Underground Favorites Parallel to the Artistry of Special Delivery: Cult Guide

Dir: Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Malcolm St. Clair

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Don't Weaken! perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

A dancing instructor gets involved with a newly rich family.

Dir: Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle

A farm boy must rescue his sweetheart from being married off to someone she does not love.

Dir: Henry Edwards

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

A millionaire bets £25,000 that he can earn his own living for six months.

Dir: Charley Chase

A young married couple volunteer to take charge of several orphans after the asylum has burned down. Of course they find their hands full with their troublesome charges.

Dir: Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of The Amazing Quest of Mr. Ernest Bliss perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

The Sheriff is a "desert hero," so lucky as never to get a scratch amid all the shooting, such a remarkable shot himself that he hits the cuckoo in a clock and causes it to drop into a glass of beer below, converting it to a cocktail. He thwarts all the villains, foils all the plots, rescues the persecuted maiden, destroys the bar, closes the dance hall, and is instrumental in converting a long line of hardened gunmen to lives of usefulness as members of the Salvation Army.

Dir: Maurice Campbell

Carver Endicott, a young sophisticate, is rejected by his fiancée for being too foppish and dull. When she feigns an interest in his father, Carver attempts to disgrace his family name by working as a farmhand and later as a busboy in a hotel. However, the newspapers only praise him for his self-sacrificing principles; and finding that he cannot bring shame to the family through menial labor, he takes up with a notorious actress. But when this maneuver also fails, he returns to his former fiancée, who has no further complaint about his being an inexperienced dullard.

Dir: Jerome Storm

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

Ne'er-do-well Homer Cavender ventures to the city from Mainsville in an effort to find fame and fortune. Both elude him, and after clerking for two years, Homer returns home for a vacation. Impressed by his flashy clothes, the townspeople assume that Homer has achieved success. Attempting to win Rachel Prouty from his rival, Arthur Machim, Homer continues the deception by announcing that his employer, Kort and Bailly, has dispatched him to enroll stockholders for a proposed new plant to be built in Mainsville. Machim discovers the sham and denounces Homer as a crook. Meanwhile, Homer returns to New York, convinces his employers of the merits of his plan and comes home triumphant, with a proposal for both the new plant and for Rachel's hand in marriage.

Dir: Robert Thornby

Mary Willard takes over her father's railroad after his death. Her major competitor is a ruthless crook named Harvey Judson. She arranges for Judson to be kidnapped and taken to an isolated spot deep in the forest and turned loose to fend for himself. She accompanies the kidnappers to the wild and Judson, not knowing who she is, begins to fall in love with her. Complications ensue.

Dir: Hal Roach

An American book salesman (Lloyd) is persuaded to go to the kingdom of Thermosa to impersonate the Prince. He is greeted by a peasants' revolt before the real prince shows up to claim his throne and princess. The revolution succeeds, and the American is elected president of the new republic.