The Definitive Guide Inspired by the Vision of On to Reno: Cult Guide

Dir: Hal Roach

An American book salesman (Lloyd) is persuaded to go to the kingdom of Thermosa to impersonate the Prince. He is greeted by a peasants' revolt before the real prince shows up to claim his throne and princess. The revolution succeeds, and the American is elected president of the new republic.

Dir: James Cruze

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

Department-store clerk Larry Young is determined to marry a rich girl. He falls for Elaine Debaux, whom he believes to be the daughter of a wealthy shipbuilder. However, when war breaks out Larry is drafted into the army. Before he is taken in, though, he and Elaine are rescued from gangsters by an ex-con named Mike Moran. It turns out that Moran wants to join the army but they won't take him because of his record. Larry, who doesn't want to go into the army because it will interfere with his plans to marry Elaine, comes up with an idea he thinks will work out for all concerned. Complications ensue.

Dir: James Cruze

Walsingham Van Dorn, a rather unsuccessful book agent, is stunned to learn that he has inherited forty million dollars from his two uncles. Van Dorn asks his attorney Wilkins to handle the responsibilities entailed in managing the fortune and then retires to his mansion. One evening, however, he is awakened by a young woman named Desiree Lane, who refuses to leave until the two million dollars that his uncles swindled away from her father is restored. Van Dorn tries to return the money but discovers that Wilkins has stolen it and fled. Van Dorn and Desiree set out to find him, but when the hotel in which they have stopped for the night burns down, they are left standing in the street clad only in pajamas. To avoid a scandal, they marry and happily settle down. Two years later, Wilkins, unable to handle the fortune, returns it, but the young couple wonders whether they will continue to be happy as millionaires.

Dir: James Cruze

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

A young man pursues a young lady with the same energy he applies to his other obsession in life, auto racing.

Dir: James Cruze

A young man infiltrates the underworld by pretending to be a convicted burglar. While undercover, he meets a young woman who turns out to be no more a part of gangland than he, but with similar reasons for disguising herself.

Dir: Charley Chase

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

A young married couple volunteer to take charge of several orphans after the asylum has burned down. Of course they find their hands full with their troublesome charges.

Dir: James Cruze

When Captain Dieppe, an American agent of French descent, refuses to divulge confidential information he gathered for a small Italian principality until they pay him, he is pursued by secret service agent Guilamo Sevier to Fieramondi in Northern Italy. Dieppe agrees to help the lonely Count Fieramondi convince his wife to return from her isolated wing of their castle. The countess, after convincing her cousin Lucia to take her place in the castle, goes to Rome to raise money to pay Paul Sharpe, who is blackmailing her because of her gambling debts. Dieppe falls in love with Lucia, whom he thinks is the countess, and after he fights Sharpe and steals the evidence of the debts, he sacrifices his own love by preparing a reconciliation between the count and the countess. After Dieppe obtains his money from Sevier, the real identities are revealed. Finally the count and countess are reunited, while Dieppe and Lucia maintain their romance.

Dir: Reggie Morris

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

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: James Cruze

An inventor travels to the South Seas, where there is buried treasure belonging to a girl. The girl's father is being held captive by cannibals until she returns a pearl that belongs to one of their idols.

Dir: James Cruze

A light-hearted romantic adventure.