Hand-Picked Alternatives for Fans of Princess Romanoff: Cult Guide

Dir: Frank Powell

Stevens, the bank clerk, is ambitious. His great desire is to become a lawyer. He stays at the bank at night to study, but is unable to take a course at college owing to his poverty. He handles immense sums of money every day and is strongly tempted to steal some, but fights off the desire till one evening when a belated customer comes late to the bank with a deposit of several thousand dollars. He sees a way for his ambition to be gratified and takes the money. His wife refuses to go with him, so he deserts her and his small daughter and goes away. Some time later we see him in a strange town living under an assumed name. His ambition has been gratified and through the good will of the political boss he has been made a judge. He falls in love with the daughter of his friend, the boss, but is deterred from marriage by the thought of his wife whom he had deserted. In the meantime Mrs. Stevens has become destitute and unable to support her daughter. She takes her daughter to an orphan asylum and releases all claim on her. Mrs. Stevens is unable to obtain work and at last is found unconscious and taken to a hospital. Her handbag, containing her identification papers, is lost and picked up by another woman who is in the last stages of exhaustion. The woman succumbs to the cold and on being found is thought to be Mrs. Stevens. Her death as Mrs. Stevens is reported to the papers. Judge Harding (formerly Stevens) sees the report of the death and marries the daughter of the boss. The boss decides to run Judge Harding for governor of the state, but his choice is attacked very strongly by a young lawyer, Norris. The boss and Harding try to buy Norris, but finding that he cannot be reached they decide to "frame up" his sweetheart in order to break his determination to prevent the election of Harding. They get her into trouble and Judge Harding is appointed to try the case. He is conducting the case in a very severe manner with a decided feeling against the prisoner. The superintendent of the orphan asylum has followed the course of the little girl's life and comes to the city to see her. She recognizes Mrs. Stevens as the woman who left the child at the orphanage and takes her to see the trial. As Mrs. Stevens enters she recognizes in Judge Harding the man who deserted her so many years ago. While the jury have retired to settle the case Mrs. Stevens accuses Judge Harding. The sudden excitement causes an attack of heart failure just as the jury return with a verdict of "Not Guilty."

Dir: Frank Powell

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

A married diplomat falls hopelessly under the spell of a predatory woman.

Dir: Frank Powell

Young society rake Gerard Buckland spies a pretty girl walking down the street. As he tries to figure out a way to approach her, he sees a disreputable-looking man surreptitiously hand her a diamond necklace, which she hides on her person before fading into the crowd and disappearing from sight. Later that day he visits a friend's home, and is astounded to meet that same girl. During their conversation she claims that, as a lark, she picks her friends' pockets of valuables and gives them back later--but Gerard doesn't quite buy it. It turns out that she is, in fact, not what she says she is, but not in the way Gerard thinks.

Dir: Frank Powell

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

A baby is left on the Brinbecombes' yacht while they are sailing up the Hudson River, and they adopt him and name him Everett. They are neighbors of Governor Floyd Vandecarm whose twin children, Floyd Jr. and Fledra, were kidnapped in early infancy. Their abductor was Lon Cronk, a man sent to prison by Vandecar when the latter was a district attorney of the county. The twins grow up in Cronk's shack as "Flea" and "Flukey." Despite her rough surroundings Fledra/Flea grows into lovely young womanhood and she and her brother run away from Cronk's cruelty. They reach Tarrytown and peer into the lighted windows of the home of siblings Horace and Anne Shellington. Anne brings the two young vagrants into the house and ultimately adopts them. But Cronk, aided by Everett, wages a long, evil campaign to regain possession of the children.

