Hand-Picked Alternatives for Fans of My Own United States: Cult Guide

Dir: John W. Noble

After a biblical and historical prologue detailing the evolution of the idea of democracy through the creation of the world, the flood, the crucifixion of Christ, the discovery of America, the signing of the Declaration of Independence, and the Civil War, the present-day threat to this idea by autocratic powers is dramatized. Fritz Schmidt, a German-American steel plant owner, and his son Oscar remain loyal to the Kaiser, while son George fights for the Allies. When the American army hospital where Louisa Schmidt works as a nurse is attacked by the Germans, Oscar, now a German soldier, assaults her, not recognizing his sister in the confusion. George, recovering in the hospital, kills his brother and then returns home to find his mother and a German spy struggling for some secret papers. George kills the spy, Fritz realigns his loyalty to the American cause, and the family is reunited.

Dir: John W. Noble

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

A rich libertine leaves all his money to a college girl who had refused his advances. The ensuing scandal makes her retire to a small town, where she meets the dead man's son.

Dir: John W. Noble

The story of Reverend 'Satan' Sanderson, Hugh Stires and Jessica Holmes, a beautiful and romantic blind girl and ward of David Stires, father of Hugh. The latter is signing his will, making Jessica his sole heir, thereby disinheriting his dissolute son. Jessica protests and Reverend Sanderson protests to David on behalf of Hugh. Sanderson acknowledges that he himself was a wayward youth in college, the leader of a fast-set and looked favorably upon by Hugh, and he feels responsibility for Hugh's downfall. David Stires is obdurate and Jessca's sympathy goes out to Hugh and she blames Sanderson for Hugh's troubles. Sanderson, though, is in love with Jessica. Hugh returns home, gains his father's forgiveness, and weds Jessica, whose eyesight had been restored by a medical operation. And then David learns that Hugh has forged his name to a check. Davis threatens his son with jail and Hugh runs away and seeks Sanderson's help, again. From there the story takes a few turns.

Dir: John W. Noble

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

The allegory which begins the story represents the world before the creation of man. Out of the elements is born Conscience. Conscience is then present at the fall of the first parents, and drives them from the garden. Conscience is again present when Moses breaks the tablets of stone in his anger at the Israelites for their idolatry on Sinai. At last Conscience sustains the Christ when He stands on trial before the Roman Governor of Judea, Pontius Pilate. Then begins the story. A child is born, bearing the name of John Conscience. The figure of the allegory is seen to touch the newborn babe, and it is fore-ordained that he is to be a creature of Conscience. The child grows to manhood. He holds the chair in economics in a great university, and is delivering an exhortation to the graduating class. He tells the young men of some of the shameful conditions the wealthy employer class is imposing upon the poor and helpless class. He bids them go forth with conscience to guide their careers, and that they will be successful in the real sense. The wealthy men, trustees of the university, etc., who are in audience, disagree with John Conscience's principles to such an extent that they demand his resignation, as the result of the speech. One of them, however, Stephen Might, whose son Stephen Might. Jr., is among the students, feels that John Conscience will be a great success in some business where the question of conscience will not be raised, and tells him that he will have a position for him whenever be may want it. John Conscience, sustained by the encouragement of his mother, tries in various fields, without success. He happens to see a girl who is about to end her efforts to succeed and still remain good, by plunging into the river. He dissuades her and takes her to his mother. She tells her story, how she had left her father's roof to earn her living and be useful in the world, and the mother advises her to go back to her father. John is inspired with new hope after his good deed, goes to Stephen Might, obtains a position for himself, and also one for the girl. He rises in position with this concern, and a love affair develops between them, but Stephen Might, Jr., also falls in love with the girl. At a time when a rival company is trying to bribe John Conscience to divulge secrets which will mean the undoing of Might and Company, John Conscience comes upon Mary Knowles, the girl, in the arms of Stephen, and thinks she has accepted him. His mistake causes him to throw off conscience, and begin a grinding, resolute, uncompromising drive for wealth. In Chicago John Conscience takes the name of John Power. He comes to the control of great interests, owns factories, and rules over all these interests with a hand of iron. His employees are but mechanical parts of his structure, and he has no soul, no heart. When the girl realizes what he had meant to her, she denounces Might, Jr., and her father, who had helped about the situation, and runs away. At the time Power's success is at its zenith she us a stenographer in one of his factories. At this time also, in his determination to avenge himself upon Stephen Might, Jr. he is using unfair business methods to drive the Might concern to the wall. Young Might learns that it is the Power firm which is oppressing them and goes to see Power, not knowing who he is. He arrives, and as John is about to drive home his revenge, Stephen tells h him of a mistake, that he thought Mary was with him, as she ran away the same night he had disappeared. John has been harassed by the public safety committees about the unsanitary conditions and lark of safety in his factories, and has been obdurate and unresponsive. Now, he sees that he was wrong, experiences a faint hope, and tells Might he will let him know the next day what can be done. He goes home, and sits by the fireplace in his library to think. Conscience appears to him again, and shows him, by a series of contrasts, the difference between the power he has achieved over the financial world and that which Conscience wields over the souls of men. He is receptive, and Conscience again enters his soul. He calls for architects and builders to reconstruct his factories, for the safety of his employees, and before they can begin work a great fire breaks out in one of his factories, and Mary is caught in an upper story. John rides to the scene, and sees her at a window. He rescues her and their romance finds its proper conclusion.

