The Global Archive Complementing the Tone of Should a Woman Tell?: Cult Guide

Dir: John Ince

When Mary Worthington will not sign a document absolving the executors of her late father's estate from the loss of money due to mismanagement, they lock her up to force her to comply. Meanwhile, Danny Abbott, a press agent for Mary's friend, Gloria Morning, and two East Side Jewish backers, worry that Gloria's failing musical, The Purple Pagoda , will ruin them. Danny persuades his friend Robert Garrison to kidnap Gloria and release her before showtime, thus creating a news item to attract ticket buyers. When Mary escapes and approaches Gloria's apartment, Garrison, thinking that she is Gloria, kidnaps her. Mary plays along to escape the executors and falls in love with him at his cabin where they fight off Gloria's would-be rescuers. After the executors find Mary and take her to an insane asylum, Garrison saves her, they marry, and Gloria's show becomes a success.

Dir: John Ince

Wealthy, beautiful Juanita Holland leaves the comfortable surroundings of her home in the North and journeys to the Cumberland Mountains to educate the illiterate mountaineers. Finding herself in the middle of a fierce feud between the McBriars and the Haveys, Juanita urges the clan members to end the violence and settle their differences in the courtroom. She and clan leader "Bad Anse" Havey fall in love, and under her influence, he convinces his followers to let the law punish the murderer of Jeb Havey's father. After one of the McBriars is found guilty and hanged, "Old Milt" McBriar swears that his family will obtain revenge and organizes a party to go after Bad Anse. When they shoot the young man, seriously injuring him, Juanita seizes a rifle and opens fire. Fearing that Anse will not recover, she marries him that night, but he eventually regains his health.

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

Dir: John Ince

Muriel Ashley is engaged to Ferdie Walton. Ferdie's father opposes the marriage; Muriel's parents favor it. The couple are married by a strange parson who wanders into the Ashley home, then after they leave for the honeymoon, Ferdie's father discovers that the clergyman is a crook. He notifies the hotel and the young couple are ordered out. They return to the bridal suite by way of a window, but the hotel catches fire and they escape. They go to the Ashley home where they learn they are actually not married. The "clergyman" who married them breaks into the house and is captured. Rev. Dr. Jenkins identifies him, however, as a genuine clergyman who has been suffering loss of memory; thus the marriage turns out to be legal after all.

Dir: John Ince

Shrewd crook Boston Blackie is determined to go straight. At a celebration held on the eve of his marriage to Mary Dawson, Fred the Count plants a stolen jewel and Blackie is arrested and sentenced to twenty years in jail. Fred the Count tries to win Blackie's fiancée, but the honorable Mary rejects him. Blackie's only hope for escape is from the hospital, so he manages to get into a weakened state. He escapes from the hospital, but is trailed by the warden. Blackie refuses to shoot the defenseless man, and the warden recognizes Blackie as an honorable person and allows him to escape. Blackie frames the Count, and leaves for Honolulu with Mary.

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

Dir: John Ince

Refusing to join his family in their new social life when Henry Dillingham suddenly becomes wealthy, Donald Dillingham causes even greater disapproval by marrying chorus girl Ardell Kendall. Learning that famous sculptor Gustaf Borgstrom wishes to use Ardell as model, the Dillinghams suddenly welcome Donald and Ardell to their estate. Donald surrenders to both the jazzy pleasures and the attentions of Maybelle Wescott, but Ardell remains aloof and in order to pay off Maybelle threatens Mr. Dillingham with exposure of his infatuation with a chorus girl. The adventuress breaks her agreement to leave Donald alone, and Ardell reveals the bargain to Donald, who angrily leaves. Ardell sadly returns to the Dillinghams' honeymoon cottage and finds a remorseful Donald awaiting her.

Dir: John Ince

Carew, surgeon at an army post, is in love with Marjorie Caldwell, but Marjorie, who is all for social stuff, thinks her feeling toward him is only friendship. Dames comes to the post as junior surgeon, and supersedes Carew in her regard, marrying the girl. Mrs. Drew, a widow, comes to the post and an intrigue begins between Dames and the widow. Carew sees it, and to save Marjorie tells her that his absences are matters of duty. He asks to be transferred to Manila, and he and Dames are both sent there. On the way Carew warns Dames that he will lose Marjorie's love, and they quarrel, Dames being partly drunk. The ship hits a reef, and Dames, in an effort to save himself, wrenches a life preserver from a woman. Marjorie and Carew are left on the ship, but Carew rescues her, and in the morning they are on the shore of an island with an overturned boat and the bodies of their fellow passengers in the surf. On the shore of another island Dames is rescued by an Abbot, but his wounds cause him to lose his identity. On the first island, Marjorie comes to see the strength of Carew's character but he refrains from telling her of the actions of her husband. A ship is sighted, and Carew, after a struggle, lights the beacon that will save them both but probably take Marjorie away from him. In San Francisco they learn that Dames is reported missing. He asks her to be his wife, but she thinks Dames may still be alive. Dames is on the island with lepers, and works with the monks as Father Fabrician. Carew comes to the island and finds Dames at work among the lepers. He recognizes Dames, but the latter denies his identity. He goes to the monastery, tells the Abbot the truth, and Dames leaves with Carew for Manila, and an operation that will restore his memory. After the operation Dames returns to his drunken habits, and reading some of Carew's letters he learns of the feeling of his wife, giving it a sinister turn. As he prepares to assault Carew he sees the marks of leprosy on his arm, becomes agonized with fear, jumps overboard and is lost. In San Francisco Carew finds Marjorie, tells her of the occurrences and of Dame's death, and while she feels sorry that he has gone as he did, she finds her true happiness with Carew.

