Underground Favorites Mirroring the Impact of The Big Show: Cult Guide

Dir: William Campbell

Two schoolmates, a boy and a girl, experience a variety of adventures with a dog, a horse, a monkey, and various other animals.

Dir: William Campbell

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

A young man asks his boss for a dollar which he needs to buy medicine for his sick mother. The old lady is nursed by the clever monkey, who sizes up the situation and steals a dollar from the pocket of the cashier. Then the bank is robbed and the boss is locked in the vault. The children, however, save the money and help rescue the boss who has now changed his mind about the man and shows his gratitude by giving him a penny reward.

Dir: William Campbell

Jackie and Tom are assistants in a nursery. Their job is to take care of the babies which tired mothers leave there while doing their shopping. Their duties are numerous, for the nursery is equipped with cubby-holes in which each baby is stored and a machine which bathes and dresses the infants. -The Mayor lives next door to the nursery and the noise and the tricks which Jack and Tom play on him annoys him so that he decides to spend the rest of the summer at Restwell Springs. Hardly has he become settled there before the nursery forces, accompanied by a few of the babies, arrive on the scene. Jack and Tom don't lose any time in starting mischief. Finally the Mayor in desperation calls the council together and proposes an ordinance prohibiting babies being born under twenty years of age. Their deliberations are interrupted by the kids, who have succeeded In substituting a hornet's nest for a roast and the hornets successfully break up the meeting. The Mayor chases the kids into the woods. Determined on revenge they procure a bear skin and attempt to frighten the Mayor who sees through the trick and lays for them with his cane. But a real bear emerges from the woods and chases the Mayor back to the hotel. The sick guests of the sanitarium suddenly regain their health and discard wheelchairs and crutches in a wild scramble for safety. The bear follows and soon clears out the hotel. Jackie and Tom are enjoying the fun hugely when the bear catches sight of them. They climb into their daschund-o-mobile but the dog refuses to pull until he sees the bear headed for them and then he dashes off down the road at express-train speed.

Dir: William Campbell

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

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: William Campbell

A young girl, with the aid of a sagacious monk, saves a baby heiress from the evil designs of two villainous kidnappers, and smuggles the infant to New York aboard a freight train, to secure the fortune.

Dir: William Campbell

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of You'll Be S'prised perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

An uncle is cheated out of a heritage by his baby nephew. He and his conspirators plot to finish off the interloper.

Dir: William Campbell

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: William Campbell

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of A Tray Full of Trouble perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

A rare film from C.L. Chester Productions. The wealthy and now-dead Mr. P. Nutt, in revenge upon his, bequeaths estate to his lovely niece-on the condition she marry a genius whom the world calls crazy. The search is on for a crazy genius.

Dir: William Campbell

The town of Beer Bottle Bend is so tough that the babies chew tobacco. It is run in a high, wide, and handsome manner by the owner of Riley's Saloon. There is a little church in the town that was built in haste many years ago when there happened to be a lull in the festivities; it has been securely boarded up for years. Mr. Riley intended that it should remain so for his Sunday business was booming. A traveling evangelist who learned his profession as a circus performer arrives in the town with Charles Bullephant, a peevish elephant; Joe Martin, a highly-cultured orang-outang; and Buster, a famous trained horse. With help from his friends he sets out to make Beer Bottle Bend a church-going community. Riley realizes that he has strong competition and tries to upset the sky pilot's plans by having his favorite dancing girl vamp him. The preacher, who is somewhat of an athlete, takes the toughest of the bar-beetles down the line for a sound thrashing and begins work with his animals. Charley Bullephant stampedes them into the church. Joe Martin dashes around and drags in delinquents. Buster hauls off and flattens out the unruly with his last two feet. Within a fortnight Beer Bottle Bend enjoys a change of heart. On Sunday morning the little church is filled to the brim. The minister hands out large slices of the gospel, the animals stand by for more service, and right again triumphs over might.

Dir: William Campbell

Snooky lives with a family and when one of the children is carried off by an escaped bunch of balloons Snooky goes about rescuing the baby from multiple dangerous situations.