Cinematic Discoveries Following the Footsteps of Pass the Dumplings: Cult Guide

Dir: Larry Semon

Larry is the booby sheriff of a Western town named Beer Bottle Bend, whose lawlessness matched his witlessness. A demure little thing from the East arrives on the same stage with a consignment of $100,000 to the sheriff, and the town proceeds to celebrate. After reforming the champion "elbow-bender" of the community, the demure one inspires the sheriff to action against the lawless element. The $100,000 changes hands in rapid and humorous fashion, and finally comes into the possession of the demure thing who had followed the cash all the way from New York. Larry proceeds to make a few cursory remarks on women.

Dir: Larry Semon

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

What with pretty women lounging around the lobby, Larry's existence as a secret guardian of a hotel is all roses until a valise filled with jewels is left in his hands for safekeeping. Larry locks it up in the hotel safe, but not before crooks have caught a glimpse of the gems. Thenceforth every art and artifice is employed by them to separate Larry and the hotel from the jewels.

Dir: Larry Semon

Larry's absurdly plush life of ease as a convict comes to an end when his sentence is up. Tossed out, he tries several ways, including a stickup to get back in the comfortable jail. Exchanging clothes with a lookalike escaped prisoner, he goes back, only to find he's to be hung. Now desperate to leave again, he joins other cons in a jailbreak.

Dir: Edgar Jones

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

A mail-order bride arrives at a Maine lumber camp but doesn't like her prospective husband.

Dir: Larry Semon

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Larry Semon

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

A lawman out to get moonshiners runs into a female director filming a movie with a female cast. Chaos ensues.

Dir: Charley Chase

A young married couple volunteer to take charge of several orphans after the asylum has burned down. Of course they find their hands full with their troublesome charges.

Dir: Larry Semon

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

Semon's character, working behind the scenes, creates mayhem during a vaudeville performance.

Dir: Richard Smith

Two female candidates for Chief of Police live across the hall from each other, and their political rivalry follows them home, leading to plenty of hi-jinks.

Dir: Maurice Campbell

Carver Endicott, a young sophisticate, is rejected by his fiancée for being too foppish and dull. When she feigns an interest in his father, Carver attempts to disgrace his family name by working as a farmhand and later as a busboy in a hotel. However, the newspapers only praise him for his self-sacrificing principles; and finding that he cannot bring shame to the family through menial labor, he takes up with a notorious actress. But when this maneuver also fails, he returns to his former fiancée, who has no further complaint about his being an inexperienced dullard.