The Cult Collection Comparable to the Style of The Coming of the Law: Cult Guide

Dir: Arthur Rosson

Millionaire spendthrift Sam Morgan marries Constance Winwood, who tries to break Sam's spending habits by convincing Downer, the trustee of Sam's inheritance, to pretend to abscond with Sam's money. During their honeymoon, Sam spends his $10.30 pocket money, then discovers that his checks are bouncing. Unable to pay an increasingly-large taxi fare, Sam and Constance keep the cab and its sleepy driver engaged after they are thrown out of a hotel. After a friendly thief gets Sam a job in a herring refinery, Sam uses his rudimentary knowledge of Spanish to buy a shipload of herring from a South American dealer and sell it to the refinery's directors, who know no Spanish, thus making enough profit to pay his now-exorbitant taxi bill. Constance confesses her scheme, and although it seems that Downer really has absconded, he finally returns. Wealthy again, Sam and Constance adorn their bedroom with taxi meters and headlights.

Dir: Arthur Rosson

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Garrison's Finish perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Jockey Billy Garrison is framed and suspended for throwing a race. Depressed, he goes to a bar and eventually gets into a fight. He loses his memory and is taken to the home of pretty young Sue Desha, who gets him a job as a jockey for her father, Col. Desha. Unfortunately, the man who framed Billy, named Crimmins, finds out he's working for Sue's father and reveals Billy's past to the Colonel. Complications ensue.

Dir: Arthur Rosson

Trix Ulner, who deals stud poker at Frank's small-town gambling resort, rescues Bernice Arnold from drowning, and her subsequent acquaintance with him causes scandal and annoys her sweetheart, Johnny Fletcher. When her brother, Jimmy, steals money from his father and loses it in a game with Trix and Frank, Bernice attempts to convince her father that he has mislaid the money and begs Frank for its return, but nevertheless the father tries to have Jimmy arrested. Bernice hides him in the home of Vida Brown, and when it burns they all find shelter in the Arnold house. Bert, Jimmy, and Trix rob Frank's house to retrieve the money, and in the process Frank shoots and kills Jimmy. When Trix threatens him, Frank swears that the boy died while trying to capture some burglars. Bernice weds Fletcher.

Dir: Arthur Rosson

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

Overcoming his addiction to drink, John Fairmeadow leaves the Bowery for a western logging camp posing as a minister. His fistic ability and his gentle manner reform the town drinkers and put the saloon out of business. Meanwhile, John also protects pretty orphan Pattie Batch from the attentions of Jack Flack; Flack is killed by saloon keeper Pale Peter after the body of his wife, Clare, who was betrayed by Flack, is discovered in the river; and John is united to Pattie.

Dir: Arthur Rosson

Dreamer dairyman Phineas Dobbs of Cow Hollow suddenly acquires a fortune when oil is discovered on his ranch, and celebrates by throwing a party for the whole town. One day a young woman comes to town, delayed by train trouble. Dobbs rescues her from the town bully, and agrees to follow her to San Francisco. The woman is actually a princess who is being forced into a marriage with a man who wants to share her throne. Dobbs rides by Market Street to the St. Francis Hotel in his Western garb, and performs daring stunts to rescue the princess in distress. Together they free the princess' father. Dobbs then returns to Cow Hollow, and the princess gives up her throne to become Mrs. Phineas Dobbs.

Dir: Arthur Rosson

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of The Measure of a Man perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

The story presents a series of gags and fast-action incidents based on a plot which is concerned with the romance of a girl who works in a laundry and a wealthy chap. The girl's parents believe her the prize which will win affluence for them and, deceived by the villain, who hires expensive clothes and poses as a rich man, they try to marry her off to him. But Betty loves the other boy - the one who saved her life and who is engaged to a society girl he doesn't love. With the help of circumstance and a lot of determination on the part of the two lovers, Betty and Jack realize their ambition to become husband and wife.

Dir: Arthur Rosson

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Arthur Rosson

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Rough-Riding Romance perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Young Lenore Vance, loses her memory after witnessing the death of her father. She commits a series of robberies due to being brainwashed by her eccentric chemist uncle. She later becomes the person of interest in the murder of her father, being labeled by the authorities as "The Satin Girl". When Dr. Richard Taunton meets Lenore at a party thrown by Millie Brown-Potter, he becomes infatuated with her. After discovering that Lenore has taken pieces of jewelry from himself and Mrs. Potter, he uses a piece of evidence left behind to investigate the crimes himself, and makes the discovery that he Uncle is the one who killed her father. The police are notified, but they discover that he has committed suicide upon arriving at his house. It is later revealed to the audience that the entire story is in a book that Lenore is reading.

Dir: Arthur Rosson

John Carleton, a wild eastern youth, is sent west by his father in an effort to make a man of him. The cowhands at first mock John because of his foppish golf suit, but when he rides a mean bucking bronco he wins their friendship and respect. John falls in love with Beryl King, the daughter of a longtime enemy of his father, and is strictly forbidden to visit her. John defies this prohibition and rides to the King ranch, fighting off a number of unkindly disposed ranch hands; he later dances with Beryl at a village party and persuades her to run away with him and be married. On the way to the wedding, John stops at the King spread long enough to invite Beryl's irate father to see his daughter married. Carleton, Senior, turns up later, and the old enemies are finally reconciled.

Dir: Arthur Rosson

When District Attorney Johnson is seemingly unable to defeat a gang of drug smugglers, his assistant, Richard Jones, sets out on his own to investigate the lawbreakers. Richard soon learns that Bob Madison, the brother of the girl he loves, is a drug addict under the control of the gang. Bob joins the investigation, which leads them to an opium den in Chinatown owned by Mr. Greer, who is a rival for Bob's sister, Constance. Richard rescues her from one of Greer's drug dens, then discovers that the district attorney is taking bribes from the narcotics ring. As a reward for his outstanding work, Richard is appointed the new district attorney.