Essential Cult Cinema Drawn from the Same DNA as Overland Bound: Cult Guide

Dir: Paul Cazeneuve

Chick Crandall, half owner of the Flying A Ranch, returns home after a five-year absence and, because he is suspicious of his foreman Sam Curtis' activities, decides to proceed incognito. Disguised as Harold Montague, his partner's son, Chick works among the ranch hands and discovers that Curtis is rustling cattle and is responsible for driving Barbara Hampton and her aunt from their home. After a series of skirmishes between Chick and Curtis, Curtis is expelled from the ranch, Chick reveals his true identity, and Montague is so pleased with his partner that he relinquishes his share of the ranch to him. Chick, now full owner of the Flying A, offers his home in a marriage partnership with Barbara.

Dir: Emmett J. Flynn

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

Rancher Joe Cumberland finds "Whistling Dan" in the desert and gives the boy a home, rearing him with his daughter Kate. Dan, grown to manhood, remains untamed, possessing a hot temper which ignites his eyes into a yellow glow when he is angered. Dan's eyes glow and he vows revenge when outlaw Jim Silent tries to kill him in a saloon brawl. Kate goes to the outlaw camp to prevent Dan from killing Silent, but is taken prisoner. The confrontation between the two men escalates when Dan captures Lee Haines, one of Silent's men, and Silent retaliates by imprisoning Kate's father. After a trade of prisoners, Dan trails the outlaws and exterminates the entire gang except for Silent. The two adversaries then slug it out, with Dan strangling his tormentor. His revenge accomplished, Dan is somewhat tamed and settles down with Kate.

Dir: Kenneth Brampton

Two brothers, Dick and Jim Marsden, become involved with the bushranger, Captain Starlight. They romance two girls, work on the goldfields, and are captured by the police after Starlight is shot dead

Dir: Denison Clift

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Robbery Under Arms perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Upon inheriting the H. C. Ranch, young Easterner Jane Hunter ventures West to take possession of her legacy. Soon after arriving, she appoints a cowboy named Hepburn as the foreman. Ranch hand Tom Beck suspects that Hepburn may be in league with the band of rustlers who are victimizing the ranch, but says nothing. An attachment springs up between Tom and his boss, and when Dick Hilton, Jane's former suitor, follows her West and begins making unwelcome advances towards her, Tom intervenes and orders him from the house. With Hepburn's resignation as foreman, Tom takes over the job and, after a quarrel with Jane, sets out to track down the rustlers. Captured by the outlaws, Tom is left to die in a remote canyon. As Tom struggles to free himself, the gang is apprehended and brought to trial. Jane is sentencing them as the escaped Tom appears in the courtroom. Overjoyed, she rushes towards him, and in the ensuing chaos, the gang escapes. A shootout follows and Tom wins both the fight and Jane.

Dir: Clifford Smith

Sergeant Tim Ryerson of the North West Mounted Police is commissioned to round up a gang that smuggles Chinese laborers across the border. While visiting his fiancée, Sylvia Sturgis, at her father's ranch, Tim becomes suspicious of ranch foreman Ferdinand Baird, who is the leader of the smugglers. One night, Tim catches Baird smuggling Chinese across the border to the U.S., but Baird escapes and flees to the Sturgis house where he abducts Sylvia. Tim pursues Baird to Vancouver's Chinatown, raids the smuggler's headquarters, and rescues Sylvia.

Dir: J. Gordon Edwards

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

William Farnum is Drag Harlan, a tough cowboy vigilante. After learning about a gold mine from a dying man, he seeks his daughter (Jackie Saunders) as well as the gold. He falls in love with her, but the same gang that shot the old man is after the gold.

Dir: Lambert Hillyer

Tough outlaw 'Sierra' Bill falls in love with traveling violinist Nelly Gray and forces her to marry him. They have a child, but their cozy family life is interrupted by gambler Ringo, who not only persuades Nelly to leave her husband but also ruins Sierra at the gaming table. With thoughts of vengeance, the angry Sierra breaks out of jail and goes after Ringo.

Dir: Scott R. Dunlap

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

When saloon owner Bill Lark detects that gambler Jim Pemberton is cheating, both men draw their guns. In order to prevent a double killing, it is agreed that the first shot should be decided by a draw from a deck of cards. Bill loses and Pemberton gives him three days to live. Meanwhile, Pemberton has persuaded Jess Jones to leave her husband and ride with him to his cabin in the hills where he is chief of a gang of bandits. Upon discovering his wife's absence, Scipio Jones follows Jess but is driven away by Pemberton's gang. After Jones fails, Bill retrieves Jess and brings her home. The next day, Bill is severely wounded when he drives a stagecoach through an attack by Pemberton's gang, but escapes to keep his date with the outlaw. Arriving to accept his fate of the last draw, Bill discovers that the outlaw has been killed by Scipio Jones. Provided with a new lease on life, the honest saloon keeper marries his sweetheart Little Casino.

Dir: Harris Gordon

A man named Chandler, claiming to be a novelist in search of local color, arrives at a town near the Mexican border, where he makes advances toward Jo, a girl living a solitary life on a desert ranch. Manning, a cowboy, suspects Chandler's motives, and his suspicions are strengthened when Chandler is caught cheating at cards. Following a gang of Mexicans to their mountain retreat, Manning learns that Chandler and the Mexicans are smuggling opium across the border. Two gang members are killed in the ensuing fight, but Chandler, wounded by Manning after a chase on the cliffs, escapes to Jo's home, where he denounces Manning as a smuggler. Manning arrives and dispels Jo's misgivings about him by revealing that he is a Texas Ranger, sworn to secrecy. Chandler is allowed to escape, and Manning and Joe are united.

Dir: Clarence G. Badger

Ort Hutchins is a confirmed loafer who spends all of his time fishing while his wife toils over the washtub. One day, while digging for worms, Hutch uncovers a box containing $100,000 in bills, the loot of a bank robbed in the next town. Realizing that he cannot spend the money without arousing suspicion, Hutch resigns himself to taking a job for cover. Accepting an offer from banker Hiram Joy to work his abandoned farm in exchange for a share of the land, Hutch finds himself successful and the farm prospering. Returning to retrieve his treasure, Hutch is sickened when he finds the box gone and in its place a note from the robber. However, Hutch makes an abrupt recovery when he is offered $10,000 for his share of the farm, an offer that forces him to realize that he has become a self-made man.