Dir: Frank Powell

Mrs. Balfame is the social leader of the small town of Elsinore, and David Balfame, her husband, is the political leader, a drunken loutish man his wife has hated during their sixteen years of married life. While attending a club meeting Mrs. Balfame listens to a speech by Dr. Anna Steuer, her friend, stating that many of the women on the other side are glad to be rid of their beasts of husbands who made war possible. Later in her home Dr. Steuer shows Mrs. Balfame an untraceable poison. With these two facts in her mind, and urged on by a disgraceful scene at the Country Club caused by Mr. Balfame's drunkenness, Mrs. Balfame decides to kill her husband. Meanwhile, Mr. Balfame has wandered into Old Dutch's saloon and insults the proprietor and his son, Conrad, and also arouses the ire of a tough young man who is dancing with a girl. Discovering that he must go to Albany on political business he phones Mrs. Balfame and asks her to fix him a bracer and pack his grip. She replies that a glass of lemonade and aromatic ammonia will be left on the table for him. Mr. Balfame, still drunk, then starts for home, followed by the young man from Old Dutch's. Mrs. Balfame make a glass of lemonade, putting in the poison, and places it on the table. Then, discovering a man lurking on the grounds, she takes a revolver and hurries out to scare him off. Frieda, the maid of all work, sees Mrs. Balfame leave the house. As Balfame nears the house there is a shot and he falls. Mrs. Balfame rushes in and, still watched by Frieda, pours out the lemonade and rinses out the glass. On the testimony of Frieda and Conrad Mrs. Balfame is arrested, charged with her husband's death. Dwight Rush, a young lawyer who has long been in love with Mrs. Balfame, represents her. Mrs. Balfame does not love Rush, but promises to marry him if he obtains her freedom. Alys Crumley, a young artist, is in love with Rush, and through her jealousy of Mrs. Balfame tells of the conversation she overheard in which Dr. Steuer told Mrs. Balfame of the poison. Dr. Steuer is called as a witness, but is sick in a hospital, and from her dying bed makes a confession that she shot and killed Mr. Balfame because she could no longer see her dear friend abused by the brute. Rush finds his love for Mrs. Balfame has been diminishing as his interest in Alys is strengthened, but goes to claim Mrs. Balfame after the acquittal. Realizing the disparity in their ages, she sends him to seek happiness with Alys Crumley.

Dir: Frank Powell

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

Blanche Merrill, the handsome wife of a young artist who is seeking his way to fame, is surprised when her husband Bob, seeing her standing before a mirror, insists upon painting her portrait. The painting is exhibited and attracts the attention of Boyd, a theatrical manager and playboy who seeks Blanche out and entices her to leave her husband with promises of a theatrical career. Blanche leads a life of indulgence with Boyd until, feeling the pangs of dissolution, she awakens in her husband's arms to discover that it was all a dream.

Dir: Frank Powell

A reception given by the Count to celebrate his daughter Ann's engagement to Baron Moreno is disrupted by the news that a mine in which the whole village has invested is worthless. When the Count, who persuaded the townspeople to invest their savings in the venture, commits suicide, the baron jilts the now-destitute Ann. She marries Slater, an American promoter, and they move to the United States, hoping to earn enough to pay off her father's debts, but the baron follows Ann and forces his attentions on her. This provides Slater's mother, who is insanely jealous of her son's love for his wife, with the opportunity to break up their marriage. Slater orders his wife from the house and the baron offers her sanctuary. Ann's baby's incessant crying for her mother forces Slater to attempt a reconciliation, and when he looks for her, he finds her with the baron. In the ensuing fight, both men are mortally wounded. Ann returns to her child; she finds her mother-in-law repentant, and the three return to France to repay the debt.

Dir: Frank Powell

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

The husband and wife of a typical American family read the story of Albert and Louise, European peasants. Albert, called to war, is able to come home but once during the conflict. The captain of the enemy takes up his headquarters in Albert's house and forces his attention upon Louise. War over, Albert returns home rejoicing in the news of the birth of a son. He is told Louise has never looked at or touched the baby. Demanding an explanation Louise tells of the visit of the captain. Albert would kill the child, but Louise's motherhood asserts itself and she saves its life. The American family rejoice on completing the story that America is at peace.

Dir: Frank Powell

Hedda Gabler, the degenerate daughter of a drunken, dueling father, has just returned with her husband, George Tesman, from their honeymoon. Hedda, who possesses an uncanny affection for her father's pistols, lives in jealous watchfulness over Ejlert Lovberg, a former lover whom she often pictures in Tesman's place, in her imagination. Lovberg, while under the positive influence of Thea Elvsted, has written an important book, and Hedda, learning this, sets out to recapture Lovberg's affection, whereupon he takes to drinking, loses the manuscript, and is cast into despair. Tesman finds the manuscript, which Hedda then obtains from him. Lovberg then breaks with Thea and goes to Hedda. She shows him her pistols; he takes one and goes to Thea's home where, in her arms, he shoots himself. Hedda, after burning the manuscript that she regards as the child of Lovberg and Thea, shoots herself as well.

Dir: Frank Powell

Nell Loring, a Texas sheep rancher's daughter, stops a fight between her father and his neighbor John Corliss, a cattleman, who have feuded for years. Although John loves Nell, he keeps it secret when she promises to marry his errant brother Billy if he stops drinking. After John rescues Nell from a runaway horse, though, she confesses that she really loves him. Worried about the feud, Nell makes John promise never to kill anyone. After Billy is wounded in a barroom brawl, John refuses him money until he reforms. Angered, Billy plots with Fadeaway, a cowboy John dismissed, to rob John's safe. John remembers his promise during his subsequent fight with Fadeaway and only punches him soundly. After Fadeaway is killed by the sister of a woman he betrayed, John, believing that Nell killed him, plants evidence to convict himself. Although Billy, now reformed, tries to take the blame, the murderer's written confession frees John to marry Nell.