The Auteur's Selection In the Shadow of The Cat Creeps: Cult Guide

Dir: Rupert Julian

Police headquarters has been plagued by a series of robberies, culminating in the theft of a priceless necklace smuggled from Europe. The detectives are on the track of a gang led by master thief Ramon Mordant and his accomplice known as "the Face" because of his twisted and hideous countenance. Among the detectives on the case is undercover agent Clara Hawthorne, masquerading as a mysterious, glamorous woman. The Face and Clara play a cat and mouse game until, while they are both in pursuit of Mordant, the Face secures the necklace and turns it over to Clara, at the same time revealing himself to be Prentice Tiller, chief of the Secret Service.

Dir: Rupert Julian

Anthony Eckhart, a student of Oriental music, meets Crocker in a Geisha house where he extricates the intoxicated man from the results of an attack upon a waiter. Crocker explains that his wife has left him and there is only drink left. Anthony discovers a woman with marvelous voice at the hotel and falls in love with her before he finds that she is Crocker's wife. He confesses to Crocker and offers to leave if Crocker will leave her alone. Crocker promises an answer, but comes to kill his wife. Anthony prevents him and at last Crocker proves a man.

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

Dir: Rupert Julian

Two families had been neighbors in the South for years; Maud, her brother Howard, and Cecil Lane were playmates. One day as they were playing on the lawn the fathers of Maud and Cecil betroth their children in a bumper of wine. Shortly thereafter Cecil's father loses his fortune through poor speculation and commits suicide. Maud is sent away to school. Cecil begins a musical education, remaining at home and growing up to be the village music teacher. Years later Maud returns home, and soon her brother Howard arrives with a foppish friend, Lord Lovelace, who straightaway lays siege to Maud's heart. Maud and Cecil meet at the village shrine and renew their childhood love. Against her will Maud consents to a betrothal with Lord Lovelace. On the night of the betrothal party Maud and Cecil plan to elope, but their arrangements are discovered and thwarted, a duel between Cecil and Howard developing with in the hour. Maud hears the shots fired, and beholding her brother slightly wounded sends Cecil away in anger. He leaves the village under the impression that Howard will die. Cecil goes far away, and in a great city his musical talents are recognized. Maud, meanwhile, in contrition, would have Cecil return to her, but he keeps his mother poorly informed and Maud is unable to get word to him. When Cecil composes the song, "Come Into the Garden, Maud," his fame is assured. At this time war breaks out and Cecil, Lord Lovelace and Howard become soldiers, eventually meeting on the battlefield. Lord Lovelace knows of Cecil's song and his great fame as its composer, and at the moment he is about to die of his wounds, Lord Lovelace sends word to Cecil, that Maud is waiting for Cecil in the garden. Believing that Cecil has been killed in battle at the same time her brother Howard and Lord Lovelace die of their wounds, Maud decides to dedicate her life to religion and enters a convent. When Cecil ultimately comes home he is too late to reach Maud with any communication. He spends the rest of his life in sorrow going every day to the convent walls and playing his famous song that Maud might hear and know that he thus awaits the final end, faithful to his childhood sweetheart.

Dir: Rupert Julian

A heartwarming retelling of Charles Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol' where Ebeneezer Scrooge is visited by three spirits in an attempt to save his soul.

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

Dir: Rupert Julian

In a little town in France live orphan siblings Gabrielle and Anatole Picard. Gabrielle has been a mother to her brother since their own mother died and they are devoted to each other. Their friend is Pierre Dupont, who is in love with Gabrielle. When the call comes to fight for France, the two men join the colors. Gabrielle promises Pierre that if he will watch out for her brother that she will marry him upon his return. In the field, Anatole becomes the bugler of the regiment and during one of the skirmishes he and Pierre become separated from the main division of the army and with them, Peppy, the drummer boy, who dies. So it is that the report comes to the village that the two men are dead. Later the invading army reaches the village. They enter the cottage of Gabrielle and order her to serve them with drinks, which she does, but when they order her to drink a toast against France, she throws the liquor in the officers' face. Years elapse and Anatole and Pierre return to the village. No one knows of Gabrielle's whereabouts, as she was last seen when the invading army entered the village. Their search is fruitless. At last they settled down in the rebuilt cottage. But never does Pierre lose an opportunity to recount the valor of Anatole when the commander of the foe ordered him to give the bugle call for retreat with the promise that he would be spared and instead Anatole had given the call to charge. Thus the enemy was routed. Dissard, an officer of the French government, is at the head of a committee to bestow honors upon those who have done brave deeds. It so happens that the reception which he has planned for a certain officer will have to be abandoned, owing to the hero's death, unless Dissard can find some other one to take his place. The records are searched and it is decided to decorate Anatole Picard. Accordingly he is sent for. Pierre and Anatole decide to march to Paris in spite of the protest of the villagers, but just as they are at the gates of Paris, Anatole becomes so weak that he cannot go further and dies in a peasant's cabin. Pierre goes on alone and receives the decoration from the President and makes a speech which wins the hearts of his audience. He tells them of Gabrielle and the part she had had in making a hero of Anatole, spectators thinking that Pierre is Anatole. Much to his surprise, Gabrielle, now an old woman, enters the banquet room and the two are united. On their way back to the village, she asks where her brother is and Pierre promises to take her to him. They go to the little peasant cabin where Pierre left Anatole and shrouded in the flag of France. Then Pierre decorates the body with the cross which he received for Anatole, as he never intended keeping the honor for himself.

