Recommendations
Senior Film Conservator

If you found yourself captivated by the artistic bravery of One Touch of Sin (1917), the profound questions raised in 1917 still require cinematic answers today. Experience the United States influence in these recommendations that echo One Touch of Sin.
One Touch of Sin remains a monumental achievement to provide a definitive example of Richard Stanton's stylistic genius.
The story concerns the adventures of Mary Livingston, who is deeply in love with Richard Mallaby, a gambler. Through a misunderstanding, she thinks she has been deserted by her lover when he goes west and leaves her and her baby in the east, to fight out the questions of life in their own unaided way. Disconsolate, heartbroken, she drifts westward herself, and meets Watt Tabor in a rough frontier village. To provide for her child, she is forced into theft, but is detected. Tabor, who knows her history, shoulders the blame himself and marries her. She despises him because she thinks he married her as the result of a whim, and not as the result of real love. Then she meets again the man who first wronged her. Mallaby demands that Tabor give up the woman. Tabor refuses. His decision results in a battle between the two. In the darkness and surging water of a mine, they wage their last fight. Mallaby loses consciousness, but Tabor rescues him, and leaves Mary free to make her choice. She goes with Mallaby.
Based on the unique artistic bravery of One Touch of Sin, our vault has identified these titles as the most compelling follow-up experiences for fans of cult cinema:
Dir: Richard Stanton
The senorita, Juanita, loves gallant Capt. Arthur Boyce, on duty near the border. He does not love her, but she contrives to make his fiancée, Clare Nelson, think that he does. The result is that Clare breaks off the engagement. Juanita's passion turns to hatred when she finds she cannot compel Boyce to love her. In a fit of rage, she arranges a scheme by which the officer is accused of having murdered a woman. In the trial that follows, Boyce is convicted. Meantime, a hand of Mexicans led by Juanita and Costa, a Mexican in love with Clare, raids an American town. In the place are Clare and her uncle, Nelson, who has been secretly furnishing the Mexicans with munitions. Costa takes Clare prisoner. Juanita finds the girl with her uncle and Costa in a rude shack. She sees a way to get revenge on Clare. She will force her to marry Lopez, one of the bandits in her employ. While she is thinking over this plan, Arthur Boyce is brought into the hut. He had been exonerated of wrong, when the real murderer, stirred by the pangs of conscience, confessed. Resuming his command, he rushed to the rescue of the captured party, only to be defeated by the Mexicans and taken prisoner himself. Clare and Boyce are left with Lopez in the shack. By a skillful piece of maneuvering, the girl outwits the guard, and she and Boyce escape from the building. Rescue is fast arriving from a nearby American army post. The bandits are pursuing Clare and Boyce, and Juanita rides frantically in the vanguard. But she is too late. A stray shot brings her from her horse, and she dies with a curse on her lips for the woman who won the love she could not have.
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Dir: Richard Stanton
While out on a plundering expedition, outlaw Dick Durand comes upon a band of Indians attacking a group of settlers. Dick opens fire on the Indians, but before he forces them to flee, they kill everyone except three children and Durand himself. Durand places the children in the care of Molly Gore, who does not suspect that the kind horseman is actually the outlaw being blamed for the massacre. Although he knows that the sheriff is in close pursuit, Dick stops to rescue a girl who has been kidnapped by the Indians. After he returns her to her father, the sheriff takes Durand prisoner. However, unknown to Durand, the girl he has saved is the governor's daughter, and the executive, urged on by Molly, intercedes and pardons the outlaw, who then settles down to a peaceful life with Molly.
Dir: Richard Stanton
Brilliant but besotted attorney, David Harmon, wins a big case but ends the day in a dingy waterfront flophouse. His fiancée puts him on a sailing ship in an attempt to get him to dry out, but once at sea a storm wrecks the ship and strands Harmon on a tropical island. He rescues the daughter of a native chieftain from being sacrificed to the lava gods and together they live an idyllic life for a time. Harmon is drawn back to civilization though and he returns to his former city only to find that his fiancée has wed his best friend. Another bout of drink finally brings Harmon back to realize that his true life is back on the island so he returns to once again find his beloved about to be sacrificed, this time with their son in her arms.
