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

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.

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.

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 fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

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.

Ellinor, who was unofficially adopted as an orphan by 'Old Peter,' who maintained a lighthouse on a virtually deserted beach, has grown up wild and nearly silent. As she blossoms into full womanhood, she longs to know more about the world. One day a mutinous sailor swims to shore and declares that they are married, after tossing a pair of rings into the sea. He soon flees, but promises to return for her. Wealthy widower George Hudson, the richest man in the nearby port village, also falls for the fascinating, attractive young woman. He convinces her to go to a finishing school for a year and then marry him. They both find that the sea still holds a powerful pull on the soul. Which is stronger: love or the sea's magic spell?

Dir: James Vincent

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: Harley Knoles

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

Jim McDonald, the foreman of a shipbuilding plant and head of the labor union, strives to combat the anarchistic propaganda being put forth by Klimoff, the leader of a Bolshevik gang whose goal is to disrupt the country with strikes and anarchy. Despite McDonald's efforts, a strike is called, resulting in chaos. McDonald's child is knocked down by runaway horses abandoned by their striking driver, and dies. Mob scenes take place in America, as well as in Russia. Eventually, the unrest is quelled with an armistice called between Capital and Labor for a year, during which time wages are to be increased to reflect the cost of living, and leaders are to work out a common plan for their mutual advantage. The strikers now realize that they have been pawns of the Bolsheviks and call off the strike, agreeing to the plan.

Dir: Bruno Ziener

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: James Vincent

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

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

Dir: William Parke

Bruce Wendell, the son of West Virginia coal mine owner James Wendell, graduates from West Point and prepares to lead a fighting unit to the front during World War I. As his father lies dying, however, he convinces Bruce to remain at home and guard the mine. Bruce's fiancée Ann Blair assumes that he is a coward and breaks off their engagement, but her brother Bobbie remains Bruce's loyal friend. Meyer, a German agent, persuades railroad president Parrish to refuse to transport Wendell's coal, but when Bruce adamantly refuses to close the mine, the spy's men decide to blow it up. While Ann is being abducted by Meyer, Bobbie is buried in an explosion at the mine. Bruce rescues Bobbie and then sends a plea to Lieutenant Parrish to rescue Ann. Meyer and his gang are captured and Ann renews her vow of love to Bruce.

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.