Cinematic Discoveries Following the Footsteps of Social Ambition: Cult Guide

Dir: Wallace Worsley

The guests at a summer resort hotel, headed by Mrs. Van Courtlandt--Van Allstyn, are preparing to stage a charity performance of a farce, and Gaston Allegretti, threatened with dismissal by the owners, has promised to obtain the services of Broadway star Elsie Parmelee. When the actress refuses, Gaston, in despair, enlists the aid of Helen Haynes, who works in a broker's office and resembles the actress. With MacGregor, a Scottish bookkeeper, she goes to the resort for what she supposes to be a vacation and is reluctant to accept an acting role until she finds that young millionaire Bobby Bates, with whom she is in love, is engaged to play opposite her; although awkward in the part, she is hailed as a great comedienne. Bobby proposes and Helen accepts, thinking he knows her true identity. Later, he learns of the real Elsie Parmelee and is disillusioned, but MacGregor admits his duplicity and all ends well.

Dir: Wallace Worsley

Members of a secret anarchist group take revenge.

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

Dir: Wallace Worsley

Wealthy heiress Diane Westfall, bored with her life, hops into a green van and sets out to seek adventure. She doesn't know that four men are pursuing her--her cousin Carl, who wants her inheritance; Baron Tregar of the small Balkan country of Houdania, who believes that Diane may be the rightful heir to the Houdanian throne; Prince Ronador, who also believes she may be the heir to the throne but wants to kill her so he can get control of it; and Philip Poynter, a young American friend of Baron Tregar's who has met and fallen in love with Diane, and sets out to protect her.

Dir: Wallace Worsley

Viola Baxter is deceived into a hasty marriage with her guardian, Marshall Welch, who is after her money and has framed her fiancé, Dick Fletcher, for theft. She discovers and exposes her husband's perfidy. Humiliated, Welch decides to take his wife's life along with his own, but she is saved by her Great Dane.

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

Dir: Wallace Worsley

Neysa von Igel, who is living with her supposed grandfather Adolph Schmidt, loves America, although she believes herself to be German-born. Unknown to Neysa, when she was three years old, her American-born parents were killed in Germany by Emil Koenig, whose punishment was to be sent to the United States to work in the interest of the government of the Fatherland, and who is now associated with Schmidt in his manufacturing enterprise. Koenig demands that Neysa work in behalf of Germany. She revolts and escapes to the home of David Hale, who had been her grandfather's attorney but who is now in the service of the United States Government. Hale and Neysa are married and depart for France, where the girl again encounters Koenig, and, after many thrilling adventures, she kills him in self-defense.

Dir: Wallace Worsley

Alouette, the daughter of prosperous French vintner LeSieur Juste DeLarme, secretly marries Bertrand Beaubien although her father wants her to wed wealthy German Kurt Von Klassner. After Kurt slays Bertrand, Alouette is forced to marry the brutal German, and only her love for her little son Bertrand, whom Kurt imagines is his offspring, but who actually is the slain Frenchman's, saves her from complete unhappiness. Years later, when the Germans invade France during World War I, Kurt assists them although they have killed his father-in-law. Bertrand's young sweetheart is killed during the German occupation of the village, and fiercely determined to drive them out, he enlists in the French army. With the arrival of the French forces, the town is rescued, and Kurt, through Bertrand's testimony, is arrested as a spy.

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

Dir: Wallace Worsley

Feeling neglected by her husband, the wife of a prominent San Francisco doctor finds herself attracted to a young newspaper reporter. Although they haven't brought their relationship to "the next level", her husband finds out about them and forces the young man to leave town. Dejected, he gives up his career, moves to New York, and winds up an alcoholic in one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in the city. The doctor's wife sets out to find him.

Dir: Wallace Worsley

When taken to a San Francisco cafe by her sweetheart Jimmy, Georgia Rodman witnesses the shooting of a policeman by an underworld gang. The owner, O'Rourke, whom Jimmy believes to be his friend, sends one of his men to their table to inquire about Georgia, and after he shoots the policeman, Georgia and Jimmy are held for questioning. As a result, Georgia is turned out of her home, and O'Rourke gives the couple a room in his hotel. Assistant District Attorney Steven Graham links the missing couple with O'Rourke's activities and collects evidence against him. O'Rourke plans to bribe Graham and have Jimmy shot on the night of his annual ball, and Sally, O'Rourke's ex-mistress, learning of the plan, turns against him and informs Georgia; finding Jimmy wounded, Georgia seeks revenge at the ball, but Sally shoots O'Rourke. Georgia is reunited with her family and Jimmy, while Graham finds happiness with her sister Mary.

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

Dir: Wallace Worsley

In return for money and medical aid for his invalid mother, struggling author Robert Sandell agrees to subject himself to experiments by Dr. Lamb, who claims he is trying to extend the human lifespan. Despite warnings from the doctor's wife and a hunchbacked assistant, Robert allows himself to be strapped to an operating table, whereupon he learns the true nature of the surgeon's experiments: To prove the theory of evolution by devolving his human subjects into an approximation of their simian ancestors. However, before Dr. Lamb can proceed, the hunchback un-cages another victim, an ape-man, who crushes Dr. Lamb to death.

Dir: Wallace Worsley

Adele Bleneau is a young nurse who assists her father, a renowned surgeon/. While in Washington, DC, she meets and falls in love with a British army officer, Capt. Fraser. While traveling by ship to France with her father, she meets Count von Schulling, a German diplomat who is an acquaintance of her father. Von Schulling falls for the pretty young Adele. While in France, Adele organizes a rescue party to save Capt. Fraser, who has been on a secret mission behind enemy lines and has been wounded. In a twist of fate, Adele finds the wounded Fraser and takes him to a hospital, but Count von Schuling, who has also been wounded, is placed in the same room as Fraser. When the hospital is overrun by German forces, Adele is placed in a delicate position by von Sculling: either spy for the Germans or Fraser will be shot.