Underground Favorites Parallel to the Artistry of The Eve of the Revolution: Cult Guide

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Wealthy but bored Phyllis Blake and several of her like-minded friends come up with a plan to relieve their boredom--they start a business called "The Adventure Shop", which will provide its customers with thrills and excitement. Their first customer is wealthy pickle manufacturer Josephus Potts, who wants to cure his son Josephus Jr. of his addiction to thrill-seeking. Phyllis takes Junior to a gambling den and then a meeting of an anarchist organization. These have no effect on him, so they take it to the next step--introducing Junior to the city's dark underworld, with its killers, blackmailers, and other criminal types. The real adventure comes when she and Junior are kidnapped and held for $50,000 ransom--an activity that was not on the itinerary.

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

A mail-order bride arrives at a Maine lumber camp but doesn't like her prospective husband.

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Eddie Gillian, a wild young New Yorker, lives well on a generous allowance given to him by Old Bryson, his crabby uncle. Eddie loves Bryson's ward, Margaret Hayden, but spends most of his time with Lotta Lauriere, a burlesque queen. After Bryson's death, Eddie is shocked to learn that he has been left only $1,000, which the will advises him to spend prudently and unselfishly. When Lotta discovers this and deserts him, Eddie gives the money to Margaret, who has inherited only $10, telling her that it is rightfully hers. Bryson's lawyer then informs Eddie that he will inherit half a million provided that he spend the $1,000 generously, and although Eddie attempts to turn that, too, over to Margaret, she agrees to share it with him as his wife.

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

"Caliph" Quigg runs a cheap restaurant by day and a seeker of adventure by night. Ed Simmons and Bill Hillman are two hard-working employees of Ogden, a prosperous harness maker. Laura, the harness-maker's daughter, is the object of both their affections. Laura has ideas of her own regarding a prospective husband but dares not communicate them to her father, fearing the harness strap. She is only a kid and should not be dreaming of husbands. Her dad is insane on the subject of riddles and when the question of which she shall choose for a husband is broached he asks the following riddle: "What kind of a hen lays the longest?" Get O. Henry's answer in the snappiest of climaxes.

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A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

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

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

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Vi Playfair confesses to her twin sister Tiny that she is planning secretly to meet Lent Trevett, who loves her, to say goodbye, on the eve of her wedding. Tiny, who herself loves Lent, meets him instead and passionately kisses him, leaving Lent, who thinks that Tiny is Vi, to assume that Vi loves him. The next day, after the marriage ceremony, Lent convinces the flighty Vi that her husband Joe is a bully and that she should leave with him. Tiny sees them embrace, and to teach Vi a lesson, she impersonates her sister and goes with Joe on their honeymoon. Vi, now jealous, follows, and in turn is followed by Lent. At the honeymoon cottage, Vi proves to Joe, by a mole on her leg, that she is his wife, and promises Tiny that she will give up flirting. After Tiny convinces Lent that it was she that he kissed, the couples are happily reunited.

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

The Judge needs a present for his wife's birthday, so Harry suggests a new corset. They go to the shop, but he's so embarrassed to ask the saleslady he hides in a phone booth.Harry goes in, but finds a GUY wearing one, and runs out.They both dress as women to get back in, but Mrs. Rummy gets there and chases him out.

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Confidence artist Flossie Golden attempts to fleece foolish but wealthy James Venable with a breach-of-promise suit. Venable's shrewd attorney, Richard Harding, outwits Flossie by proposing that she marry Venable and live on an allowance of $3,000 per year. Flossie is determined to get even with Harding for ruining her plans. In an attempt to con him, she poses as Innocence Page, but falls in love and marries him instead. Larry, Flossie's former accomplice, endeavors to blackmail her with her errant past, but Harding is already cognizant of the facts and Larry fails.

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Bruce Wendell, the son of West Virginia coal mine owner James Wendell, graduates from West Point and prepares to lead a fighting unit to the front during World War I. As his father lies dying, however, he convinces Bruce to remain at home and guard the mine. Bruce's fiancée Ann Blair assumes that he is a coward and breaks off their engagement, but her brother Bobbie remains Bruce's loyal friend. Meyer, a German agent, persuades railroad president Parrish to refuse to transport Wendell's coal, but when Bruce adamantly refuses to close the mine, the spy's men decide to blow it up. While Ann is being abducted by Meyer, Bobbie is buried in an explosion at the mine. Bruce rescues Bobbie and then sends a plea to Lieutenant Parrish to rescue Ann. Meyer and his gang are captured and Ann renews her vow of love to Bruce.