Must-Watch List in the Vein of The Family Upstairs: Cult Guide

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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 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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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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A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Blackmail 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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Pansy Pickles was the step-daughter of Peter Pickles who kept the most fashionable boarding house in Corncob Corner. He had ambitions of either sending Pansy to school or marry her off so that he could live comfortably from his son-in-law. Pa Pickles receives a letter from some attorneys stating this his step-daughter's uncle died and left a vast estate but that Pansy was not mentioned in the will. At and the same time the school teacher who taught Pansy her P's and Q's, received a letter stating that his inheritance was being shipped by express. The station agent hears of this inheritance and knows right well old Pa Pickles will favor the school teacher. He takes a bank book from one of the men, crosses out the name and puts his name on it, adding several figures too. Pansy goes off to school, but when teacher calls the roll, Pansy is not present. He sends a notice to her Pa, who searches for her, finds her sitting in a tree reading a book. He throws a stone at her and she falls right into the school room under the spanking machine. She, in turn, throws the teacher under the spanking machine and the poor fellow has matches in his pocket, that burn and blaze like fury. Pa Pickles finds the bank book with the station agent's name on it and decides that Pansy shall marry the agent. Some one put's Pa wise that it isn't his book at all, and the agent is thrown out. The wealthiest man in town is at the wedding and offers his son as a groom, the minister sets them up again and just as he's about to pronounce them man and wife, Pa discovers that the bridegroom isn't worth a cent, and he too is thrown out. Pansy is thoroughly disgusted now and changes place with another girl who has come to the wedding. This time the school teacher is pronounced bridegroom and they are married. His inheritance comes at the same time and to Pa's dismay he finds it is a pig, he is just about to murder the teacher he discovers the change in brides. Pa gets a bridegroom whom Pansy likes and they are married with a whoop and hooray.

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

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

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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 Her Unmarried Life perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

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Carver Endicott, a young sophisticate, is rejected by his fiancée for being too foppish and dull. When she feigns an interest in his father, Carver attempts to disgrace his family name by working as a farmhand and later as a busboy in a hotel. However, the newspapers only praise him for his self-sacrificing principles; and finding that he cannot bring shame to the family through menial labor, he takes up with a notorious actress. But when this maneuver also fails, he returns to his former fiancée, who has no further complaint about his being an inexperienced dullard.

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When famous opera singer Elinore Duane undergoes an operation on her throat, she has a series of ether-induced visions. In one, she is transported to ancient Rome where she appears as a much-admired woman in love with Paul, a young heretic, and at odds with Lutor, the high priest. To save her love, she poisons Lutor with her ring. After several other visions which involve variations on this love triangle, Elinore awakens to discover that Lutor is actually her doctor, Sascha Jaccard, and that Paul is the son of a friend who has come to visit the recovering prima donna.