The Recommended Vault Deeply Connected to The Flaming Disc: Cult Guide

Dir: Robert F. Hill

Reformed criminal Boston Blackie is outraged when a judge refuses to grant a pardon for a dying friend. He hires Norine, his now-dead friend's daughter, to get to the judge through his son Rudy. However, things don't work out quite as Blackie had planned.

Dir: Robert F. Hill

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

Colonel Faraday asks his daughter, Diana, to recover some letters he wrote to Yvette, an adventuress, when she tries to blackmail him. Diana is vamping Gerald Skinner, Yvette's partner, so as to get the letters when a football hero in love with her, Royall Randall, piqued at being stood up, bursts into the cafe, starts a fight, and manages to recover the letters.

Dir: Robert F. Hill

When Sheldon Polk's father, a banker, makes a loan to businessman Frank Farnsworth, Sheldon is sent to deliver the money. However, he is attacked and robbed before he can deliver the funds. Circumstantial evidence leads the police to arrest Sheldon for the robbery, he is convicted and sent to prison. He escapes in order to clear his name and discover who framed him for the robbery and then murdered his father.

Dir: Robert F. Hill

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

Kerry Reynolds' friends pull off a prank by tricking him into thinking he has discovered a damsel in distress. After becoming involved in a sticky predicament involving a diamond necklace he marries the girl, and a happy ending prevails for all.

Dir: Robert F. Hill

Larry Barclay fights to save his dead father's tire factory from his father's enemies.

Dir: Robert F. Hill

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

Newlywed Nila Drew is cured of thrill-seeking when she is finally rescued by her husband after being kidnapped, stuffed into a mummy case, and shipped to an Egyptian who calls her the Queen of Pharaoh and threatens to put her back into the tomb. Her husband, Arthur, arrives in time to save her and reveals that it was all a trick to cure Nila of her desire for excitement.

Dir: Robert F. Hill

This serial deals with the attempt of a master detective, a man of science, to overcome an equally brilliant inventor who is a criminal and whose warped mind caused him to seek to overthrow society, his genius making him the leader of a band of anarchists. The action hinges on the fight of these two for the possession of a secret invention by which radio messages may be recalled from the air. The success of the criminal right at the start succeeds in nearly electrocuting the detective so that he has only a few months to live.

Dir: Robert F. Hill

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

Chapter 5: "Thundering Hoofs." Summary: Nevada and Jane are in the path of a thundering herd of cattle, prodded on by the outlaw gang. Nevada is making a brave effort to save Jane, but his horse stumbles and leaves them at the peril of oncoming cattle.

Dir: Robert F. Hill

Jack Foley, a tough policeman who patrols the city's worst beat, loses his nerve when he believes he has hurt Tillie Miller, the girl he loves, but he recovers his confidence after he finds that her injury was inflicted by Spike Kennedy, a gangster. He beats up Spike, thereby permanently cleaning up the neighborhood.

Dir: Robert F. Hill

Octavia Lowden (La Plante) is the mainstay of a family consisting of Aunt Minnie (Titus), firmly convinced that she is "not long for this world," Eloise (Ricksen), a younger sister with a twisted disposition, Uncle Eph (Barrows), who fought with General Grant at Appomattox, Bob (Messinger), a kid brother with a sleep-and-mischief complex, and Grandma (Lee), the only regular sport in the outfit, but tied to her chair. Octavia is a photographer in Pritchett Spence's (Barnes) gallery and much, but hopelessly admired by Spence. With a family of sick people Octavia cannot give Spence a moment's attention. Finally he ventures to her house one Sunday afternoon, with such results that he is driven to a desperate trick. To get her away from her bloodsucking relatives, he sends her on an out-of-town assignment and then has a doctor friend quarantine the house. Detectives keep Octavia and the other inmates of the house within, and of course Octavia worries over her family, all of them probably starving or dying. As a matter of fact, they are all - but Grandma - at work, facing a realization that they either work or starve. Meanwhile, Spence and Dr. Hiram Smith sit back and chuckle - until Grandma gets sick. Then Spence goes to the country place to bring Octavia home, and has to whip the very detectives he put around the house because they do not know him. But a skunk releases the "prisoners" and in a short time Octavia finds herself at home - and a strange home it is, with Bob in overalls and Eloise and Aunt Minnie in aprons. And then Spence seeks forgiveness for his "trick" and receives punishment extraordinary - a life sentence with Octavia.