Dir: Rupert Julian

In the act of robbing a set of rare jewels from a museum, a robber is wounded in the hand. Prentice Tiller, while dressing a wound in his hand, overhears the woman in the next hotel room, Gertrude Temple, telephoning Aaron Molitor, to whom she is to deliver some jewels. Posing as Molitor, Prentice calls on Gertrude but disappears when Molitor, who also has been wounded in the hand, suddenly arrives. Molitor's men capture Prentice, who narrowly escapes death in the ruins of an old church and then continues to track Molitor. Gertrude accompanies Molitor and her uncle, Simon Temple, to Paris, where they are met by master crook Chevat and the woman who loves him, Lola Montez. Lola becomes jealous of Gertrude and tries to kill her, but Prentice rescues her. Through a ruse, Prentice, who finally is revealed as a detective, captures Chevat and his gang, returns the jewels to their rightful owner and then proposes to Gertrude.

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of The Right to Be Happy perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Dir: Rupert Julian

Italian potter Tony Varralo adopts a waif named Little Tony, and they leave New York City for a ranch out West, with the promises that Tony will send for his fiancée, Carlotta, after he has established himself. Once settled in the Western town, Tony manages to make an enemy of Durant, the town's chief gambler, by refusing to drink whiskey and by freely admiring dance-hall queen Kate Billings, who Durant has claimed for himself. A year later, Tony is well-adapted to life as a cowboy. While he is away from home one day, Durant shoots at a shadow in the window that he believes to be Tony. However, the bullet strikes Little Tony, who is stunned with a mild injury. Tony gets his revenge on Durant and inadvertently wins the love of Kate. After Tony learns that Carlotta has married one of his rivals, he and Kate are free to marry.

Dir: Rupert Julian

Ex-convict Dale Revenal arrives at Dudley Appleton's ranch bearing a letter of introduction from John Silver, Appleton's old friend. Appleton hires Dale, who, through his winning manner, soon wins the respect of the ranch hands and the love of the ranch owner's daughter Mary Jane. Believing himself unworthy of her, Dale tells Mary Jane that he has a wife and child in Arizona, and she reluctantly agrees to marry Jack Nelda, a local rancher. Nelda realizes that Mary Jane is still in love with Dale and plots with Bessie Dupont and her brother Pinto to kill him. Bessie, however, warns Dale, but when he confronts Nelda at the saloon, Pinto shoots him, wounding him in the shoulder. John Silver comes to Dale's aid and Nelda is killed. Silver reveals that Dale's "wife" in Arizona is really his sister, and Dale finally accepts Mary Jane's love.

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

Dir: Rupert Julian

Mrs. Standing, an old-fashioned country mother, sacrifices to put her son John through college so he can have a better life. Upon completing school John goes to the city, where his financial success blinds him to the basic values his mother taught him. During an important social event one evening, Mrs. Standing comes to her son's house carrying wicker basket full of homemade jams. Ashamed, John tells his wealthy fiancée, Catherine Thurston, that the old lady was his childhood nurse. Mrs. Standing overhears her son's deception and goes home devastated. John, remorseful, follows with the firm resolution to devote future years to the care of his mother. Learning the truth, Catherine, accompanied by her own mother, visits the Standings' country home and all is forgiven.

Dir: Rupert Julian

After the death of her father, a young girl goes to live with her uncle in Kentucky. She immediately comes into conflict with her uncle's shrewish wife.