and is burned up. Arriving at the studio, the director is assailed by his players and beaten unmercifully.

Dir: Edgar Jones

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