Must-Watch List in the Vein of Thais: Cult Guide

Dir: Hugo Ballin

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

Frivolous young Zoie, exasperates her husband Alfred with her lack of interest in domestic affairs and inability to tell the truth. After a quarrel, Alfred leaves for Boston and Zoie, disconsolate, is consoled by her good friend Aggie. Aggie suggests that, as Alfred wants a baby, Zoie should adopt one for him. Fascinated with the idea, Zoie sets out for the hospital where she arranges to buy a baby and then wires Alfred that he is about to become a father. Jimmie, Aggie's obedient husband, is dispatched to fetch the infant, but he discovers that the mother now refuses to part with her child. With Alfred expected at any moment, Jimmie is ordered to procure a child, and so he orders a set of twins and then steals a baby from the hospital. When Alfred arrives, he finds himself confronted with a parade of babies and learns of his wife's deception when the infants' parents appear to claim them. However, all ends happily when Zoie promises to tell Alfred the real truth.

Dir: Hugo Ballin

During a trip to Europe, society girl Chaddie Green discovers that she is destitute. She returns to the United States and meets Duncan MacKail, who is equally broke, except for a parcel of grainland in the Western plains. After the two are married, Duncan hires Ollie, a Swedish caretaker, who Chaddie finds intimidating. While Duncan is away on business, Chaddie travels fifteen miles to visit Percy Woodhouse, an Englishman who has become ill. Her horse runs away, and she is forced to spend the night. Although she sleeps under a wagon, Duncan is nevertheless angry and jealous. Chaddie moves Percy into her home to nurse him back to health, hoping his presence will restrain the violent Ollie. Duncan leaves in a fit of jealousy, but he soon returns with a servant named Olga as a peace offering. She and Percy fall in love, while Ollie hangs himself, leaving a note confessing to his murderous instincts. Chaddie and Duncan become parents and find happiness in their prairie home.

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

Dir: Hugo Ballin

After a harsh childhood, orphan Jane Eyre is hired by Edward Rochester, the brooding lord of a mysterious manor house, to care for his young daughter.

Dir: Hugo Ballin

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

Emily Ray, who works in a department store, is taken in by her wealthy Aunt Carmen. Emily falls in love with Oliver Browning, but her aunt dismisses him as a nobody and a fortune hunter. Emily's wealthy married cousin, Rosamonde Vallant, always trying to keep up with the latest fads, gives a party in honor of Professor Syle, a distinguished radical who lectures her guests in "parlor Bolshevism," then takes them to Greenwich Village to meet his comrades. Emily attends the gathering, as does Aunt Carmen, who later invites the Bohemians to her home. There, overindulging in vodka, they become wild and disorderly. Oliver arrives just in time, and, with the servants' help, gets the guests under control. Eventually Emily marries Oliver, and society girl Vera Ballymore marries Professor Syle, launching him into a successful career as a lecturer in polite circles.

Dir: Hugo Ballin

Tsing Yu-Ch'ing, a young Chinese, is sent to the U.S. from his native land to study Western civilization and carry on work for his government. After attending an American university, Tsing starts a Chinese newspaper in New York City, and falls in love with a pretty blind girl, Kathleen Levinsky, the daughter of a Jewish father and an Irish mother. Kathleen's life is barren of love and she gladly accepts his attentions. When Dr. Hardwick, a classmate from college, calls on Tsing and meets Kathleen, he offers to cure her blindness through surgery. The operation is a success, but the newly-sighted Kathleen is visibly upset by Tsing's appearance. After saving Kathleen from a killer known as the Hatchetman, Tsing returns to China and commits suicide, believing he will find eternal love with her in the afterlife. Back in the U.S., a mutual attraction develops between Kathleen and Dr. Hardwick.

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

Dir: Hugo Ballin

Model Jacqueline Lee meets Barker Garrison, a wealthy bachelor. Scheming to give her a life of luxury, he invents an old lady who leaves her fortune to Jacqueline. At a party given by Jacqueline, Garrison's intoxicated friend Rupert Lewis--who knows of the scheme--confesses his love for Jacqueline; rejected, he proposes a toast to "the old lady in Rio de Janeiro ... Barker Garrison"; and discovering the truth, Jacqueline disappears. Meanwhile, Garrison travels over Europe in search of her, and later, in New York, while motoring, he sees a girl fall beneath the wheels of a car and finds her to be Jacqueline. When she recovers, he learns that she has become a famous actress under an assumed name. Perceiving that he loves her, she promises never to leave him.

Dir: Hugo Ballin

Adventuress Becky Sharp lives by her wits and charm in an effort to ascend from humble backgrounds into society. She fails to lure Joseph Sedley, the brother of her chum Amelia, into marriage but succeeds with Rawdon Crawley, the son of her employer. However, his family's displeasure keeps Becky from living in wealth, as she had hoped to do. Ever the flirt, Becky has affairs with George Osborne soon after he marries Amelia and with Lord Steyne while Rawdon is away at war with Napoleon. Her adventures come to an end, however; neither Rawdon nor Steyne will have her, and Becky is reduced to touring the Continent under an assumed name. Her lesson learned, Becky brings together Amelia and her faithful suitor, Captain Dobbin, after George is killed in battle; and finally she returns to London to live a quiet life.