Dir: John W. Noble

News of the approaching death of the President of Lorento is received by "Fighting Bob" Rensaler at college in a letter from General Braga, an intimate friend of his deceased father, and further that Mendoza, the marshal, aspires to the presidency, and assisted by guerrilla warfare, intends to proclaim himself dictator, with the assistance of a guerrilla leader named Ladero. Dulcina Garnia, Bob's sweetheart, is beloved by Ladero. Manuel Garni, her guardian, has promised her in marriage to Ladero for assisting the revolutionists. Bob determines to give his aid to General Braga, and accompanied by his two chums, Cyrus Browa and Comin Hartley, he embarks on Brown's yacht for Lorento. Realizing that Dulcina will not marry him because she loves Bob, Ladero kidnaps her at the instigation of her guardian, intending to force her to marry him. When Bob has left Dulcina to visit General Braga, Ladero's men make away with Dulcina and confine her in a monastery. Riaz, leader of the kidnappers, has gone to the Tavern Verduga, where Bob is in consultation with the general. Dulcina's maid finds Bob there, tells him of Dulcina's plight, and points out Riaz as one of the kidnappers. Bob and his two chums grab Riaz, take him to the yacht, and force a confession from him. Riaz escapes from them by jumping overboard. Ladero, receiving no news from Riaz. sets out with his men for the monastery. Riaz has secured a horse and intends to head off Bob. Ladero has found a priest who is about to marry him to Dulcina but she succeeds in secretly notifying the priest of her predicament and he aids her to escape. She meets Riaz, who forces her into a telegraph station, where the operator is drunk. Kicking the operator out, he attempts to assault Dulcina, who picks up a revolver and shoots him. Bob and his pals have reached the monastery, have a fight with the band of kidnappers, and Bob sees the priest who tells him of Dulcina's escape, and they set out to find her. Ladero on his way to the monastery hears the shot fired by Dulcina and reaches the station as Dulcina is about to rush out. Bob meets the operator, disguises himself in his uniform, locates Dulcina, unseen by Ladero, overhears a message read by Ladero that the president is dead and for him to join Mendoza, and he sees him start away. Ladero has ordered his men to fire on the station. Bob's chums, hearing the firing, come to Bob's aid. Mendoza and Ladero's men attack Braga's forces in the city amid terrific gunfire of infantry, and the cavalry have a tremendous fight which ends in a complete routing of Ladero's supporters. When Bob and his friends are about to give up hope of holding off the outlaws. General Braga and his soldiers arrive to rescue them. Eventually Bob is proclaimed president for his services and is married to Dulcina.

Dir: John W. Noble

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

A story about the affects of cocaine on the lives of a family.

