Hidden Genre Gems for Fans of That Devil, Bateese: Cult Guide

Dir: William Wolbert

Kate Saxon inherits the Blue Goose mine in Colorado, and arrives as rioting miners battle a sheriff's posse. Once the disturbance has been quelled, Kate improves wages and working conditions. With the encouragement of old "Bells", the mining engineer, a friendship quickly develops between Sheriff Tom Baxter, a wealthy cattleman, and Kate. Consequently, when women suffragists urge Kate to run for sheriff, she is initially reluctant to oppose Tom, but finally accepts and wins the election. Tom decides to test Kate's mettle by leading her to believe that he bribed voters. His arrest convinces him that Kate is serious about her new job, and he admits that the story was false. Although Kate frees Tom, she does not forgive the lie. As she rides away, Tom follows her and they are caught in a cattle stampede after labor agitator Tremble dynamites the reservoir. They race for their lives, and when all danger has passed, Tom professes his love for Kate. She spurns him until old Bells finally brings about a reconciliation.

Dir: William Wolbert

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of When Men Are Tempted perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

College friends John Burt and Arthur Morris are rivals for the hand of Jessie Garden. They come to blows over Jessie, and John, believing that he has killed Arthur in the fight, goes West to search for the location of a mine belonging to his grandfather. John finds the mine and returns home a millionaire, but discovers that Jessie is planning upon sacrificing herself to Arthur in order to retrieve the fortune her father lost as a result of Arthur's stock manipulations. John puts his own fortune at Garden's disposal and succeeds in breaking Arthur. In anger and hatred, Arthur attempts to kill John but fails and commits suicide instead. With the menace of Arthur removed, John and Jessie marry and face a happy life together.

Dir: William Wolbert

Geoffrey Hampden, a Texas oil millionaire living in New York, seeks revenge against Philip Armond, the man who caused his sister to commit suicide. His attempt on Philip's life is unsuccessful, but he is sent to prison for five years, after which he returns to Texas using the name George Hammond. He moves into a cabin with his business partner, Dick Stewart, whose sister Cynthia is abducted by business rivals. In a rescue attempt, Dick is mortally wounded, and on his deathbed he asks George to protect Cynthia. Although she agrees to marry George, Cynthia does not love him, and immediately after the ceremony, she moves to New York to break into society with her husband's money. There she becomes engaged to Philip Armond, and the two return to Texas to ask for a divorce. Philip has heart failure when he recognizes George, and Cynthia, learning the truth about her lover's past, returns to her husband to start a new life.

Dir: William Wolbert

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

U.S. Navy Lieutenant George Blenton becomes drunk at an official reception, and his fiancee, Jane Ravenslee, the captain's daughter, breaks their engagement. After war is declared, George, entrusted with a secret code book to deliver to an English admiral, drinks and loses the book which German spies recover. During a private court-martial he is offered a pistol for suicide. After drinking again, he fires a shot, but still lives. Put ashore on the island of Tafofu "to rot," George, hating the U.S., moves in with Lehua, a half-white who tries to wean him from drink. Jane, still in love, attempts to find George, but her ship is torpedoed and captured by a German submarine. After the sub arrives at Tafofu to sink George's ship, the U.S.S. Victory , Lehua unsuccessfully tries to warn them. George, who has befriended the German captain, sees the Victory 's flag, and signals danger. The Victory sinks the sub, and George, while fighting the captain, is shot. After Jane finds his body, he is honored posthumously on the victory.

Dir: William Wolbert

Bertha Gilman, helping her mother run a small hotel, is courted by Marshall Haney, gambler and saloonkeeper. She promises to marry him if he will give up his gambling habit and live on the income of $100,000 which he receives yearly from the mines he honestly acquired. A miner who has been fleeced of his money in the gaming hall after Haney sells out shoots Haney. Bertha and Haney are married, and she nurses him back to health, though he remains badly crippled. They move to Colorado Springs, and buy a magnificent home. Later Bertha meets Ben Fordyce, an honorable young man, engaged to Alice Heath, a consumptive. Haney and his wife go east at the same time that Ben takes his affianced wife back. The four travel on the same train, and during the trip Ben and Bertha become more attached to each other. Both, however, remain loyal to their trusting ones. In the east Bertha's longing for Ben becomes almost unbearable. Her husband, noting her morose condition and being apprised of the cause of it by Alice just before she dies, suggests to his wife that they return to their home in Colorado Springs. So that he might bring happiness to the two young lovers, Haney whose heart is weak, deliberately climbs a mountain. As he reaches the top he dies, and Bertha and Ben realize as they gaze upon the body of Haney what a great sacrifice he has made that their lives might become one.

Dir: William Wolbert

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

Ed Wetherford becomes an outlaw and, to escape imprisonment, abandons his wife Eliza and daughter Virginia. After attending college in the East, Virginia returns to California, where she meets and falls in love with Ross Cavanaugh, a United States ranger. Ross is busy trying to maintain peace between warring cattlemen and sheepherders and, in the line of duty, meets Virginia's father. The two men become friends and Virginia, who had been reluctant to accept Ross's proposal because of her father's misdeeds, finally marries Ross.

