Hand-Picked Alternatives for Fans of Stolen Goods: Cult Guide

Dir: George Melford

A young New York society man makes a bet that he can rob a house and get away without being caught by the police. Shortly after making this wager, he overpowers a professional burglar in his own house, and instead of giving the man up, decides to use him in winning the bet. However, the house that he attempts to rob is the home of the Deputy Police Commissioner, with whose daughter he is in love. The succeeding complications, which arise out of this altogether original situation, are due to the Commissioner's willingness to accept graft and the professional burglar's inability to restrain himself when tempted to steal a valuable necklace. The final result is a happy conclusion to the very troubled love-story.

Dir: George Melford

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

Gambler Harvey Arnold is forced to leave San Francisco and winds up in a small country town that is in the midst of a reform movement. He marries local girl May Fielding, who has no idea of his profession. When she finds out, he promises to quit, but it turns out that his profession wasn't the only secret he was keeping from May.

Dir: George Melford

Major Dean's developed mental powers have enabled him to give demonstrations in thought-suggestion. Interested in character types, the major, who is an army surgeon, visits a notorious dance hall owned by Lorenzo. The surgeon is struck by the beauty of Mabel, one of the dance hall girls. Mabel lives in deadly fear of Lorenzo. Due to the interest he takes in her Major Dean again demonstrates his wonderful power of mental suggestion by causing the girl to lay down the glass she raised to her lips. Later, a fight is started in the dance hall. All lights are shot out. Mabel is stunned by a bullet. Seizing her in his arms, Major Dean takes her to his home. The following morning finds the girl still unconscious. Major Dean's diagnosis leads him to believe that due to the wound caused by the bullet, a pressure on certain brain cells has wiped all memory of the past from Mabel's mind. Realizing that despite her condition, the girl's subconscious mind is capable o£ registering impressions, the surgeon forces upon Mabel's mind the thought she is, and always has been, his daughter. The girl is possessed of this belief when she recovers. She later accompanies Major Dean to the western army post to which he has been assigned. Sergeant Whitney, an old soldier, is stationed at the post. The man is struck by the wonderful resemblance which Mabel bears to his daughter who, several years previous, had been enticed from her home by a gambler. Although Whitney has never seen the man, he has vowed to find and kill him. Meanwhile, Lorenzo learns what has become of his former victim. Resolved to regain her, he leaves for the west. Arriving at the army post, Lorenzo demands that Dean surrender Mabel. Knowing the girl will not recognize the man, the surgeon allows her to comfort him. Mabel shrinks from Lorenzo in repulsion. Suspecting the truth, Lorenzo later waylays his former victim while she is out riding and endeavors to revive in her mind the memory of her life with him. At the same instant, Major Dean is obsessed by a sense of impending danger. The surgeon gazes out of the window through a pair of field glasses. He discovers Lorenzo talking to Mabel. Aware of the man's nefarious scheme, Major Dean concentrates his powerful will in an effort to so influence Mabel's mind as to enable her to withstand Lorenzo's hypnotic influence. The girl, who had been wavering, receives the message emanating from the major's mind. It causes her to shrink from her former master with the assertion she has no recollection of the incidents he has mentioned. The opportune arrival of Sergeant Whitney prevents Lorenzo from seizing Mabel and carrying her away. That night, Lieutenant Sibley, a young army officer who has fallen in love with Mabel, asks the major for her hand. Feeling it to be his duty, Dean informs Sibley of the girl's past. The surgeon declares it is his belief that Mabel is the daughter of Sergeant Whitney, and that Lorenzo is the man who enticed her from home. So great is his love, that Sibley vows to marry Mabel in spite of what has happened. Unknown to the two, Whitney has overheard the story. Mad with hate, he seeks Lorenzo. Unaware of his impending doom, Lorenzo resolves to make one supreme effort to regain Mabel. Seated by his window, the man fixes his mind upon Mabel with every ounce of power he possesses. Although fast asleep, the girl's mind receives the command sent forth by her former master. As though in a trance, she dons her clothes. Again the sense of danger overcomes Major Dean. He hastens towards Mabel's room. Just at this instant, Whitney enters Lorenzo's room. The rage-maddened father engages the gambler in a death struggle. While this combat rages, Mabel stands as though petrified. Securing possession of Whitney's revolver, Lorenzo shoots, wounding the old soldier mortally. Although he has received his death wound, Whitney's consuming hatred gives him strength to continue the struggle. A sudden twist, and the sergeant secures a vise-like grip on Lorenzo's throat. He forces the man back towards the bed. Mabel awakens with a start. In answer to Major Dean's anxious query, she replies that a bad dream had caused her to walk in her sleep. In Lorenzo's room, Whitney draws back from the silent form on the bed. The soldier attempts to reach the door, but his strength fails. The man staggers and crumples to the floor.

Dir: George Melford

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

Lady Jocelyn, a favorite in the court of England's King James, escapes a forced marriage to the hated Lord Carnal by fleeing to American colonies. There she meets and marries Captain Ralph Percy. Pursued by Lord Carnal, Lady Jocelyn and her new husband eventually find themselves shipwrecked on a desert island with Lord Carnal. A band of pirates finds them there, and Captain Percy convinces them that he is himself a notorious pirate chief. But Lord Carnal casts them all into danger by revealing Percy's true identity.

