Essential Cult Cinema Drawn from the Same DNA as Such Is Life: Cult...

Dir: James Vincent

Assistant district attorney Robert Powers learns that political boss John Moore has chosen another candidate for promotion over himself, Powers invites Moore to his Long Island estate for the weekend and urges his lovely wife Marian to entertain Moore to win his favor. After Powers arranges for Moore to be injured while trap shooting so that he has to spend weeks at their home, Marian nurses Moore and they fall in love with each other. When Marian realizes that her husband cares more about his career than their marriage, she plans to leave with Moore, but her daughter Betty intervenes and pleads with Moore not to take her mother. Realizing that Marian would have to sacrifice Betty if they went off together, Moore leaves alone. At the end, Marian orders her husband out of their house and lives independently with Betty.

Dir: James Vincent

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

The daughter of a Mexican aristocrat endures the travails of the Mexican revolution.

Dir: James Vincent

Mary, the daughter of Tom Boland, a cracksman, who is in love with his pal, Dave Karns, decides to give up her old life because she does not want her brother, Jimmie, to submit to the criminal influence surrounding him. After leaving the house, she wanders in the park. Here she meets Mrs. Wentworth, a woman of wealth and refinement, and the two become friends. Mrs. Wentworth finally engages her as a maid. Tom Boland and Dave learn of the girl's luck in obtaining a fine position in Mrs. Wentworth's household, and try to secure her aid in robbing the home of her employer. She refuses, but they carry out their plans alone, and Tom is shot. An investigation of the affair is made by the police. Mary is followed from one place to another when Mrs. Wentworth discharges her. After many weeks of hardship, she is reunited with Dave, who was reformed.

Dir: James Vincent

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

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Edgar Jones

A mail-order bride arrives at a Maine lumber camp but doesn't like her prospective husband.

Dir: James Vincent

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

After the murder of Mrs. Haynes, resident of the old Armory homestead, there is an ever increasing intensity of the struggle for possession of the Amory code, in which lies the secret of the Amory fortune.

Dir: James Vincent

One of the warriors decides that he wants the king's favorite, and is about to carry her off by force when flames burst forth from the sacred volcano, and according to the custom, the king is forced to accept the challenge for his supremacy. The favorite throws herself on the beach in despair, and is seized by white traders who hasten from the island. Betty Mason, whose only regret is that she is not a boy, is excited on learning that her cousin, Reginald, is to visit her father; but when she finds he is sissified, her feelings change. Reginald, however, falls in love, and although her father is pleased at the idea of Betty settling down, she runs away, leaving a note that she has gone west, wearing her brother's clothes, and if Reginald can catch her she will marry him. In a city club three young men are discussing women's rights. Jack Calvert declares he can start without a cent and reach Constantinople by November 6, but that no woman can do it. A bystander calls his bluff, bets $5,000 and Jack, fearing the jeers of his friends, starts out. Betty, who is traveling the "box-car route," hears groans and discovers Jack, and they soon become friends. A brakeman puts them off the train, and they join a gang of tramps. Jack says he must be in Constantinople by the sixth, and Betty says she will go with him. Reginald, speeding across the country, gets a flashing glimpse of Betty, but the conductor will not allow him to get off the moving train. Betty and Jack reach the coast and smuggle aboard a boat about to sail for Constantinople. In foraging for food Betty runs into Reginald, so she and Jack make a dive for a fishing launch lying at anchor nearby. They are hauled aboard by the traders and the king's favorite. Betty's disguise is detected by one of the traders ; but Jack innocently comes to her rescue, and a fight ensues in which the ruffians are thrown overboard and orders the favorite to steer for Constantinople. Suddenly a squall hits the launch and they are shipwrecked on the Cannibal Island. The king recognizes his favorite, and all are taken to his palace. Jack and Betty learn they are to constitute the principal dish at a feast to be held next day; and the favorite comes to their rescue by suggesting that Jack challenge the king. The sacred volcano again belches forth, and during the fight Jack hurls the king into the crater. A launch approaches the shore, and as Betty recognizes Reginald, she and Jack descend by another route, and secure the launch. They reach Constantinople in time, and find the boys. At a banquet Mr. Mason introduces his daughter Betty, Jack is overcome with surprise, and is glad to change his views regarding womankind in general, and one woman in particular, who promises to tramp by his side forever.

Dir: Edward LeSaint

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

When famous opera singer Elinore Duane undergoes an operation on her throat, she has a series of ether-induced visions. In one, she is transported to ancient Rome where she appears as a much-admired woman in love with Paul, a young heretic, and at odds with Lutor, the high priest. To save her love, she poisons Lutor with her ring. After several other visions which involve variations on this love triangle, Elinore awakens to discover that Lutor is actually her doctor, Sascha Jaccard, and that Paul is the son of a friend who has come to visit the recovering prima donna.

Dir: James Vincent

Hoping to have Helen Sterling for himself, unscrupulous stockbroker George Howard, with the help of Rita Lawson, makes up a story of having an affair with her and convinces her husband Robert to believe it, thereby prompting him to file for divorce. (Rita's motivation is that she is Robert's former sweetheart and wants to get revenge on him for throwing her over for Helen.) After the court grants Robert the divorce and custody of their little girl, George is still unable to make Helen love him, so he kidnaps her daughter and informs Helen that he will give her back only if she consents to sleep with him. Helen agrees to give in, but then, after her daughter is returned, she finds a revolver in George's apartment and, during a struggle, shoots him. With all the evidence pointing to suicide, Helen is cleared of a murder charge. She tells the real story of her trauma only to Robert, who then realizes the mistake he made in divorcing her. As a result, he asks her to marry him once again, and Helen accepts his proposal.

Dir: Robert N. Bradbury

A simple country girl, brutally mistreated by her stepfather, awakens first the sympathy, then the love, of The Boy. The Spider, who lusts after The Girl, makes a bargain with the stepfather and takes her to the city where, kept prisoner, she is soon broken in health and spirit. Cast out and near death, she is taken in by The Boy. Following the demise of The Spider, The Boy takes her to church, where he prays, and after many hours she is restored to health.