Dir: William Wolbert

Wanda Carson travels to Reno, Nevada to visit her brother Sam, but finds that he went to the hills to work. Curious about the lively divorce colony, Wanda, who has never had a romance, impersonates a divorcée, exhibits her companion's baby as her own, and becomes the colony's favorite. Visiting Reverend Jerry Ferguson from Boston, who fights against divorce, rescues Wanda when her horse runs away. In the hills, under their assumed names of "Prince Cactus Pete" and "The Sagebrush Queen," they pursue a romance. While in town, Wanda challenges Jerry's views in the newspaper without either realizing the other's identity. When Wanda falls in love and withdraws from the divorce colony, an angry member tells Jerry that Wanda has a child. Wanda witnesses a holdup and thinks that Jerry is the bandit. She goes to warn Jerry of the sheriff's posse, and they both ride off with Jerry thinking that Wanda's irate husband is pursuing. After the sheriff catches them and reveals Jerry's identity, Sam, riding with the posse, reveals Wanda's. The now-exposed couple, plans their future together.

Dir: William Wolbert

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

James Fitzgerald, an antiquarian, receives a letter from England that he has fallen heir to the title and fortune of his deceased brother. He leaves his Armenian wife and daughter in the care of Abu, a servant. An uprising among the Turks ensues and Mrs. Fitzgerald and the child are taken captive. Returning, Fitzgerald, with Abu, the servant, goes in pursuit. The only thing remaining of his home and wife is a small prayer book. Fitzgerald goes to Mecca to avoid capture, and hides the prayer book in a recess in the wall. Several years pass. Jack Stanton hears Lord Fitzgerald exclaim that it is impossible for any white man to emulate the feat that he did years ago. Stanton claims that if an Englishman could enter Mecca, an American could to it too. A bet is made whereby Stanton is to go to Mecca and, unaided, bring back the prayer book hidden by Fitzgerald. Stanton arrives at Mecca, disguised as a pilgrim. His father was the American Consul at Damascus in Stanton's youth, and his knowledge of Arabic is good. He finds the prayer book, but an Arab named Sadi steals it during the night. Stanton follows Sadi to Damascus. In Damascus Fitzgerald's daughter is living in the care of a presumed stepmother named "Light of Life," who contracts with Amad, a rich diamond merchant, to deliver Faimeh, as she is called, to him as his wife. The marriage takes place in spite of Faimeh's protestations. Amad utters the triple Moslem sentence of divorce, and she is again free. Amad is still desirous of having her, but under the Koranic law, cannot remarry her until she has been married to another man and divorced by him. With El Sabbagh he goes to find a man. They find Stanton, and he is inveigled to do as they ask. Through the lattice work Stanton and Faimeh are married, but Stanton gets a glimpse of her face and refuses to pronounce the triple divorce. A fight ensues and Stanton finds himself with his wife in a walled garden. They make their escape into the desert. There Stanton disguises Faimeh as a boy and himself as a Jewish story teller. Amad and El Sabbagh in pursuit, with Sadi, who has the prayer book in his possession, overtakes them but do not recognize them. A suspicion enters Sadi's mind and he returns and spies on them. Stanton discovers him and a fight ensues in which Sadi is knocked unconscious and Stanton recovers the prayer book. Stanton and Faimeh leave on Sadi's camel and meet Fitzgerald, who is on his way to Damascus. Fitzgerald takes Faimeh with him, but Stanton goes on alone, as the agreement in the wager is that he shall not accept assistance from any Christian. Amad and El Sabbagh find Sadi, who tells them about Stanton and the girl. They start in pursuit, and during a sandstorm Amad is separated from his companions. Stanton has taken refuge behind his camel and Amad stumbles upon him and crawls under the same blanket that is protecting Stanton. The storm abates. Amad tries to kill Stanton, who finally gets the upper hand, and when he has Amad in his power his pity for the older man grows and he finally compels him to get on his camel, divides the water and tells him to be on his way before he changes his mind. In Damascus, Fitzgerald, through the jewels Faimeh wears, discovers that she is his daughter. Faimeh and Fitzgerald search for Stanton and meet Amad, who tells them about his self-sacrifice. Days later a sun-blistered man, almost out of his mind, staggers into Fitzgerald's apartment. There he sees Fitzgerald and Faimeh in an attitude of endearment and taking a mistaken idea from it, utters the triple divorce and then falls in a faint. Faimeh nurses him through a long siege of brain fever, and on his recovery explains to him the reason for the occurrence that he has witnessed. After a time, back on Broadway, Fitzgerald settles his wager and a Christian marriage is performed.

Dir: William Wolbert

After a tour of duty in the Philippines, Major Harvey, an army surgeon, returns to his home in Montana to discover his wife Lorna has begun an affair with Lieutenant Horne, whom she marries after Harvey divorces her. Weary of his former wife's high society sophistication, Harvey falls in love with Jeanne MacDonald, a young woman from the mountains, and, giving her a job as an army nurse, returns with her to the Philippines. Meanwhile, Horne has also been stationed there, and brings Lorna with him. The Philippine rebels attack the Americans, and the two couples find themselves under siege together. During the fighting, Lorna, tired of Horne, begins flirting with her ex-husband. After the rebels have been defeated, however, Harvey rejects Lorna and marries Jeanne.

Dir: William Wolbert

Tom Evans, the fearless range boss of the Double X Ranch, falls in love with a romantic schoolteacher from the East named Clara. They marry and for a time are happy, but in Tom's absence, his partner Blackie persuades the restless young wife to run away with him. Blackie soon deserts Clara, and she is forced to earn her keep at a disreputable dance hall. After robbing a stage, Blackie returns, and Tom, who has been waiting for his former friend, goes after him. In a gun battle with Tom and his posse, Blackie kills Clara and escapes, but Tom follows him into the desert and takes his horse, leaving him to die of thirst. Tom returns to Elsie, the girl who had secretly loved him all along, and marries her.