Essential Cult Cinema Mirroring the Impact of Oh, What a Knight: Cu...

Dir: Fred Hibbard

Brownie spends a good part of his time avoiding the dog-catcher. Later he make friends with the detective and they start after a burglar.

Dir: Fred Hibbard

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

A burglar constantly gets the "papers" when he is after the pearls, and a spy endlessly gets the pearls while he is after the "papers," and the jealous husband of a flighty wife lives in what he calls a "house full of lovers," consisting of the spy, the burglar, and some detectives, all in hiding, all trying to avoid him and one another.

Dir: Fred Hibbard

Merta and Bud were two great big grown up kinds, claiming as their parents, a four-foot Daddy, and a three-foot Ma. However, they do not escape spankings, etc., from their Dad, who was a near relative of Simon Legree. Buddy catches Dad making love to the nurses and then the fun begins! The nurse had a better half, like all nurses. The better half invites Dad and Bud to come to his beauty parlor to be improved upon. They go there, are given some nice gentle massages by the chief bully, Blue, the colored heavyweight champion of the town. When they get through with the treatments, they don't know whether they are on the head or feet. Like all country towns there was a circus, and while Mert and Bud are chasing each other in and out of the tents, they accidentally chase through the lion's cage and leave the door open. The lions escape and some of them find their way into the Beauty Parlor, where several damsels are indulging in the Fountain of Youth, etc. A little colored boy, the mascot of the Parlors, tries to escape the lions and hides in a filing cabinet, but Mr. Lion manages to open the drawer. Picky escapes through the transom of the door, but not before another lion has discovered him. He is chased for miles and miles by the wicked lions. He gives them the slip and is calmly eating pumpkin pie when his Dad, Blue, arrives. All ends in a happy peaceful way; the lions fall into the tank in the beauty parlor and sink to the regions below.

Dir: Fred Hibbard

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of A Lion's Alliance perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

The picture opens with Brownie in a tuxedo, eating an elaborate meal and finishing with the proper use of his finger bowl. It is all a dream, however, as he is but the assistant to an itinerant glazier who ties a stone to Brownie's tail and has him break show windows for his master to repair. The glazier combines business with a clothes cleaner and Brownie with his mud-smeared tail, rubs up against people and brings in plenty of business.

Dir: Fred Hibbard

We'll call the lady Milt for short because she impersonates a young sailor lad. Milt's captain was a baseball fiend and had to have his ball games on board. For a target he used an ebony head, but the target was held in place by the first mate who had a whip in hand. Milt was a regular jazz baby. He shimmied and jazzed and played his ukulele all day long. Landing Day arrives and Milt is as signed to tie up the ship at the dock. The captain, as all sailors do, had a sweetheart in every town. In this particular town, Edith Roberts was his sweety. But she had more than one suitor. There were three, four and five hanging around her door at all times, and dad kept his shotgun busy chasing them. She falls in love with a dude and they elope; but little do they know they escape on an enemy's ship. Her sweetheart's rival was no one else but the captain and when he discovers who is on board, the fun begins. The sweetheart is thrown into prison, and the girl is put on K. P. Milt was the chief chef and Edith was made his assistant. While Milt has his back turned, Edith puts some gun-powder in the cake dough, and blows poor Milt to smithereens. She helps her lover to escape and they both jump overboard. They are picked up by a cruiser and the guns are trained on the pirate ship. The boat sinks with all the bad men, but Milt manages to escape in a rowboat. He takes off his civvy clothes and swears never to leave the jungle again.

Dir: Fred Hibbard

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

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Fred Hibbard

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Fred Hibbard

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of The Good Ship Rock 'n' Rye perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Jimmie the hotel clerk was original in the manner of his morning ablutions. His bed was built over a well into which he dumped himself when he felt that it was going to be hard to wake up. But after he was well awake he thought of nothing much but the hotel milkmaid, Esther. So engrossed was he with this fair one that the intrusion of Count Zeeplotinxophsky was regarded as a personal affront and a decided danger to his peace of mind. Esther's equanimity was also somewhat ruffled. She fell in love with the Count's mustache and decided to elope with him. But before he went the Count wanted to be sure of a dowry. The only one in sight, or rather in prospect was in the hotel safe. The clerk, the bellboy and the hotel detective were in the way. The latter was inside the safe holding the receipts in his hands. But he was asleep and even the explosion which wrenched off the safe door did not wake him up. Having secured the booty, and the girl, the Count ran around the block in his racing car and took a room in the same hotel. But the bell boy and the clerk shadowed him and at last drove him out. Jimmie followed him and the bellboy brought up reinforcements in the shape of the female fire department. The Chiefess discovered that the Count was her ex-husband, and all the comedy dropped out of his existence.

Dir: Fred Hibbard

Weazel Tail Bend was so crooked it couldn't see straight. The sheriff and his deputy had the habits of Jesse James, and he also robbed the country by teaching school. The weekly train was the town's only sport. The engineer knew Weazel Bend- so he didn't even hesitated. They had a nice soft mattress on the station platform to catch the passengers that chanced that way. But one day the town was brightened considerably by the arrival of Miss Betsy Beautiful, whom the School Trustee sent to relieve the sheriff of one of his duties-teaching school. Her sweetheart Hiram Biff, had followed her, how ever, riding on his nerve and the engine rod. "Big Kick Kitchen," was the place where society mixed soft drinks with hard fists. Even the bad guy, Pineapple Pete, didn't look so hard, sipping a soft drink. However, looks are not everything. Pineapple decided to pay the bank an unofficial visit to draw out some cash he had never deposited, but he was interrupted by our friend the Sheriff, who demanded half of the loot. Everything was going lovely, when who should appear but Hiram. He rounded up the crooks in fine shape, grabbed the money with one hand, his girl with the other and they both grabbed the first train going the other way.

Dir: Fred Hibbard

The heroine promises to marry the bravest hunter among her men acquaintances.