Hand-Picked Alternatives for Fans of The Duchess of Doubt: Cult Guide

Dir: George D. Baker

The disgrace and suicide of her father drives Eleanore Marston from her comfortable existence into a life as a department store clerk in New York. There she meets wealthy Powers Fiske, who offers her a life of luxury if she will consent to an operation on her brain which would deprive her of her memory. Eleanore agrees, and after the operation, Fiske is horrified to learn he has robbed her of her individuality and that she has become cruel, selfish and remorseless. Dr. Trow, a friend of Fiske, hypnotizes Eleanore to learn of her previous incarnations. Eleanore first remembers herself as a heartless Viking woman, then progresses to a Borgian princess, ending as a woman persecuted as a witch in Salem. Continuing to exercise his power over her, Trow draws Eleanore to the edge of a cliff. They are followed by Henry Johnson, one of Eleanore's compatriots from the department store, who traced the girl to Fiske's house. At Eleanore's plea for help, Johnson leaps upon Trow and the two plunge to their death over the cliff. Fiske arrives just in time to lead Eleanore back to the house. He appeals to a great scientist who restores her memory by means of a second operation, and Eleanore then becomes Fiske's bride.

Dir: George D. Baker

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

Jim Lassells travels to Africa to obtain proof that his cousin Harold Brooks is dead as rumored, and learns that an Algerian sultan killed the rich American. Since it is assumed that Brooks was childless, Jim inherits his cousin's fortune. At a slave market he buys a young girl named Perdita and sends her to a convent in Corsica to be educated. Years later, Jim meets Perdita again while traveling through Corsica with the impecunious Duchess of Westgate and her daughter, Lady Lilah Grey. When the party stops at an inn, Jim discovers that Perdita is not only a Persian princess, but also the long-lost daughter of Brooks, and therefore the rightful heir to Brooks' fortune. Perdita, who has fallen in love with Jim, engages the romantic Count Theodore de Seramo to abduct the duchess and her daughter, and later the count and Lady Lilah become engaged. Jim offers to turn over his wealth to Perdita, but she declares her love for him and they wed.

Dir: George D. Baker

Joline, a "Daughter of Joy," becomes enamored of Paul Granville, a poor artist, and as his model enables him to win fame in a series of startling canvases. A wealthy patron of art commissions Paul to paint "The Madonna of the Rose Bush," and he feels that a new model is needed, but the jealous Joline drives them away, and they start for the monastery, where the miracle of the rose bush is supposed to have occurred. There a monk declares that in Joline he has seen the Virgin, and some chord in her better nature is touched. She leaves Paul, but is reunited when she, a Red Cross nurse, finds him wounded upon the battlefield.

Dir: George D. Baker

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

A gypsy girl whose mother committed suicide after being seduced and abandoned by a rich man finds herself twenty years later being wooed by the same man.

Dir: George D. Baker

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: George D. Baker

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

An imperious Egyptian princess awakens from a 3000-year trance and wreaks comic havoc in the modern world, but it all turns out to be the dream of a young man, inspired by a mummy left in his care overnight.

Dir: George D. Baker

Acting on his belief that most people become sentimental at Christmas time and are therefore easy prey, New York confidence man "Silk" Wilkins ingratiates himself with millionaire Lawrence Gray, whose wife and little daughter Zelda were lost in a flood eighteen years earlier. After promising to find Gray's daughter, Silk returns to his boardinghouse, where he finds Alice Sheldon attempting to escape her desperate financial straits through suicide. Silk convinces Alice to pose as Zelda Gray and then notifies Lawrence via a note placed in an almond shell that he has found the lost daughter. Lawrence treats Alice so kindly that when Silk demands payment from her on Christmas morning, she refuses. Lawrence, who has overheard the conversation, enters and laughingly reveals that he had known of the frame-up all along. Grateful to Silk for finding him a wife, Lawrence writes the confidence man a large check.

Dir: George D. Baker

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

A grandmother has an adventure for the first time in her life when she decides to have a night out.

Dir: George D. Baker

Young attorney John Norton is in love with Broadway star Mona Mainard. Mona's young brother Tommy has served a term in Sing Sing. When he is released, he comes at once to his sister and tells her he is going away to begin life anew. She urges him to remain, but he refuses, and she gives him money for his railroad fare. He knows of her love for Norton, who has now been made assistant district attorney, in recognition of his ability, and does not want to stand in her way. Mona leaves the stage and marries Norton. Boss politician Ryan is in love with adventuress Pearl Le Claire. He has installed her in a handsome apartment in the Arcadia, the leading hotel, where he guards her jealously. Norton wins case after case. Mona realizes that less-clever lawyers are no match for him, and knows that based on circumstantial evidence, he secures many convictions of innocent persons. District attorney Daniels becomes ill and Norton succeeds to his position. He convicts on circumstantial evidence an old man who obviously could not have committed the crime and is not guilty. As sentence is pronounced, the old man dies on the witness stand. Mona, in the gallery, is amazed at the injustice of it, and writes to a newspaper a scathing denunciation of the case under an assumed name. The breach widens between husband and wife. Mona pleads with Norton to change his tactics, but he knows that his record has made him a favorite with the public, and that he is in line for the governorship of the state. Tommy has secured work as bell-boy in the Arcadia Hotel. In a jealous rage Ryan kills Pearl Le Claire, but the evidence points directly to Tommy. The boy gives the name of John Smith, not wishing to bring disgrace upon his sister, and is taken to the Tombs. Mona sees his picture in the newspaper. She rushes to him. He insists that he did not commit the murder, and convinces her of his innocence. She goes to her husband and begs him to give up this case, but he tells her that Ryan will make him governor of the state if he wins it. She confesses that Tommy is her brother, but even that does not influence him. Norton has a laboratory adjacent to his library. where he experiments with poisons and chemicals in preparing for his cases. Among his bottles is one containing a harmless sedative. Mona changes the labels on some of the bottles. That night, while her husband is working with his stenographer in the library, Mona feigns hysteria. Norton rushes to the laboratory, snatches up the bottle which he supposes contains the sedative, and gives her some of the contents. Mona now simulates an agony of pain. Servants and policemen rush in, and she accuses her husband of having poisoned her. He swears that he did not, but all the evidence is against him. Circumstantial evidence proves that he has attempted to kill her. He begs her to forgive his hard-heartedness; he promises to do anything in the world for her if she will only live. Obtaining his promise not to prosecute her brother, Mona sits up, smiles, and makes him admit that circumstantial evidence may be wrong; also, that she is the best little actress in the world. Tommy is released, and as Ryan confesses, the real culprit is brought to justice without the aid of circumstantial evidence.

Dir: George D. Baker

Overcome with guilt after having an affair with her best friend's husband, Clorinda hopes to escape her past by moving to Europe, where she meets Malcolm, a decent man who falls in love with her. Unable to accept his love, she returns to America and confides her sin to Rev. Bainbridge. Malcolm has followed her, but when she discloses her past, he turns his back. Rev. Bainbridge proposes and before the marriage takes place, Malcolm returns, begging Clorinda's forgiveness. Preferring the worldly man over the minister, Clorinda marries Malcolm and they begin their new life together in France.