Dir: John W. Noble

Faro Black, the chief of the Gypsies, finds out that his son Faro and his girlfriend Egypt have gotten married. Infuriated, he tells that their marriage isn't valid, since Egypt is actually the daughter of wealthy Gordon Lindsay, who is on his way to the gypsy camp to claim her. The two promise to remain faithful to each other, but as time passes and she never hears from him, her love turns to bitterness. What she doesn't know is that Faro is being held prisoner by his father who, on his deathbed, tells him a secret that changes everything.

Dir: John W. Noble

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

Rhy MacGhesney and her two brothers, Clem and Sonnie, live with their father and their servant Maggie in a small boom mining town in Colorado. The boom has passed to the camps further on, leaving their little camp practically deserted. Rhy still has faith in the claim her father worked up to the time he was killed, some five years before, but her brother hates the life of the camp, and wants to sell for what they can get and go back to New York, where he feels he can have a chance to make something of himself. Their neighbor across the street is Lewis Beresford, whose obvious mission in the camp is one of pleasure, but who is in reality a mining expert, connected with big mining interests. He has ingratiated himself into the affection of the people of this little camp, and shows a great liking for Rhy and her brothers. Steve Towney, the former mine superintendent for "The Three of Us," is in love with Rhy and is jealous of Beresford, as he has been accepted as suitor for Rhy's hand, up to the time of Beresford's coming. Mr. and Mrs. Bix, Rhy's closest friends in the camp, give a Hallowe'en dinner, which is to be the biggest event of the year. On the day that the dinner is to be given, Steven strikes, by accident, mineral. This assures the success of the mine on which he holds an option, and which adjoins "The Three of Us." Overjoyed, he rushes to Rhy to tell the good news, informing her that it will be impossible for him to attend the Bix dinner, as his option expires the next day at noon. Rhy confesses her love for him, and asks him to wait until next morning. She will then go with him. He consents, giving her the option and samples of ore. Clem overhears the conversation. He is bribed by Beresford to reveal it. The latter thus has an opportunity to make an attempt to gain possession of the mine. He is at the recording office waiting to establish a claim the moment that the option to Towney's mine expires. But Rhy saves the mine and proves her loyalty to Steve by a thrilling ride over the mountains. This is shown in a series of exciting pictures. A great explosion for the breaking of ground for a smelter for the two successful mines ends the picture.

Dir: John W. Noble

Philip and Miles Quaintance quarrel over the love of Ellen Sheridan; Miles is rejected, while Philip is successful. Philip dies soon after his son is born, and Miles proposes to the widow. When she refuses him, he uses every means to make her unhappy. She leaves the Southland where they live, taking her infant son Stephen. When Stephen has grown to manhood, his mother dies, first telling him the story of Miles' persecution. He is so embittered against his uncle that he avoids meeting him, and he leaves for South Africa. Miles Quaintance amasses a fortune, and in his declining years he hopes to meet Stephen to make restitution for the wrongs he had done his parents. Miles has a ward, Dagmar Lorraine, whom he sends to Paris to study singing. There she meets Etienne, the Duke de Reves, who has an unsavory reputation. He makes violent love to Dagmar and obtains her consent to marry him. After the ceremony a woman enters the church carrying a baby whom she claims is the Duke's son. Horrified, Dagmar flees from the church and returns to America. In a whimsical mood, and partly to atone for the wrongs he had done in his past, Miles makes a will leaving his $10 million fortune to Dagmar and Stephen, provided that they marry and that the wedding takes place before midnight of the following May 31. Miles does not know of Dagmar's wedding and dies before she arrives in America. Stephen is notified of the contents of the strange will at a trading station in Africa. He decides he will take no assistance from his uncle, and with Timothy O'Farrell, a companion, he plans a way out of it. They find the body of a white man floating in the river, and Stephen puts all his papers and trinkets in the pockets of the dead man. Mark Seager, a gunrunner, finds the body and conceives the idea of impersonating the dead man, marrying Dagmar, and claiming the legacy. He sets off for America immediately. Stephen and O'Farrell also leave for America. They are in a restaurant, where they see a man abusing a young girl and using threatening language. It is the valet of the Duke, who has met Dagmar and is trying to blackmail her for his silence. Stephen drives the valet out of the place, and is charmed by the appearance and manner of the girl. She leaves before he can question her. While driving her automobile home that night, Dagmar has trouble with the engine. When she stops to fix it Seager, who does not know her, observes her predicament and attempts to take advantage of it. She frightens him away with a revolver. The next day, Stephen sees an automobile offered for sale, and noticing that it corresponds with the one driven by the girl he met the day before, he answers the advertisement. Dagmar sells the car to him as she is low in funds. That night the valet and the Duke come to her home and she flees, taking passage the next morning on a steamship bound for Paris, where she has left some money in a bank. Seager learns that she has gone, and he follows. Likewise do the Duke and Stephen and O'Farrell. Stephen, taking the name of A. Newman. Seagar finds Dagmar in Paris and tells her he has come to marry her. One look at him and she leaves. The Duke finds her and persuades her to come to him, saying he will lead a better life, and introduce her to his own society. On the night of the reception she is kidnapped by Seager, who takes her to a deserted house where he has arranged for a rascally advocate to come and marry them. The Duke follows to the house and is killed in a fight with Seager. Stephen and O'Farrell have followed the Duke's valet and arrive there just as Seager is forcing Dagmar into a marriage. It is just 10 minutes to midnight, the time assigned for the $10 million wedding. Seager is driven from the place and Stephen and Dagmar tell each other of their love. Both agree not to touch a penny of Miles' fortune, and after the clock strikes twelve they are married.

