The Essential Watchlist that Capture the Essence of Open Places: Cult Guide

Dir: W.S. Van Dyke

Little six-year-old Sadie O'Malley, a child of the tenement district, has a vision of heaven awakened within her by the teaching of a settlement worker, so when she sees a handsome limousine in front of the settlement laundry near her home she thinks it is a heavenly chariot, climbs into a clothes hamper in the interior of the car and is whisked away to the home of Mrs. Welland Riche. The latter has left earlier in the day on a trip, so when Sadie and. her dog, George Washington Square, who has been her companion in the hamper trip, are dumped down the clothes chute of the Riche home while concealed in the basket, they find easy access to the upper regions of the mansion and then, indeed, Sadie thinks she is in heaven. Sadie soon is discovered by the servants, but they believe she is just another of Mrs. Riche's fads when she tells them she is there to stay. Believing Mrs. Riche as desiring that the best of care be given the child, Sadie is dressed in rich garments and is much at home until Mrs. Riche returns. While the servants' explanations have been made, Mrs. Riche, in the meantime having been won over by the child's beauty and sweet manners, decides Sadie may remain. But the tenement child's happiness is short-lived when George Washington Square appears upon the scene. Mrs. Riche orders that the pup be removed and tells Sadie that, instead, she can play with the Riche collection of Poms. Not so for Sadie. She informs the wealthy matron that she wouldn't give up George Washington Square for all the heavens and that if G.W.S. cannot remain she will go. So hugging her doggie close to her she returns to her worried mother with the explanation, "I have been to heaven, but they sent me home because they didn't like my dog."

Dir: W.S. Van Dyke

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

Following a streak of hard luck at the racetrack, Boots and his pal, Push, are down to their last dime. Boots saves a drunken young man named Kendall from being robbed of his considerable winnings at the roulette table and later drives Kendall back to his small hometown. There Boots meets Pert Barlow and decides to stay near her, taking a job in her father's store. Old Barlow owns a broken-down racehorse named Gold Heels, which Boots buys from him and trains for the big race. At the local orphanage, a child dies because of the dilapidated condition of the building, and Pert raises enough money to build a new orphanage. Old Barlow takes charge of the money, but it is stolen. Boots is accused of the crime and sent to jail. He is sprung by his pals, loads Gold Heels in a horse-trailer, drives to the track, and watches his horse win the big race. Kendall is exposed as the real thief and Boots is reconciled with Pert, whose father gives them his blessing to be married.

Dir: W.S. Van Dyke

Dan Stover is the captain of a harbor tug whose task is to keep ships away from a dangerous bar, lies to his wife Ellen about the nature of his work, saying that he remains in the harbor. One night, Stover is sent to rescue a ship on the harbor bar. He leaves without telling his wife; she awakens during a terrific storm and delivers a stillborn child. Stover's boss, a former sweetheart of Mrs. Stover's, encourages her to believe that Stover has been unfaithful, implicating Madge Barlow, the fiancée of Dan's mate, a boy who lost his life at sea. Believing the rumor, Ellen leaves on the next passenger ship just as Madge dies and Stover is bringing her baby home. The ship crashes on the harbor bar, Dan goes to the rescue, he admits the truth about his job, and they find happiness with the adopted baby.

Dir: W.S. Van Dyke

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

Captain Duncan McTeague, ashore in Southport, finds a deserted baby boy with a note and half of a dollar bill pinned to its clothing. The note states that the mother hopes some day to return and identify the child with the other half of the dollar bill. McTeague raises the child. When he is four years old, the captain discharges his mate Martin Webber, who seeks revenge by kidnapping the boy. A woman turns up who proves to be the missing mother. Webber is killed and the mother and Captain McTeague are united.

Dir: W.S. Van Dyke

In the land where the Sun hangs low and the hungry wolves shadows play ominously over the everlasting snow, Joe Mauchin meets Jeanne Verette. He is a trapper, come down to the little post of Mead's Pocket, a vicious mining town, for supplies. She, the daughter of a saloonkeeper who compels her to "drum up trade" among his maudlin patrons. Joe falls in love with Jeanne. A brute of a man seeks to interfere and in the resultant struggle falls dead. Joe and Jeanne flee to his camp miles away and a year's happiness follows. Then the trapper finds Constable McKenzie of the Mounted Police half dead in the snow. Joe revives the officer and carries him to his cabin. Straightway McKenzie arrests the trapper for the saloon death. A desperate fight ensues between the two and the constable, overpowered, flees for aid. He is last seen in the woods, staggering from the effects of a wound, and with a pack of wolves slowly drawing in on him. Joe, in the cabin, draws to his arms Jeanne who is shyly clutching a newly made bit of baby clothes. It is that for which Joe had fought.

Dir: W.S. Van Dyke

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Half-a-Dollar Bill perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Young mother Mary Gordoon is too poor to take care of her infant daughter, Ann, and leaves the child at an orphanage. Ann grows up with a crippled leg in the orphanage, and has fallen in love with a fellow orphan, Jimmy.

Dir: W.S. Van Dyke

When Perry Blair's foreman fires him for fighting, fight promoter Charles Dunham hires him and takes him east to enter the boxing ring. Perry becomes a star boxer but breaks his contract and returns home when he is ordered to fight a crooked match. Sometime later Dunham again comes west and engages Perry to fight one more contest on a winner-take-all basis. He wins the fight and Cecil Manners, who has believed him to be a coward.

Dir: W.S. Van Dyke

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of The Land of Long Shadows perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Jack Derry accidentally becomes involved in a mystery surrounding Glory Billings, when fate makes him her rescuer in a kidnapping episode.

Dir: W.S. Van Dyke

Real life outlaw Al Jennings tells a "real" story about how he came to the aid of a woman who was abused by her alcoholic husband.

Dir: W.S. Van Dyke

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.