Essential Cult Cinema Mirroring the Impact of Right to Happiness: C...

Dir: Georg Jacoby

Bulgaria at the beginning of the 20 century. A village in Macedonia.Bogdan Stimov is suspected of a murder which he has not committed. On his wife Anna's urgent request he resolves to flee the country. America. Known as Stimens, Bogdan has risen to the position of director of a munitions factory. The First Wold War breaks out. The Italian Eteli incites his compatriots against the Austrian and German workers at the factory. Stimov takes their side and is dismissed together with his friends Max and Friedrich. Eteli's sister Anna is in love with Max. With her help all four obtain the necessary paper and board a Swedish ship. Eteli gets in touch with the captain of an Italian mail-boat which overtakes and detains the fugitives. The captives manage to escape in a boat. They are rescued by a German submarine. Max, Anna and Friedrich go to Germany. In Bukgaria Stimov's estate has been seized by the invaders. One of them wants to marry Stimov's daughter Maritsa against her will. Bogdan arrives on the wedding day. Under his leadership the peasants rise in revolt. Anna is hiding with friends while Bgdan, Maritsa and his son Peter go to Sofia. At the palace Stimov kneels before the King and tells him the story of his life. He is pardoned and joins the army. Peter is an army volunteer and Maritsa becomes a nurse. The Serbian forces have been driven out of Macedonia. Stimov's estate have been into a field hospital. Among the wounded is Max. Eteli appears too and fires at Maritsa. Max and a young soldier jump on him. The bullet hits the young soldier. A doctor unbuttons his tunic to discover that this is a girl in disguise. Etelirecognizes his sister Anna. A military parade. Stimov receives a medal from the King. Together with Peter he returns to his village where they are greeted with joy.

Dir: Dallas M. Fitzgerald

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

Confidence artist Flossie Golden attempts to fleece foolish but wealthy James Venable with a breach-of-promise suit. Venable's shrewd attorney, Richard Harding, outwits Flossie by proposing that she marry Venable and live on an allowance of $3,000 per year. Flossie is determined to get even with Harding for ruining her plans. In an attempt to con him, she poses as Innocence Page, but falls in love and marries him instead. Larry, Flossie's former accomplice, endeavors to blackmail her with her errant past, but Harding is already cognizant of the facts and Larry fails.

Dir: Charles Horan

While working as a flower girl in Devlin Maddox's nightclub, Nellie Vaughan meets wealthy young Pelton Van Teel and falls in love. Maddox, desirous of using Nellie to blackmail Van Teel, spreads a rumor that she is his mistress. This makes Nellie uncomfortable, and she demands that Van Teel marry her immediately, to which he agrees. Meanwhile, Van Teel has been losing money gambling to Maddox, who threatens to break up the marriage by producing a worthless check that the young husband has written. Venturing to Maddox's apartment for a showdown, Nellie pulls a gun and demands the check, accidentally shooting Maddox when he throws a lamp at her. Maddox plans to charge Nellie with assault, but when the police arrive, his butler, actually a detective employed by the elder Van Teel, exposes Maddox, who is then arrested, clearing the path for the couple's happiness.

Dir: Georg Jacoby

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Man's Plaything perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Robert N. Bradbury

A simple country girl, brutally mistreated by her stepfather, awakens first the sympathy, then the love, of The Boy. The Spider, who lusts after The Girl, makes a bargain with the stepfather and takes her to the city where, kept prisoner, she is soon broken in health and spirit. Cast out and near death, she is taken in by The Boy. Following the demise of The Spider, The Boy takes her to church, where he prays, and after many hours she is restored to health.

Dir: Georg Jacoby

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

A woman of the Latin Quarter, who has had numerous love affairs, flees from the wild life of Paris to bury her past in self-exile in South America.

Dir: Bruno Ziener

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Georg Jacoby

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

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Harley Knoles

Jim McDonald, the foreman of a shipbuilding plant and head of the labor union, strives to combat the anarchistic propaganda being put forth by Klimoff, the leader of a Bolshevik gang whose goal is to disrupt the country with strikes and anarchy. Despite McDonald's efforts, a strike is called, resulting in chaos. McDonald's child is knocked down by runaway horses abandoned by their striking driver, and dies. Mob scenes take place in America, as well as in Russia. Eventually, the unrest is quelled with an armistice called between Capital and Labor for a year, during which time wages are to be increased to reflect the cost of living, and leaders are to work out a common plan for their mutual advantage. The strikers now realize that they have been pawns of the Bolsheviks and call off the strike, agreeing to the plan.

Dir: Maurice Elvey

A lady marries a horse trainer but withholds herself until her crippled brother is cured.