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Dir: Richard Stanton
An American is sent to Germany to unearth the identities of German agents operating in the U. S. He infiltrates the German secret service in an attempt to abscond with a list of undercover German operatives.
Dir: Richard Stanton
John Dowling, a greedy factory owner, cuts his employees' pay while raising their food prices at the company store. The employees strike but to no avail. Mary Garvin visits Dowling to plead the laborers' cause, but because her mother had once refused his marriage proposal, he attacks Mary out of revenge. In the struggle, Dowling is shot, and Mary is tried and convicted of murder. Before the execution, foreman "Bull" Thompson boasts that his bullet killed Dowling during Mary and the factory owner's struggle, and Dowling's son Chester, who has attempted to introduce reforms into the factory, races to the governor's train to secure a pardon for Mary. After Mary's release, she and Chester are married.
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Dir: Richard Stanton
Edward Campbell, known as Checkers, is a racetrack tout. Determined to reform himself, he foreswears gambling, but must take it up once more in order to save someone he loves from disaster.
Dir: Richard Stanton
Finding his partner, Joe Brooks, murdered in the snow, "Roaring" Bill Wagstaff's troubles begin. A ray of sunshine enters his life soon after though, with the arrival of Hazel Weir who has come West to teach, but finds herself lost in the woods outside the town of Cariboo Meadows. Bill discovers her and under the guise of leading her to town, takes her to his cabin where he declares his love. Hazel, who is smarting from unfair accusations of scandal, rejects Bill's offer and leaves for Cariboo Meadows. Later, Bill learns of Hazel's problems and rushes to town to confirm his faith in her. En route, he stops at a saloon where he sees his dead partner's snowshoes leaning against a wall. At the point of a gun, he extracts the name of Joe's killer from the saloon keeper and then sets out after the man, Nig Geroux. After avenging his partner's death, Bill finds Hazel, who accepts his love.
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Dir: Richard Stanton
During the French Revolution, Englishman Sir Percy Blakeney is considered to be a terrible fop, completely unaware of the seriousness of the political situation abroad. In reality, Sir Percy is a hero to the French aristocrats and is known as "The Scarlet Pimpernel." His wife, Lady Marguerite, shares the opinion of most that Sir Percy is useless, until his heroism is proven when she discovers his secret identity. In Calais, Sir Percy is able to elude Chauvelin, a member of the new French government, even though Chauvelin threatens the safety of Lady Marguerite's brother, Armand St. Just. Lady Marguerite goes to Calais to aid her husband, and they finally are able to escape on a ship bound for England, assured of their love for each other.
Dir: Richard Stanton
a young man gos on a weekend hunting trip; soon finds out that instead of being the hunter he has become the hunted .. in a desperate quest for survival he must battle a savage hunger Beast
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Dir: Richard Stanton
Based on an international scandal that hit prewar France, when the editor of the Paris daily LE FIGARO, Gaston Calmette was shot to death by Madame Caillaux, wife of the Minister of Finance for his exposè of her husband's traitorous activities on behalf of Germany. A sensational trial afterward revealed the extent of the Caillaux spy ring's infiltration of the French government.
View DetailsAnalysis relative to One Touch of Sin
| Film Title | Atmosphere | Complexity | Similarity |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Love Thief | Tense | Dense | 89% Match |
| Durand of the Bad Lands | Gothic | High | 89% Match |
| Aloha Oe | Gothic | High | 96% Match |
| The Spy | Gritty | Dense | 85% Match |
| Cheating the Public | Gritty | Dense | 91% Match |
This guide was algorithmically generated using the cinematic metadata of Richard Stanton's archive. Last updated: 6/22/2026.
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