Hand-Picked Alternatives for Fans of Patriotism: Cult Guide

Dir: Raymond B. West

The social climbing Flower family is comprised of Mr. Flower, a banker who has overextended himself financially, Mrs. Flower, a socially ambitious mother, Julia Flower, a marriage-minded elder daughter and Madge Flower, a high-spirited younger daughter. When Madge is expelled from boarding school for her practical jokes and pranks, she joins her mother and sister in Palm Beach, where they are wintering, in hopes of snaring a titled husband for Julia. Julia, fearful that her little sister will impair her success on the marriage market, forces Madge to dress as a child of ten. Julia has her sights set on the Earl of Larsdale, but after a series of misadventures, Madge elopes with the young man who turns out not to be an earl at all, but a prosperous young American who is holding her father's notes. Thus, she saves the day for the Flower family.

Dir: Raymond B. West

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

Salesman Warren Kent develops the idea of "The Unending Courtship" and manages to convince his new wife Betty of his theory, which entails their living separately and only meeting on Wednesday evenings, as they did while they were engaged. Warren's boss, however, who was never enamored of the idea, fires him when he bungles an account and loses the company a large order. On top of that, through a series of misunderstandings Warren comes to believe that his wife is pregnant and his mother-in-law believes that Warren is having an affair with Betty's friend Ethel. Things go downhill for Warren from there.

Dir: Raymond B. West

Rumpelstiltskin, a wicked little dwarf with magic power, covets the miller's daughter, Polly. He offers the miller two bags of gold for her and is angrily kicked out of the mill. The dwarf vows eternal vengeance. The King, whose coffers are empty, having heard of the magic power of the dwarf, sends for him and commands him to refill his coffers. The dwarf, in vengeance, tells the King that the miller's daughter can spin straw into gold. The King sends for Polly, places her in a room full of straw and commands her to spin it into gold before dawn, else she, her father and the dwarf will lose their heads. The dwarf tells Polly he will spin the straw for her if she will promise him her first born, if it is a girl. Polly, in order to save her father, promises. Prince Cole, disguised as a hunter, seeks a girl to love. He sees Polly and falls in love with her. She agrees to meet him in the forest, but is captured by the dwarf and taken to his cave, where the Dragon is set to watch over her. With the assistance of the Good Fairy the Prince rescues Polly. The King places the Prince in a dungeon because of his love for Polly. The Good Fairy helps Polly to liberate him and he and Polly step on the magic carpet which the Good Fairy has given Polly and wish themselves far away. They are transferred to the woods, where they are married and a baby girl is born to them. The dwarf searches for Polly and the Prince, finds them and steals their child. The Good Fairy again comes to their assistance and the child is restored to them. The King, whose treasure is exhausted in the search for his son, commands the miller again produce his daughter so that she can spin some more straw into gold for him. The Prince and Polly appear before the King, by whom they are joyfully welcomed. They tell the King the story and the dwarf is condemned to spinning straw the rest of his natural life.

Dir: Raymond B. West

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

Scott Winthrop is a wealthy, matter of fact businessman who cannot conceive an undeniable right in another man's attempt to break up his home because he has happened to take a fancy to his wife. But Amy Winthrop, a romantic young woman with more spare time than is good for her, takes up with the notions of a so-called liberal organization and is in the arms of its leader on her wedding anniversary when her husband comes home with a costly present for her. She stubbornly announces that Mackley Stuart is her "elective" mate and that they are going away together. Unable to dissuade her, the husband sends word to the newspapers that he is relinquishing his wife to Stuart at their request. The publicity that follows practically forces them to wed. Later, while touring Europe, Winthrop runs across the couple in a Naples café. He manifests great pleasure and greets them as old friends. He congratulates them on their happiness and fills his former wife's ears with the same kind of twaddle that had lost her to him. With pitiless cruelty he pursues his campaign and the result he seeks is not long in coming. Amy throws herself at his head and he apparently is content. Stuart, furious, now finds himself in the position in which he had placed Winthrop. The three discuss the situation. Amy repudiates her husband and offers to leave him to return to her first love. Winthrop leads her to believe that he will take her back and then spurns her. Thus he proves to them that the fabric of morality cannot be lightly destroyed and is satisfied that he has ruined their lives as they ruined his.

