Hand-Picked Alternatives Movies That Echo the Spirit of Should a Husband Forgive?: Cult Guide

Dir: Raoul Walsh

When the United States enters World War I, a mother sends her two eldest sons off to the battlefields with a smile, although her heart is breaking. She soon learns that the eldest is missing and the second son is wounded, however, and resolves to keep her youngest at home. The boy, due to the influence of pacifist literature, willingly accompanies his mother on a secret journey to their seaside home, but the father, ashamed that his son is a "slacker," discovers their whereabouts. The three are in the midst of a heated argument when the pitiful survivors of a ship destroyed offshore by a German U-boat come to the house seeking refuge. The mother and son realize the importance of the cause and the son enlists. At Christmas, all three sons come home, the eldest accompanied by his new French bride.

Dir: Raoul Walsh

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

Karsten Bernick, last of the house of Bernick, whose shipyards are the mainstay of the town, is forced to return home from a Bohemian life to Paris to assume the management of the business which is nearly bankrupt. He breaks an engagement to Lona to marry Betty, her rich half-sister. With her fortune he saves the company and eventually comes to be known as a Pillar of Society. Then a certain Mme. Dorf, an actress, arrives in town and threatens o expose an episode in his history which occurred during his days in Paris. He persuades his brother-in-law, Johan, to take the blame for him. Johan agrees to do so for his sister's sake and then leaves for America with his sister Lona. Mme. Dorf dies and leaves her little daughter to Karsten's care. Karsten really fears to refuse the guardianship and wins new honors as an upright benevolent citizen. In the midst of his security in the community, Johan and Lona suddenly return, the former to clear his name, the latter, who still loves Karsten, to persuade him to establish his place as a Pillar of Society on a foundation of Truth instead of lies. Karsten defends himself vigorously on the grounds that a Pillar of Society must resort to subterfuge and deception in order to protect society which depends upon him. Johan falls in love with Karsten's little protégée, the daughter of Mme. Dorf, and renews his insistence that Karsten clear his name. Desperate, Karsten connives at their departure on an unseaworthy ship, but his plan reacts on himself, for his only child, Olaf, has run away and been discovered on the ship as a stowaway. The ship catches fire and there is a thrilling rescue of the little boy in a motorboat. Karsten is awakened to the truth of his position and at a reception given him by the townspeople as a tribute to their leading citizen, confesses the truth. Thus he learns that the Spirits of Truth and Freedom are the true Pillars of Society and not man, however powerful.

Dir: Raoul Walsh

In the Canadian province of Acadia, young Evangeline is betrothed to Gabriel. But before their wedding can take place, the British imprison the men and send them into exile with their lands forfeit to the Crown Evangeline follows the exiled men in hopes of finding her beloved, but even after he and the other Acadians are released in Louisiana, she cannot find him, always arriving at some locale just after he has departed. But she dedicates her life to searching the continent for the man she loves.

Dir: Raoul Walsh

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

A Spanish soldier falls under the spell of a fiery gypsy girl named Carmen. His obsession with her leads to his ruin.

Dir: Raoul Walsh

Harold Whitley, a member of New York's idle rich, is upset when the United States enters World War I. Upon learning that married men are exempt from the Selective Draft, Harold urges his fiancée Mary to wed him quickly, but Mary indignantly threatens to break their engagement. At the twenty-story skyscraper that Harold's father is building, Mary meets Jim Kelly, the contractor's son, and is impressed as he rises on a beam. Jim returns Mary's gloves to her Fifth Avenue address, where Harold insults him. At training camp, Jim, enthusiastic about the draft, is promoted to aviation captain, while Harold, who exhibits cowardice as a captain, is released. In France, Jim is knocked unconscious by a shell and nursed by Mary, now in the Red Cross. Jim captures a German raiding party, and after he makes them exchange clothes with allied soldiers, they are shot by their own men. When Mary is abducted by a German prince, Jim pursues on horseback, tumbles over a cliff, swims ashore and arrives in time to rescue her. They then escape in an airplane.

Dir: Raoul Walsh

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

When spoiled playboy Algernon DePont gets thrown out of Harvard, his father throws him off the family estate. Algernon proceeds to take his butler and drive out West looking for adventure. He finds it when he falls in love with the daughter of a cattle rancher and finds himself the target of a lynch mob.

Dir: Raoul Walsh

Peasant girl Vania is assaulted by a duke who murders her lover and sends her away to London. There she becomes a famous actress. The Duke, seeing her perform but not recognizing her, hears that his son is wounded. "If anything should happen to my boy, I think it would kill me." That's all the motivation Vania needs to go to the front, find the one-armed paralyzed boy and marry him. Next she arranges to make love to his father just as the boy enters the room, causing the young man to blow out his brains.

Dir: Raoul Walsh

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

A boy surrounded by violence grows up to become an infamous gangster.

Dir: Raoul Walsh

Harle, a successful French businessman, is so absorbed with his factory that he neglects his wife Claire. One day, Harle's old friend Henri, the Marquis de Puymaufray, comes to visit, and Claire falls in love with the cultured and sensitive man. Several months after his departure, Claire gives birth to a baby girl, Claudia, and dies shortly afterward from neglect and depression. Twenty years pass and Claudia has grown into a beautiful woman. Her father wishes her to wed a count, but she loves Maurice, a young American. During a labor dispute, Claudia is abducted by her father's disgruntled employees and held for ransom. The marquis, who has long watched over the girl, loses his life in a rescue attempt, but Maurice finally succeeds in liberating his sweetheart. After the marquis' death, it is revealed that Claudia actually was his daughter, and Harle, crushed, retires to his country estate, freeing the girl to voyage to America with the man she loves.

Dir: Raoul Walsh

The life of Sam Houston--soldier, statesman, patriot, and one of the founders of the Republic of Texas--is depicted.