Top-Tier Alternatives Exploring the Legacy of The Forbidden City: Cult Guide

Dir: Sidney Franklin

Puck is a music-hall dancer married to an abusive husband. One night the music hall catches fire. Puck is rescued by an Army officer and her husband perishes. Puck marries the officer and they begin a new life in India, until a man from her past finds her and makes demands.

Dir: Sidney Franklin

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Not Guilty perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Paul Ellison, who falls in love with Elsa, exchanges identities with his twin, Arthur, because he feels himself responsible for his brother's downfall, and assumes guilt for a murder. Five years later Elsa meets Arthur, whom she believes to be Paul, and they become engaged. In Rangoon, Paul is recognized by Elsa and Craig, a gambler. Though Paul confesses to the crime, Craig, in his dying moments, admits he is the real murderer. Elsa and the two brothers are then reconciled.

Dir: Sidney Franklin

The storyline is loosely-based on Buffalo candy-maker August Merckens' opera-singer daughter Baroness Platon Von Wrangel, who married the Russian leader in the fight for restoration of the Russian monarchy.

Dir: Sidney Franklin

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

Bob Anderson and his bride Mary depart for a country inn on their honeymoon, but on the road they are robbed of all their valuables, including her wedding ring. The hotel clerk, who refuses to believe that they are married, allows them to sleep in the parlor but regards them with suspicion. Before dawn, Bob hears a scream; rushing into the room he discovers that a woman has been murdered. The police arrive and arrest him, after which he is tried, convicted, and sentenced to death. Having learned that further crimes have been committed in the hotel, Mary and her father set a trap for the criminal, whom they discover is the hotel clerk. After he confesses his guilt in the murder case, Mary tries frantically to reach the governor in time to prevent Bob's execution but is informed that it is too late. At that moment, Mary awakens and realizes that it was all a dream.

Dir: Sidney Franklin

Distraught young Ann Carter is saved from committing suicide by Hayden Masters, but he turns out to be a vicious criminal who wants to make her his partner-in-crime. Fearful of what might happen to her if she doesn't marry him as he asked, she accepts, but on their wedding night he is arrested for burglary and thrown into prison. Broke and alone, Ann gets a job as a secretary to a wealthy executive, whose son Donald falls for her. When she hears that Masters has been killed in a failed prison escape attempt, she accepts Donald's proposal--then Masters shows up, very much alive.

Dir: Sidney Franklin

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

An impoverished British lord (Paul Menford) impersonates a doctor in order to woo an ailing American heiress (Dorothy Adams). The lord is in it for love, but his business associate (Joe Diamond) smells money.

Dir: Sidney Franklin

In Scotland, Stephan Blackmoore, a young husband and father struggling with the design of a new invention, visits his former employer, Angus Ferguson, to collect money owed him. Before Stephan's arrival, Angus is killed by his son, Bruce, in an attempted robbery. Stephan is imprisoned for the murder, but his wife, Jean, continues the work of perfecting his invention and remains faithful to him, despite being courted by a man of wealth and position. When she has all but given up, the real killer confesses, resulting in Stephan's release and his reunion with Jean.

Dir: Sidney Franklin

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

Beverly Calhoun of New Jersey accompanies her cousin Oscar to claim the throne of the tiny kingdom of Graustark. When Oscar has a skiing accident, Beverly takes his place as Prince Oscar.

Dir: Sidney Franklin

Josephine, a seemingly happily married mother, comforts her friend who has just found out that her husband is cheating on her with her own story: raised in an infamous dive and taught to steal money from her customers, one night she meets a well-known novelist and his wife who are "slumming" and who give her a sum of money in order for her to leave her surroundings, but her guardian takes it from her. She is eventually sent to a reformatory but escapes and finds the novelist, now divorced. She determines to once and for all escape the life she's in and offers herself to the novelist in exchange for a promise of marriage. Complications ensue. When the place is raided, Jo is sent to a reformatory, but she later escapes. So that she will not have to return to the reformatory, Harrison marries her "in name only," with the idea that after a few months they will divorce. When Nina, now unhappily married, starts pursuing Harrison, his friend Huntley McMerton helps Jo make Harrison jealous, whereupon he declares his love. Jo suggests that her friend should act similarly.

Dir: Sidney Franklin

Kathleen, a young Irish woman, is in love with Kenneth Wayne but is prevented from marrying him by her guardian John Carteret. John is haunted by memories of his thwarted love for Kathleen's aunt, Moonyean.