The Auteur's Selection In the Shadow of The Fatal Ring: Cult Guide

Dir: George B. Seitz

George Rockwell is young and adventurous. He meets June, a beautiful young girl on the road and decides she will be his wife. But Professor Elliott, June's father, has him thrown out the door. George does not give up and saves the Professor from his cousin Murdock, who was trying to kill him. On the day of their engagement, George and June are abducted on a plane which takes them to Tibet. Dr. Santro, Murdoch's accomplice is the culprit. He and his wife Tharen leave the two in the hands of angry Tibetans. The two lovers are locked into a box with only a tiny hole in it through which they can see some food that is out of their reach. As if that wasn't enough suffering, one of the abductor decides to shoot them through the box. George miraculously opens the box with a rock he had picked up before. As he tries to capture two horses, June is taken away in the desert by a Tibetan. George follows the traces left by his horse and rescues June in time. They fly back to Professor Elliott's. He is perfecting an invention: a fire ray which Murdock and Santro try to steal, thus setting a fire in the country. After several attacks, the Professor wants to send his daughter safely to New York with George. But Murdock follows them. George protects the building where they are staying but oversees the rooftop, where Santro attacks with a plane. Santro, Murdock et Tharen steal the Professor's plans, fly back to his lab, and destroy his invention. George and a police inspector Tinguett launch a search for the plane. As they find it, they surprise Santro and Murdock having a fight during which Santro pushes Murdock into a tank. When he realizes George and the police are on his tracks, he takes the plans and escapes on his plane. June catches the plane in time, grabs the plans and throws them out the window. Santro takes her to her father's lab but she is once again rescued by George. Santro is arrested but as his wife Tharen appears, he requests to have a talk with her and uses the opportunity to disappear. George and June, aroused by curiosity, board his plane but Santro who was hiding in it, starts the engine. June accidentally triggers a torpedo stuck under the wings. George manages to untie it before it explodes. George and June fall from the plane onto a plantation of trees. Santro disappears in his plane. George and June soon recover from the fall. Upon his return at the lab, George is surprised to find Murdock there who says he is a reformed man. One month after that, Murdock and Elliott have rebuilt the device and the professor invites other scientist for a few experiments. That night June and George announce their marriage. But Santro tries to launch rockets on the lab. Murdock activates the fire ray on the plane which bursts into flames.

Dir: George B. Seitz

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

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: George B. Seitz

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: George B. Seitz

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

Impoverished by the Civil War and eager to replenish his fortune in the West, Colonel Halliday, his wife, and his daughter, Beth, proceed toward Salina, Kansas by wagon train, at the persuasion of Tom Kirby, a government scout and Beth's fiancé. Although Bill Hickok, Tom's friend, and a company of cavalry are in charge, Pawnee Killer, chief of the Sioux, attacks the wagon train, and Halliday and his wife are killed. Bill rides to Salina for help and to deliver the news to Buffalo Bill Cody. Beth, now hostile to Kirby, joins the household of Lige Morris, a trader in Salina, and, at the suggestion of Bill, Kirby joins General Custer's scouting expedition. Lige tells Beth that Kirby is suspected of being in league with Pawnee Killer, but she learns from the post adjutant's daughter that he loves her. Beth seeks out Kirby just as the Sioux stampede a herd of buffalo through the town, and together they find refuge. Custer gives battle to the Indians, Pawnee Killer slays Lige, and the lovers are reconcile.

Dir: George B. Seitz

After the mysterious murder of John Cowles' father, the son starts west to borrow money of his father's business partner, Col. Meriwether. He meets the Colonel's daughter, Ellen, and falls in love with her, not telling her of his fiancée, Grace Sheraton. Gordon Orme, an old acquaintance, turns up, tells Col. Meriwether about Grace, and the Colonel is so enraged he refuses to lend the money. John's mother and Grace have followed John and his mother urges him to try the gold fields. He discovers gold and wins Ellen, after both Gordon and Grace, who is really in love with Gordon, are killed.

Dir: George B. Seitz

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

Three trappers protect a British Colonel's daughters in the midst of the French and Indian War.

Dir: George B. Seitz

Plenty of adventure in the desert with "villains dashing madly across deserts with the lives of both the hero and the heroine at stake, - long underground avenues, trick doors, trap doors, and many ways of the unruly villains to torture the innocent. Allene Ray plays the daughter of a Mohammedan desert merchant, and the discovery that she is really French furthers her romance with the hero. Also featured are archaeological diggings and rescue by the British Army." (Variety-1924)

Dir: George B. Seitz

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

A crooked lawyer who is the head of a crime syndicate tries to prevent the operation of the ships owned by the heroine. Hutch comes to her rescue.

Dir: George B. Seitz

Desperate for money, a rancher decides to trap and sell wild horses, using barbed wire. The local Navajo tribe tries to persuade him not to do it.

Dir: George B. Seitz

Episode 1: "The Lost Torpedo" Craig Kennedy's marvelous invention, a super-force torpedo to revolutionize warfare, has been stolen. Kennedy himself has disappeared, although Elaine has a note from him begging her not to grieve whatever happens, for he is safe. And then, one night, on a barren strip of land jutting out into the Atlantic, a fisherman, concealed behind a rock, sees the periscope of a submarine rise; sees a man's head and shoulders rise seemingly out of the sea, and sees a pair of athletic arms strike out bravely for the shore. That night, at a hotel in New York, a distinguished-looking foreigner, much resembling the man who seemed to rise up out of the sea, is shadowed by a fussy old gentleman resembling the fisherman of the coast scenes. The foreigner goes out and the fussy old gentleman goes to his room, where, after a short, sharp struggle with a valet, he searches through all drawers and papers. One paper he pockets with glee, and then departs. Elaine and Jameson are visited by the distinguished-looking foreigner who tells them he is a secret service agent from Washington, and begs to get information with regard to Kennedy and the lost torpedo. Elaine's dog, digging with its forepaws in a pot of palms, unearths the lost torpedo and carries it to the attic, where he drops it behind a trunk. The torpedo's propeller, however, has been left in the palm-pot. where Marcius Del Mar, the foreigner, finds it. Elaine is suspected by him of having concealed the torpedo. The fussy old gentleman, in Del Mar's tracks since he left his rooms, is an interested spectator. He is unaware that Del Mar has spies guarding the house, and is set upon by them. Rushing madly into the conservatory, he faces Del Mar. Both draw their guns, but the fussy old gentleman fires first. His gun is loaded with bullets containing an overpowering gas. Both Del Mar and Elaine fall suffocated to the floor. How the fussy old gentleman escapes is a fitting climax to this episode.