Dir: Raymond B. West

Bessie Wheaton returns from Europe to find that her nouveau-riche family has adopted and magnified the worst characteristics of the upper class. Her father spends all of his time at the club, her mother cultivates snobbishness, and her sister thinks only of marrying into royalty. To shake them out of their aristocratic poses, Bessie decides to reflect all of their faults, becoming as lazy as her father and as status conscious as her mother. She even rejects her own sweetheart, Allan Shelby, to lure Count d'Orr away from her sister. Finally, her family members confront her and she angrily tells them that she was only mirroring their behavior. She then runs away, but Allan, with whom she quickly reconciles, brings her back, just as her family acknowledges their recent burlesque of the upper crust.

Dir: Raymond B. West

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

Doris Willard, the daughter of a village minister, achieves the realization of her great dream, a year at college. Doris, although a sweet and pretty girl, is greatly handicapped by her clothes. On her arrival at college she is eyed by the other girls with concealed amusement and curiosity and soon realizes that she "doesn't belong." The girls snub her at every opportunity and she is desperately lonesome and longs for companionship. The Saturday before Thanksgiving when everyone else has gone to the big Princeton-Yale game, Doris sits alone in her room. She picks up the newspaper and sees in it a picture that greatly appeals to her. It is a newspaper cut of "Bullet" Dick Ames, the universal choice for the '"All-American Eleven." She conceives a desperate plan. She thinks nobody at her college knows Dick and decides she will make the girls think he is in love with her. She writes a note to herself to which she signs Dick's name. The note is a proposal of marriage. This she drops on the porch of the girls' hall and it is picked up by one of the girls who reads it to the bunch. Daisy Arnold, the undisputed ruler of the "Beauty Squad," will not believe that Dick knows Doris, and writes to his sister, Eleanor, asking both her and Dick down for the holidays. In her letter she tells Eleanor about Doris claiming Dick has asked her to marry him. Dick sees the letter and he and his sister accept the invitation. When Dick sees Doris, he decides to help her out in her deception. Doris is panic-stricken on the night of the reception given in Eleanor's and Dick's honor, but when she is introduced to Dick he says, "Why sure, we are old friends," and Daisy and her friends are much disappointed, their plan for humiliating Doris having fallen through. After meeting Dick, Doris is unwilling to carry out the deception, but he insists, and before his visit is over they are much in love with each other. Doris, however, refuses to marry Dick, thinking he has asked her out of pity, but through Eleanor's efforts he manages to make her understand that he really loves her.

Dir: Raymond B. West

Pampy lives in a quaint little Dutch village, where she supports her invalid father by selling flowers to tourists. Pampy is so beautiful that she provides inspiration to Donald Luther, an American artist who is visiting the village, and at his request, poses for him. Just as his interest starts to blossom into love, he is called away for two weeks. During his absence Pampy's father dies, leaving her only with directions to her wealthy grandfather's home in New York. A letter containing money for her voyage is intercepted by the unscrupulous Captain von der Bloom, who takes an innkeeper's daughter to the old man and tries to persuade him that she is his grandaughter. Pampy is finally able to sail to America when the village priest buys her passage, and she arrives just in time to prevent the old man from turning over a large sum of money to von der Bloom. The gloom of the old house is then awakened to laughter as it is filled with Pampy's charming presence, and all ends happily as she is reunited with her artist.

Dir: Raymond B. West

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

She was alone in the world save for her little sister, and little sister was dying. She wanted a doll for Christmas and Dorothy had no money. She stole one and three persons paid a heavy price for the tiny toy.

Dir: Raymond B. West

Jack Harding, a wealthy ne'er-do-well, becomes involved with a Broadway vamp. When she is murdered, Jack is falsely accused of the crime and must turn for help to his lawyer--his wife.

Dir: Raymond B. West

Scottish fisherman Andy MacTavish rescues a baby whom he discovers washed up on the shore during a storm, and names her Ariel. As a girl, Ariel often dances on the beach and dreams of a man who will appear to her out of the mist. Her dream comes true when she witnesses an airplane crash in which the pilot, Franklin Shirley, is injured. Andy and Ariel care for Franklin until he recovers his health, after which he returns home. Having fallen in love with Franklin, Ariel follows him to London, where, with the encouragement of impresario Abe Strohman, she becomes a renowned dancer. Now Franklin's social equal, Ariel uses all her wiles to win his love, despite the fact that he is already engaged to Elaine Shackleford. When Elaine's mother asks her to give him up, however, she reluctantly agrees and prepares to give herself to Strohman. Elaine surprises everyone by eloping with Richard Barrows, leaving Franklin free to wed his dancer.