Dir: John W. Noble

Wood Harding, the illustrator, first sees Margot, the model, at a sale of the effects of a poor old artist who befriended her. The auctioneer is belittling the old man's work when Margot rushes upon the platform and tells how kind he has been to her. Harding buys the picture that has been ridiculed, and makes her a present of it. From that time on she poses only for him, and the two fall in love. Harding has a wife from whom he has been separated for some time, but he marries Margot without saying anything about her. The real Mrs. Harding returns, and threatens to have her husband arrested for bigamy. To save the man she loves Margot denies that she has been married to him. The girl goes to a distant city and poses for Mrs. Hall, a miniature painter. Mrs. Hall introduces her to Austin Bland, a novelist, who falls in love with her and asks her to marry him. She tells him frankly that she already has given all the love she possesses to another man. Bland says he will be content if she will only marry him, and she does so. Bland is writing a novel called "The Power of Decision." Its central theme is that "Every mortal has within himself the God-given power of decision." By his own decision each man must act for himself in every crisis. The publishers have engaged Wood Harding to illustrate Bland's book. It is the author's wish that his wife pose as the heroine, and Harding comes to visit at the Bland residence. Neither Margot nor Harding gives a sign of recognition on meeting, but Harding tries to exert his old spell over her. Her husband's book seems to have a special meaning for her. One paragraph in particular fascinates her: "This was the turning point in her life. The choice between these two men, one bound to her by the holy sanctity of the marriage vow, the other calling from out the darkness of the past. Which road? What lies beyond? The power of decision rests with her." Gordon, the butler, surprises Harding in the act of attempting to embrace Margot, and later when she discovers him trying to open the safe he prevents her from calling the police, threatening to expose her to her husband. Bland learns the truth through Mrs. Harding, who sees Margot's picture in an announcement of the new novel. Bland has been asked by his publishers to take a trip with an arctic explorer, to write a series of articles. He accepts. Harding has been urging Margot to go away with him and she cannot come to a decision. She promises to signal him by switching the library lights on and off when she has made up her mind. Bland leaves in his car for the railroad station, but the machine breaks down and he misses his train. Returning, he sees Harding across the street watching the library windows, and then the lights flash off and on. He goes into the house and confronts Margot, who tells him she has been tempted to go away with Harding, but has finally come to a realization of her love for her husband and has summoned Harding to tell him so. Bland does not believe her. The curtains at the French window move and Bland fires at them. A man falls, enveloped in the curtains. Margot urges her husband to escape, saying she will take the blame. Bland finds he has shot not Harding, but the butler, Gordon, who has come to attempt robbery. Harding has hurried away on hearing the shot. Margot finally makes her husband realize that, like his heroine, she has chosen the right road and has exercised her God-given power of decision.