Cinematic Discoveries Resonating with the Themes of The Auction Block: Cult Guide

Dir: Laurence Trimble

A rich man pretends his injured son's marriage is illegal and makes his wife marry a drunken wastrel.

Dir: Laurence Trimble

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

Joe Holland, the superintendent of a gold mine, saves his invalid friend, Weadon Scott, from a pack of wolves. Frank Wilde, an executive engaged to Holland's daughter, Mollie, buys White Fang, a man-eating dog, from an Indian and matches him with a bulldog in a pit fight. Scott rescues the dog and tames him. After Mollie Holland marries Wilde, she discovers that he is robbing the mine. Mollie tells Scott of Wilde's perfidy, but Wilde escapes, blackjacking Scott and killing Holland. Orphaned, Mollie goes to the home of Judson Black, the owner of the mine. Wilde attempts to spirit her away and is killed by White Fang. Scott and Mollie eventually find happiness together.

Dir: Laurence Trimble

Margaret Manning, a poor waif who lost her mother early in her childhood and was deserted by her machine-politician father Jim Connelly is raised by the Finns, a poor family who sends her to work in the factory. The evils of such a life make a deep impression on Margaret, who attends night school to better herself. Assuming the leadership in a campaign to abolish child labor, she journeys to Washington, D.C., where she falls in love with Jack West, the son of a wealthy politician. Margaret's bill is backed by Senator Mathews, who decides to discredit his opponent, Jim Connelly, by investigating his past. He discovers that Margaret is Connelly's daughter, a fact that shakes Jack's faith in her. However, when Connelly finally admits that he is beaten and praises his daughter's tenacity, Jack's faith is restored, and the bill is passed to the benefit of thousands of factory workers.

Dir: Laurence Trimble

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

A crook tries to make a thief of a boss's son and ties a flower girl to the lock gates of a canal.

Dir: Laurence Trimble

Sadie Sullivan leaves Ireland to live with her married sister in New York. Troubled by her worthless brother-in-law, discouraged with her low-paying five-and-dime-store job, Sadie reads a story about a chorus girl who married a millionaire, she decides to join a musical-comedy company. Having befriended mission clergyman Reverend John Page, Sadie reads a Bible backstage and is surprised at the other girls' loose morals. Her "saintly" reputation among the others inspires press agent Jack Mills, looking for a new angle, to devise a routine built around Sadie, now billed as "The Saintly Show Girl." After millionaire Dick Carrington switches his attentions from leading lady Dollie Delmar to Sadie, their subsequent engagement arouses Dollie to attempt to tarnish Sadie's image. Dollie sends Sadie a letter, supposedly from a friend, to meet her at a roadhouse that Dollie knows will be raided, but after Reverend Page explains Sadie's presence there satisfactorily to the police and Dick, Dick marries her.

Dir: Laurence Trimble

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

A doctor cures his wife of brain fever after she stabs her film star lover.

Dir: Laurence Trimble

Dr. Laurel Carlisle marries wealthy Clinton Durand so she will have the money to finance her important experiments in bacteriology in order to find a cure for anthrax--even though she doesn't love Durand and is actually in love with her colleague Dr. Leslie. Durand turns out to be a violent brute who mistreats Laurel and her son Donald. Matters come to a head when Donald dies of pneumonia while on a trip with Durand, and Laurel blames him for it. Complications ensue.

Dir: Laurence Trimble

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

Georgina asks permission from her old aunt, Patricia Mercer Vanderpyl, to marry Capt. Nugent before his departure for France. Patricia refuses and, in reply to Georgina's questioning, gives her a diary from her own girlhood to read. The diary unfolds the story of Patricia's marriage to soldier Anthony Vanderpyl. Returning on furlough after the outbreak of the Civil War, Anthony suddenly leaves Patricia to visit Mrs. Le Roy, an old flame, and is killed by her jealous husband. Positive that Anthony had been unfaithful to her, Patricia refuses to open the letter that her husband sent her on the day of his death. Georgina now opens it and discovers that Anthony had gone to Mrs. Le Roy to end the affair that his brother Bentley was having with her. With this revelation, Patricia sanctions her niece's marriage, then dies, joining Anthony in "the spreading dawn".

Dir: Laurence Trimble

A girl farmer weds a faithless sergeant who is killed by her suitor, and realises she loves the bailiff.

Dir: Laurence Trimble

Marshall Strong and John Moore, partners in a western gold mine, both fall in love with schoolteacher Constance Harvey, but she marries Moore, even though she is attracted to the shy Strong, because Moore convinces her that Strong loves someone else. After they strike ore, Moore is killed in a barroom brawl and Strong is accused of murder. He hides out and sends for Constance, but when Lilas Niles, a squatter's daughter who wants Strong's money, deceitfully tells him that Constance is sending the police, Strong leaves, embittered, and marries Lilas. Years later, Strong, now known as Mark Smith, is a wealthy mine owner. Constance lives with her son David who loves Strong's daughter Nancy and works in Strong's mine. After Strong refuses demands for safety precautions, an explosion traps David underground. When Strong discovers that David is Constance's son, he rushes into the burning mine to save him. Strong then promises safer conditions, and David marries Nancy.