Editor's Top Picks Following the Footsteps of Reilly's Wash Day: Cult Guide

Dir: F. Richard Jones

A young married couple appears before a judge to get a divorce. The wife shows the judge some pictures of her husband with his arms around another woman, as "proof" that he was cheating on her. The husband, for his part, claims that he was just innocently helping the woman and that he was being blackmailed by the photographer who took the picture.

Dir: F. Richard Jones

Wild flapper Patricia Van Nuys decides to become a pilot like her husband Robert, but with a difference--she wants to become the first woman to cross the Atlantic Ocean by airplane. Capt. Endicott, a friend of Robert's, offers to teach her how to fly. One day while aloft in the plane, the craft takes a sudden nosedive and crashes. The pair walk away uninjured and find shelter in a roadhouse. Robert, upon hearing of this, becomes jealous of Pat's spending so much time with Endicott, which angers Pat. She decides to leave Robert and slips out of the house to catch an evening train, but unfortunately Endicott is also aboard the train. Robert finds out about that, too. Complications ensue.

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

Dir: F. Richard Jones

A foolish husband attempts to make a date with a fair and frivolous charmer whose card has come into his possession, and is arranging all the details while his wife stands listening. He tries to explain that it is a business matter, but is forced to go to the bathroom to think it over. While thus engaged he has a horrible dream of his adventures with the frivolous lady who puts him through the exciting adventures of a badger game. That he finally escapes and wakes to find himself safe at home determines him that it shall be his last false step.

Dir: F. Richard Jones

Mickey, an orphan who has been brought up in a mining settlement, is sent to New York to live with her aunt.

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

Dir: F. Richard Jones

The comic difficulties encountered by the proprietor of a small hotel when he tries to run a "speakeasy" in the cellar.

Dir: F. Richard Jones

In old California, Don Fernando and Don Diego hope to consolidate their adjoining ranches by betrothing their children, Ramón and Dolores. However, Ramón is in love with Suzanna, the daughter of a peon on his father's ranch, and Dolores is interested in Pancho, a toreador. When Suzanna learns that she and Dolores were switched in infancy, making her Don Diego's actual daughter, she keeps silent. Ramón finally rebels and steals Suzanna from the altar as she is about to marry Pancho. Following the necessary explanations, Ramón marries Suzanna and Dolores marries Pancho.

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

Dir: F. Richard Jones

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: F. Richard Jones

This short was a promo piece for Mack Sennett's Yankee Doodle in Berlin (1919), with many of the same characters in addition to the Mack Sennett Bathing Beauties.

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

Dir: F. Richard Jones

Charles Murray gets caught by his wife flirting with a dancer.

Dir: F. Richard Jones

An Irish washerwoman's daughter falls in love with one of America's most eligible bachelors, much to the chagrin the young doctor's fiancée. The two girls attend a masked ball in similar costumes, where Molly is mistaken for her rival.