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Recommendations
Senior Film Conservator
For those who were mesmerized by Price of Treachery; Or, The Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter, a true cult masterpiece from 1914, its influence on cult cinema remains a vital reference point for fans today. This list serves as a bridge to other cult experiences that are just as potent.
The legacy of Price of Treachery; Or, The Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter is built upon its ability to blend thematic complexity with stunning visual execution.
This picture tells the story of the life of two brothers, Henry and Robert Williams. Henry's early life has not been beyond reproach, he even stopping to forge a check to raise money and, as the picture opens, he is in receipt of a letter advising him that unless his forged check is paid the matter will be put into the hands of the police. Driven to desperation Henry breaks into his father's safe and takes out the banknotes, the quarter's rents from the numerous farm tenants which the overseer had brought in that day. Robert, hearing the noise, confronts his brother who breaks down and acknowledges his wrongdoing. Robert urges him to tell all to his father with the assurance that he will help him out of his dilemma. This he refuses to do and begs Robert not to tell. Overcome with remorse, Henry is taken ill and, in the morning, when the theft is discovered, Robert, in order to save his brother, confesses to being the culprit. He is ordered out of the house, but before leaving he confesses the truth of the whole affair to his mother. Four years elapse during which time the father of the boys dies, and Robert has become captain of a schooner about to arrive at the Isle of Peele, directly across from the mainland where his mother lives, to whom he has written informing her of the fact that he is now captain of the "Harland" and expects to run across and see her and his father, whom he hopes has forgiven him. Henry, while out horseback riding on his way to the quay, runs into Mary, the daughter of the lighthouse-keeper of the Isle of Peele, and, becoming enamored of her beauty, organizes a shooting party to the Isle of Peele in order to see her again. A terrible storm takes place, compelling them to accept the hospitality of the lighthouse-keeper to stay overnight. The storm is not confined to the Isle of Peele, but has broken with great fury out at sea, where the lighthouse-keeper discovers the "Harland," tossed by the great waves, completely helpless. Calling Mary to the lighthouse to keep the lantern lit, he runs to the shore, launches his boat and sets out for the work of rescue. Henry, finding Mary alone in the lamp house, endeavors to embrace her. She resents and, in the struggle which ensues, Henry is rendered unconscious. In falling he breaks the oil supply tube which feeds the lamp in the lighthouse. Robert, and Tompkins, the cook, the only survivors, fearing the boat, which is loaded with explosives, will blow up, decide to cast their fate in the turbulent waters and jump overboard. After swimming for a long time, they meet the lighthouse-keeper rowing toward them but. In attempting to get into his boat, it is overturned, and the three of them are thrown back into the sea. Shortly after Robert deserts his ship it is blown up. Mary, having escaped from the lighthouse, rushes to the beach in time to help her father and Tompkins brings Robert onto land. He is carried to the house and tenderly nursed back to health by Mary and her father. Falling in love with Mary, Robert tells these good people who he really is and asks for Mary's hand in marriage. The news of the blowing up of the "Harland" having reached his mother, she becomes seriously ill and, when he crosses to the mainland to see her, he is welcomed as one risen from the dead. Henry, still intent on winning Mary, plans with two others to abduct her. They set out in a motorboat to the island and, by throwing a misleading note into her room, she is decoyed to the cliff where, against overwhelming odds, she is overpowered. In the struggle Henry falls down the embankment. Tompkins, having followed Mary, returns for Robert who is just running to the scene of the fray as Henry makes his descent and, continuing the pursuit (not knowing to whom he is giving chase), he reaches Henry just in time to see him disappear into a bed of quicksand, powerless to help him. In the meantime the other two conspirators manage to bring Mary to the motorboat. Thinking they have her secure, they enter the cabin of the boat, whereupon she jumps up, fastens the cabin door, and turns the wheel about headed back toward shore, arriving just before Robert, who bursts in upon them with the terrible news regarding his brother. The next morning Robert takes his fiancée to his mother, who confers upon the happy pair her parental blessing.
Based on the unique cult status of Price of Treachery; Or, The Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter, our vault has identified these titles as the most compelling follow-up experiences for fans of cult cinema:
Dir: Unknown Director
The life of Jesus Christ. The film is believed to possibly be a US re-release of Alice Guy's The Birth, the Life and the Death of Christ (1906).
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Dir: Unknown Director
What is the true power of prayer? This doc examines the impact of speaking to God, from medical and scientific sources, to testimonials from those who've been touched by faith.
Dir: Unknown Director
It is the early days of California. Father Sebastian, trudging his way on foot from the Mission, his attention is attracted to the wall of an infant coming from the crest of a ridge. He finds the body of a Spanish woman. Sitting beside its dead mother, a tiny baby greets the Padre's gaze. Lifting the infant tenderly in his arms, the Father resumes his journey, accompanied by an Indian woman, to whom he has entrusted the care of the orphaned child. Years pass by and we see the infant grown to manhood strong, handsome and a true worshiper; the bright eyes of a pretty Spanish maiden turn the head of our Jose, causing him to forget his duty. How, after the Padre has warned him of the danger, he disregards the advice of the Father and leaves in the night with his inamorata; how, in their ignorance of the trails, they wander out into the terrible desert and almost die from thirst and the burning heat; how they are found by some American prospectors and nursed back to life; how Jose lays in a delirium of fever and Papinta returns to another, and the long search of the patient Padre for his adopted son, which is rewarded at last by finding him. The settings are real and beautiful, the locations being chosen from in and about San Gabriel Mission, the sea coast, the Sierra Madre Mountains and the great desert of southern California.
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Dir: Unknown Director
A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.
Dir: Unknown Director
This fascinating region was set apart as a Government Reservation, to be known as Yellowstone Park, in 1S72. The park proper is about 62 miles long, from north to south, and 54 miles wide. While the tourist may reach the park entrance by rail, it has been decreed by Uncle Sam that beyond the Great Lava Arch Gateway the iron horse shall not trespass. So here leaving the pathway of steel we take our place on one of the six-horse coaches that run from Gardiner up to Mammoth Hot Springs. Coaching, Troops, Morris Basin, Great Fountain, Pack mules, Riverside Geyser, Old Faithful, Deer and Bear, Upper Falls, Canyon, Field Glasses. Standing on a balcony at Artist's Point we take up the field glass to have a tele-photo panorama of these weird walls with their clinging pine trees. We look down the Great Gorge. On either side walls of exquisite color rise with here and there pinnacle-like great church spires. Above our heads fly eagles who build their nests and raise their young on the top of these lofty peaks. The scene is a powerful one and beyond words, but the Great Falls add force and quality of action which tempers and dignities the whole scene. This enormous volume of water that looks like a curtain of lace, tumbles over a cliff of volcanic rock 310 feet. Here the traveler finds himself spellbound, held by the pure beauty of the scene. In turning away he pauses to marvel at the wonders of nature and the beauties of our great national playground.
Dir: Unknown Director
A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.
Dir: Unknown Director
Billed as the "Fight of the Century", reigning champion Jack Johnson takes on former champion James J. Jeffries in a gruelling 15-round beatdown.
View DetailsAnalysis relative to Price of Treachery; Or, The Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter
| Film Title | Atmosphere | Complexity | Similarity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Life of Christ | Surreal | High | 92% Match |
| Fides | Surreal | Layered | 89% Match |
| The Padre | Surreal | Layered | 90% Match |
| The Miner's Daughter | Surreal | High | 91% Match |
| Only a Factory Girl | Surreal | Layered | 96% Match |
This guide was algorithmically generated using the cinematic metadata of Unknown Director's archive. Last updated: 8/17/2026.
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