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

Dir: John Ince

Cyril Maitland and Henry Everard, friends since childhood, are of contrasting temperaments, the former hot-headed and rather impractical, the latter cool-tempered and possessed of a sane viewpoint. Cyril, studying for the ministry, is engaged to Henry's sister Marian, and Henry, studying medicine, is engaged to Cyril's sister Lillian. Unable to resist temptation, Cyril ruins a girl of his parish, Alma Lee, and when a child is about to be born, her father swears to kill the man, but Alma conceals his name. On the night the child is born, Alma's father is found dead. Cyril, being about Henry's build, has worn his clothes, and witnesses see him in the vicinity of the woods where the crime was committed. Henry is convicted of the crime of which Cyril is guilty. Lillian alone believes him innocent, and is sent to prison. Alma declares him to be her child's father. Cyril, believing his calling in the church above all other things, keeps silent, but at the last moment, about to speak, is held back by his father, who thinks him unstrung. Cyril marries Marian, but his conscience tortures him almost beyond endurance and his life becomes a living hell. Finally Henry is released after 20 years in prison, and he attends the cathedral presided over by Cyril, who has become the great Dean Maitland, the most eminent preacher in the country. Cyril sees Henry in the congregation and there is a powerful scene. Cyril meets his son, with a letter from Alma asking for his education, then Alma dies, and her son, learning his identity, renounces his father. Marian dies, and Cyril's troubled soul is grief and conscience-stricken. Henry, seeing the terrible pain of recognition in the cathedral, and remembering his old love for Cyril, now so changed, writes a letter of forgiveness to him, when beyond all endurance, Cyril's pride now broken, repentance enters his soul. The next day, Sunday, his sermon is at first a trite appeal to repentance, and then a dramatic confession of his own sins, when, falling from the pulpit, he drops dead. And after the storm, the sunshine: Henry and Lillian live happy in their true and undying love.

Dir: John Ince

Actress Nina Seabury is only interested in her lovers' bank accounts, but in the case of Emory Townsend, she miscalculates and believes he's a bank president when he's just a cashier. Hoping to afford her tastes, he steals $12,000 in bank funds, but she still breaks up with him, and he falls in love with Mary Winslow. A few months later, however, a detective working on the bank-funds case find evidence implicating Emory. Aware that he is about to be arrested, a desperate Emory goes to Nina and begs her to give him $12,000, so he can return the money to the bank. Nina refuses, but then Mary, who is pregnant, arrives; after pulling a gun on Nina, she forces her to write a check for the whole amount, thereby saving Emory from jail.

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

Dir: John Ince

Janet Newell learns that her husband Raoul is a crook and leaves him. However, when he offers her a position as companion to the wealthy Richard de GIles and his wife, she accepts, believing that they hold a property deed that rightfully belongs to Raoul's friend Langstreet. Janet is established in the de Giles' Long Island estate, where she falls in love with the kind old couple's nephew, Hugh Maxwell. Soon Raoul appears, and although Janet now realizes that she has been a pawn in his plan to rob the de Giles' jewels, she is forced into silence by his threat of revealing her marriage to Hugh. On the appointed evening, Ross, the butler, drugs the de Giles' coffee and joins Raoul, who has opened the safe with ease. As they are about to escape, however, the de Gileses--who are actually detectives assigned to capture Raoul's gang--appear, bearing guns and pronouncing the crooks under arrest. Raoul grabs a gun but is shot and killed. Janet is left a single woman, but only temporarily.

Dir: John Ince

Young society girl Joyce Lyndon is engaged to energetic Grant Garrison, who lures the judge's daughter to a roadhouse for the night and meets his death at the hands of an abandoned wife. Joyce escapes in fright and meets Martin Antrim, who protects her in exchange for an introduction to her circle of friends. Antrim elicits a confession from Garrison's widow, and Joyce recovers an incriminating handbag from the innkeepers when they attempt to blackmail her.