Dir: George Melford

At the opening of the story Daniel Slade is working in a mine and, though not positively in need, he and his wife live in comparative poverty. Slade is a man filled with ambition, but his wife is contented and absorbed in her love for her husband. By a fortunate accident he discovers a gold mine, and with his newly acquired wealth, immediately sets out to make a position of influence for himself in the world. His aggressive personality and ability at once attract attention, these qualities being combined with wealth, and the possibilities of a political career are pointed out to him by Senator Strickland. Slade has no sooner established himself in his new surroundings than he comes to feel that his wife does not know how to take advantage of their altered circumstances. She is still the same simple, home-loving person. In the course of time he becomes attracted to the Senator's daughter, who, like himself, is of ambitious temperament. In fact, though she does not love him, she agrees to marry him if he obtains a divorce from his wife. The concluding episodes of the story show how the wife rescues her husband from his unpardonable folly, and how, much chastened, he finally persuades her to come back to him. He has now become the chief executive of the State and Mary at last takes her place as the Governor's Lady.

Dir: George Melford

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of To Have and to Hold perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Sue Wells husband Tom works as a shepherd, is sick of being poor, living in the shadow of Mr. and Mrs. James Peabody's opulent estate. When the Peabodys leave for a vacation, Sue and Tom carry out a check fraud scheme and take advantage of a loophole in the Peabody's lease, resulting in their becoming the owners of the estate. However, living in the mansion does little to make Sue happy, and when James returns and discovers what she and her husband have done, he kills Tom. He is about to murder Sue, too, when she wakes up, and realizes that her life as a wealthy landowner has been only a dream. James then enters, and announces that he has made Tom the estate manager, which forever ends Sue's financial worries.

Dir: George Melford

A young man joins the French Foreign Legion and is sent to Algieria, where he becomes a target for hatred by his commander. However, the commander has a change of heart when he realizes who the young man is.

Dir: George Melford

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

For the first time in her life Katherine Silverton--Kitty to her friends--hesitated about spending carfare to ride six blocks to the law office of her godfather, John Travers. She was not used to walking and she didn't intend to start just because her money supply was short and she faced a future which threatened economy of the strictest sort. Kitty's father had died leaving her practically nothing. She sought the advice of Mr. Travers. At the moment she entered the outer office, Mr. Travers had a perplexing problem on his hands. He was attorney for a large estate, the heir to which, Lord Reginald Belsize, had that morning arrived in New York to claim his inheritance. Lord Reginald was young, good-looking and ambitious to marry Mme. Helen de Semiano. Mme. Helen saw a favored match in Lord Reginald, who was soon to be wealthy, and her young-spendthrift brother Jack Churchill encouraged the match. But certain provisions of the will perplexed Mr. Travers. They also perplexed Lord Reginald. It was stipulated that Lord Reginald was to marry within a year or lose his inheritance; it further was stipulated that he was not to marry an actress. Lord Reginald didn't see how it could be arranged as he had brought Mme. Helen and her brother to New York. Mr. Travers suggested that he marry someone else first, leave her after the wedding and in six months she will obtain a divorce on grounds of desertion, making you free to marry whom you please. Then Kitty entered the office. Kitty assented to the proposition readily. She had the promise of a large sum of money, a quick divorce, and a chance to look around the world. But Kitty was very attractive and pretty, and Lord Reginald said that if Mme. Helen, who had reluctantly agreed to the arrangement, should see such an attractive young woman, she would refuse her consent. But resourceful Kitty rearranged her hair, put on a gingham apron, rolled up her sleeves, and made herself into a most unpromising person. Mme. Helen passed approval, not knowing the hoax. The ceremony was quickly performed and Lord Reginald and his bride left to be gone for several months until Kitty had gained her divorce. Meanwhile the jealousy of Mme. Helen was discouraging Lord Reginald, so one day he went to Long Island where Kitty was living. Realizing her opportunity, Kitty did everything within her power to make him happy. When Mme. Helen arrived, having followed Lord Reginald, the latter told her the time had come for the parting of their ways. Kitty, he said, was the woman he loved, and Kitty admitted that she loved him.

Dir: George Melford

Despite her love for penniless Dirck Mead, Lorraine marries wealthy Aaron Roth to save her family from financial ruin. Roth is a swindler and when trying to escape the wrath of the law, he jumps from a ship and is declared dead. Mead, now a diamond magnate, finds Lorraine in New York, marries her and takes her to live in South Africa, where, as it happens, Roth, who survived his leap from the ship, is currently conducting his shady business. Roth discovers Lorraine's situation and threatens her with exposure, and Lorraine is about to leave Mead when she learns of Roth's plan to steal a valuable diamond that Mead is escorting to the city. Summoning help, Lorraine reaches Mead in time to thwart the robbery. Roth is killed in the fight, and Lorraine is spared the task of resolving her marital status.

Dir: George Melford

Ailing King Leopold sends his daughter Princess Alexia of Osia to a exclusive American girls' boarding school as a commoner, so that she can know the meaning of true freedom. When she meets young millionaire Bob Carewe, they fall in love, but Alexia is summoned home because of a conspiracy of the king's advisers threatening to replace him with the Duchess Sylvia. When Bob reads of Osia's financial difficulties, he goes to help with a loan, though he realizes she cannot marry him if she is ever to rule. When the king dies suddenly, it causes a rebellion among the people. Although Bob bravely fights against the conspirators and nobly helps a bleeding rival for Alexia's affections, the duchess is proclaimed queen. She orders Alexia's arrest, but Bob, using one of the conspirators as a shield, escapes with Alexia to the border, now they are happily free to marry.