Essential Cult Cinema Drawn from the Same DNA as One Week of Life: Cult Guide

Dir: Hobart Henley

The Atlanta Journal on October 4, 1918, advertised this movie with the following blurb: "Atlanta's last chance to see the best movie to date of the wild, free days of Alaska, when men fought and women loved along the Yukon in a mist of snow and gambling hells and gold mining, is Friday and Saturday at the Strand Theater, when Rex Beach's 'Laughing Bill Hyde' ends a week's engagement that has drawn capacity houses to the Strand every day. Will Rogers, cowboy wit of the Ziegfield Follies, is the star of the this thriller and Will Rogers is second to none."

Dir: Hobart Henley

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

Spinster cousins Emmy and Patty Hodges run the local millinery shop in a small town. One day, the women inherit a fortune from an uncle, and Emmy, determined to soothe her cousin's pain from an aborted love affair with Jim Heath years earlier, insists that they use the money to visit New York. In the city, the two women indulge themselves in shopping sprees but fail to find happiness until Patty hears one night of an invalid living in the hotel room adjacent to theirs and offers assistance. Upon entering the room, Patty discovers her cousin's old suitor Jim and learns that he was forced to leave Emmy to save his younger brother from a prison sentence. This revelation brings about a joyful reunion between Emily and her lost love.

Dir: Hobart Henley

Hard working Jimmy Dodd, the main support for his widowed mother and three unwed, bickering sisters, promises his mother on her death bed that he will not marry before his sisters. When Jimmy and his fiancée Emily Harrison fail to find husbands for the sisters, Jimmy lets Emily go and she marries another. After many years of complaints, two of the sisters marry and the third goes to work at a settlement house. Because of the war, Jimmy's leather business becomes very profitable. When he is courting flashy young women, his sisters condemn him for being a "gay old dog," but Jimmy realizes that his romantic efforts are pitiful and unfulfilling. He is deeply moved when he sees Emily's boy going off to war in a parade. When his sisters reproach him again, he tells them to leave and not return, blaming them for the loss of Emily and the child that might have been his.

Dir: Hobart Henley

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of A Gay Old Dog perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Glamorous New York model Molly (Marie Prevost) yearns for a life of luxury but spurns the advances of her boss' son in favor of a shipping clerk. Their plans for marriage and a suburban home are nearly ruined by a misunderstanding on her part; she is nearly compromised by the boss' son but is brought to her senses and returns to the man she loves.

Dir: Hobart Henley

Martin Ross and his East Indian servant Sima poison Mrs. Dean, whose money and pearls are left to her little daughter Elsie. Ross, the executor of the estate, spends all of the money with the willing assistance of seductress Fanette, but manages to retain the priceless pearls. When Elsie reaches the age of 18, she learns that she is penniless and formulates a plan to retrieve the jewels with the aid of her boyfriend William Gavin, Jr. Posing as seer "Madame Rama," Elsie sets Ross against Fanette, who has taken the pearls from their hiding place. When he confronts Fanette, she kills him and frames William for the crime. William is arrested, but "Madame Rama" tricks Fanette into confessing her guilt in the presence of several detectives. With Fanette and Sima behind bars, the pearls are restored to Elsie, who starts a new life with William.

Dir: Hobart Henley

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Her Night of Nights perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Sylvia Martin runs away from her abusive father and almost succumbs to the cold on the doorstep of Louis Gordon, a crook. They marry, but later when faced with capture, Gordon kills himself. Gordon's gang accuses Sylvia of murder, and although she is acquitted for lack of evidence, her name is included in the Police Index. Years later, upon finding the Index on the shelf of her second husband, Washington diplomat David Maber, Sylvia fears exposure. Her fears heighten when her arresting officer, John Alden, now chief of the Secret Service, tries to induce her to entrap a Bolshevik agent, Hugo Declasse, who is attracted to her. When Alden appeals to patriotism, she acquiesces. Declasse finds the Index and threatens to expose her unless she cooperates in getting plans for an uprising to London agents, but Declasse is foiled when his trusted Japanese butler turns out to be a Secret Service agent. Maber, learning of Sylvia's past, forgives her.

Dir: Hobart Henley

Morris, a hardened criminal, is imprisoned for larceny and has engaged William Newman, a police court lawyer, to defend him. As recompense, Morris gives Newman his vest in which are sewed four valuable diamonds. Newman is attracted by a girl who slaves for the proprietress of his boarding house. Georgianna, who is afraid of Newman, is arrested for the theft of several cheap rings belonging to the proprietress, which have been mislaid. While in prison Newman promises to pay her bail, if she is willing to meet his advances. Newman cuts the diamonds from the vest, as he is determined to get away with all instead of one, according to the agreement. The new hole in the vest is discovered, and Morris is brought before the chief. The two are left alone and Morris hits the chief and disappears through the window. Georgianna's case is dismissed, but she thinks Newman is responsible for her being set free. On arriving at his rooms a fierce struggle ensues. A knock is heard and she is told to hide behind the couch. Morris enters the room and shoots Newman, who falls dead. Georgianna is held for the murder, Morris having escaped into the room adjoining Newman's, in which McHugh, a newspaper reporter, is dressing. Willy, a roustabout in the boarding-house, and an admirer of Georgianna's, becomes suspicious. He stacks furniture and looks through the transom when the furniture falls with a clamor. Morris is terrified and is about to draw his revolver when McHugh hits him with a bottle and then handcuffs him. Leaving Willy to guard the captive, he dashes to the police station and to his office to write up his scoop. Meantime, Bennett, another reporter, arrives and looking over the transom sees Morris still handcuffed and Willy guarding him. He phones for help, and is disappointed because of not being the first to get the story. McHugh feeling sorry for them sends Willy and Georgianna, who has been set free to live with an uncle of his.

Dir: Hobart Henley

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

Lorenzo Carilo (Conway Tearle) selects more-or-less menial jobs at which to make a living, other more "select" jobs not paying enough, and then he meets and falls in love with Vivian Forrester (Martha Mansfield) the daughter of a new-rich family. What's a poor boy to do? He might pose as a French Duke.

Dir: Hobart Henley

Susie organizes plays to benefit the Red Cross. She marries her hero, Robert, but finds out he did it to avoid the draft. She begs to be taken in his place and is soon captured by the enemy. Will Robert become the hero she believed he was?

Dir: Hobart Henley

Madge Nelson is ordered to move to the countryside for health reasons, but her finances prevent her from making the move from the city, so she answers an advertisement for a mail-order bride for miner Hugo Ennis in Nevada. However, Hugo has been the unwilling victim of a humiliation attempt by a scorned lover, and when Madge arrives in Nevada, she learns that he knows nothing about a bride or wedding plans.