The Recommended Vault Parallel to the Artistry of One of the Finest: Cult Guide

Dir: Harry Beaumont

William Manning Skinner, having attained a junior partnership in the firm of McLaughlin and Perkins, aspires to higher things. He figures that by working for himself he can become the Napoleon of the industrial world. He resigns his position and sets up in business for himself on a big scale. Skinner runs onto the verge of bankruptcy. He neglected to note that the prestige of the old-established firm he left had been largely responsible for his past success. Does he confess his failure to Honey, his adoring little wife? No. He informs her casually he is making money so fast he cannot count it. Honey confides to Mrs. McLaughlin, who in turn tells her husband. McLaughlin and Perkins decide they have made a tremendous mistake in letting Skinner get out of the firm. So it happens that just as Skinner is preparing to go into bankruptcy, a miserable failure, the partners make him a staggering offer to become again a member of their firm. It was Skinner's bluff that did it, coupled with Honey's unfailing belief in her husband's Napoleonic might.

Dir: Harry Beaumont

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

Inheriting a fortune allows Harry Lathrop to indulge in extravagant spending and wild wine parties with chorus girls, decides to change his ways after his childhood sweetheart, Betty Dalrymple, gives back her engagement ring because he arrives drunk for dinner. Disgusted with himself on a "morning after," Harry persuades his attorney to give him no money for the next year. In another city, Harry answers an ad for a handy man and becomes the manager of a kennel on the estate of Mrs. Johnston DeLong, Betty's aunt. Betty, visiting her aunt, scorns Harry, but he remains when he sees Walter Randall, whose chauffeur brags that "every dame falls for him," show an interest in Betty. When Betty does not succumb to Randall's advances, he takes her to a deserted cabin. Harry follows, fights Randall and the chauffeur, and rescues Betty, who embraces him in a downpour.

Dir: Harry Beaumont

Lord and Lady Algy separate on cordial terms, after he breaks his promise not to gamble again on the horses. When the wife of soap magnate Brabazon Tudway, is courted by Algy's philandering elder brother, Algy tries to help his brother escape Tudway's wrath by hiding Mrs. Tudway in his apartments. Tudway discovers her there and is about to accuse Algy when Lady Algy appears and, believing Algy to be innocent, tells Tudway that his wife was there to meet her. Although Algy and his jockey disgrace Lady Algy by getting drunk at a masked ball on the eve of the Grand Derby, the race in which Algy plans to stake his entire fortune on his pet racehorse, Lady Algy saves his fortune by betting her own money on a dark horse that wins. Algy know penitent, swears he will give up gambling forever, thus reuniting with his loving wife.

Dir: Harry Beaumont

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Lord and Lady Algy perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Finding himself broke and out of a job in Paris, American William Ruggles joins the Turkish army and is sent to fight in its war in the Balkans. During a particularly hard-fought battle, he rescues a wounded Turkish soldier. Before he dies the Turk, out of gratitude, leaves William his fortune--but with the proviso that he take care of the Turk's three beautiful young wards. After he leaves the army, William and the three young girls--Roxana, Rosa and Bulbul--move to Paris, where William meets up with young Ruth Downing, the daughter of his former employer. They fall in love, but Roxana--who is also in love with William--is determined that nothing will stand in the way of her getting him and she will do whatever it takes to achieve that end.

Dir: Harry Beaumont

Betty Hall, sent to boarding school by her wealthy parents, leads her friends in pajama pranks which upset Miss Elliott, the matron. After breaking up Miss Elliott's first and only love affair, Betty is expelled. To save the family from further disgrace, Betty's father tries to get her to marry a man in his office, Franklyn Winters, but Betty refuses, saying that she will choose her own husband. Although Franklyn is made a partner in the business, his persistent courtship attempts are met by Betty's playful pranks. When celebrated novelist Roy Harper carries Betty to his home after she has fallen from her horse, Franklyn pursues them, and thinking Harper lured her in, fights him. Betty furiously upbraids Franklyn, but after he leaves, Harper's advances cause her to chase after Franklyn. At the last minute, Betty boards the train taking Franklyn to officer's training school. They are betrothed on its rear platform.

Dir: Harry Beaumont

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Filling His Own Shoes perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Destitute, Hazel Farron is offered employment and comfort from bakery owner David Rogers. When Rogers' bakery slips into debt, he collapses from exhaustion and anxiety, forcing Hazel to turn to former admirer Geoffrey Stanhope for financial aid. Stanhope consents in return for a night alone with Hazel, but when she arrives at his hotel room for the appointed tryst, she discovers Stanhope waiting with Rogers and a minister so that Hazel can marry her employer.

Dir: Harry Beaumont

Wealthy Easterner Dick Latham, determined to disprove his father Amos' accusation that he is an idler, rides the rails West to the mining town of Twin Bridges. Hugh Godson, the town's corrupt political boss, appoints Dick sheriff, supposing him an easily manipulated tenderfoot. To Godson's dismay, Dick proceeds to clean up Twin Bridges, closing the saloons and gambling dens, and forcing even the most hardened miners to attend church. Godson schemes to cheat Rosa Crimmins and her ailing father out of their ranch, which is rich in gold deposits, but Dick foils the plot and makes Rosa his deputy. When Dick learns that some rich Easterners are gambling in the hotel, he arrests them all, despite the fact that his father is among them. Amos, proud of his son's newfound manliness, buys the Crimmins ranch and gives his hearty approval to Dick and Rosa's romance.

Dir: Harry Beaumont

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

When the wild Bohemian life style of Greenwich Village has destroyed successful novelist Tom Blake's ability to write, his publisher refuses to advance him more money until he forsakes that environment. A friend of Tom's arranges for him to become the boarder of her Southern friend Eugenia, a fledgling writer inspired by Tom's first novel, so he can find the quiet he needs for work. Using an assumed name, Tom is introduced to Eugenia's proud, aristocratic grandmother as a guest, since she would never condescend to taking in boarders. Toby, the Black servant, defers to Tom, but does not give him the elaborate, courtly bow he reserves for family members. After Tom helps turn Eugenia's poor manuscript into a novel by virtually rewriting it himself, the book's success allows Eugenia to pay the estate's mortgage, but, when she learns Tom's identity, she furiously declares that she wants no charity. After experiencing Greenwich Village however, Eugenia returns, forgives Tom, and they marry. Tom then receives his long-awaited bow from Toby.

Dir: Harry Beaumont

Tom Brown shows up at Harvard, confident and a bit arrogant. He becomes a rival of Bob McAndrew, not only in football and rowing crew, but also for the affections of Mary Abbott, a professor's daughter.

Dir: Harry Beaumont

Beneath the moonlight of the southern skies Molly Carrington, daughter of the south, pledges her heart and hand to "Jimmie" Maxwell on the eve of the young man's departure to New York, where his knowledge or cotton has won him a good position in a cotton broker's office. They are married and depart for the metropolis. Due to Maxwell's transition from his calm and uneventful home life to the maelstrom of worldly battle, he succumbs to liquor's lure, and from a stalwart husband is dragged to the depths or Demon Rum's depravity. He loses his position and Molly leaves him, returning to her southern home. As a "down-and-outer" Maxwell sees in a Mobile paper a rumor that his wife plans to divorce him and marry his former rival. Alfred Lewis. His smoldering love for Molly flares up to expose vividly the curse which drink has placed upon him. Maxwell throws off his alcoholic yoke, becomes a man again, and wins back his position. He finds Molly waiting for him the first day he enters the office.