The Cult Collection Inspired by the Vision of The Forbidden Woman: Cult Guide

Dir: Harry Garson

Norma Harvey, a newspaperwoman who devotes much of her time to relieving the sufferings of slum children, still loves her childhood sweetheart, Craig Dunlap, a lawyer who tries to cover up his wife's kleptomania by bribing a witness at her trial. Dunlap, however, is exposed and disbarred. While working in the slums, Norma encounters him in a disreputable dive and takes him to her home along with little Mazie, a blind orphan. Two gossipy neighbors declare her morally unfit, and the child is removed from her custody. On Norma's advice, Dunlap decides to give his wife another chance, but he demands a divorce when he finds her rough-housing with friends. She refuses, but when he threatens to allow her to be arrested for the theft of a fur, she consents. After proving her worthiness, Norma regains the child and finds happiness with Craig.

Dir: Harry Garson

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of An Old Sweetheart of Mine perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

John Craig, while rummaging through an old trunk, is reminded of his first sweetheart, Mary Ellen Anderson. A flashback shows their childhood together, their association while working on a local newspaper, and her assistance in preventing swindler Stuffy Shade from framing John as the perpetrator of a fraudulent oil venture. John ultimately discovers oil on the land in question and becomes the town hero. His dream ends when his wife, Mary Ellen, enters the attic with their two children.

Dir: Harry Garson

Following a night of particularly wild dissipation, Charles Meredyth decides to cure his son, Gallop, of his convivial habits, tells him that he has killed a taxi driver, and offers to help him escape. Gallop lands in a small southwestern town whose only inhabitants are its founder, Granville Truce; his daughter, Pauline; and a gang of Mexican bandits. Gallop discovers that Truce has developed a rust remover from cactus oil and markets the product. While routing the bandits, Gallop puts the town on the map and a ring on Pauline's finger.

Dir: Harry Garson

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

Joe Hanrahan, a tough patrolman, warns fight promoter Burke to repair the shaky gallery in his arena. Burke does not comply with this order, and Joe is suspended from the force for fighting in public with Battling Kennedy, Joe's rival for the affections of Marie Ducette. Burke then matches Joe and Kennedy in an exhibition bout in his arena. Joe knocks out Kennedy and, when the gallery collapses, injuring several people, arrests Burke. Joe is reinstated on the force and wins Marie.

Dir: Harry Garson

Joe Mulhall, a city fireman, and Otto Nelson, pride of the police force, vie for the hand of Nora McCarron. Joe and Rizzoli ring in a fire alarm in the industrial district, and Joe makes a daring rescue of two women, delivering them to Rizzoli. Officer Nelson, attracted to the scene, falls onto Joe from the roof, knocks him out, and makes a rescue; the newspapers give Nelson all the credit, and his stock rises with Nora. Joe asks Nora to the Fire and Police Ball, but he is delayed and she goes with Nelson; furthermore he disgraces himself by spilling refreshments on the mayor and the commissioner. That night Nora feels sorry for him and signals him from her window. In her father's office she is captured by two burglars; Nelson investigates and is knocked unconscious. Joe arrives, overcomes the burglars as they dynamite the safe, and wins the favor of Nora.

Dir: Harry Garson

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

A woman finds her marriage on the rocks after she reveals to her husband some but not all the details of her one-time relationship with a current associate of his.

Dir: Harry Garson

Wealthy contractor Michael Arnold hires civil engineer Jerry Foster to work on a dam under construction in the West. Michael hopes to enter high society and encourages his daughter, Alice, to marry Lafayette Van Renselaer, a fashionable young aristocratic. Alice is attracted to Jerry but mistakes his friendship with Kathleen O'Toole for love. Lafayette abruptly ends his affair with Kathleen when he has an opportunity to wed Alice, and accuses Jerry of trifling with Kathleen's affections. Meanwhile, Jerry discovers that Swazey, a bullying foreman, has been building the dam with inferior cement. Jerry defeats him in a fight, after which Swazey runs amok, releasing water from the reservoir and causing a flood. Lafayette drowns, but Jerry saves Alice and wins her love.

Dir: Harry Garson

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Mulhall's Great Catch perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Following the robbery of the Inspiration Gold Mine, Circus Lacey drifts into the border town of Esmeralda, where he saves Ethel Slocum from the unwanted advances of Red Lucas, a notorious gunman. When Ethel later also refuses to submit to the sheriff's demands, the sheriff frames her father for the mine robbery. Circus saves Pa Slocum from mob violence and captures one of Red's hired gunmen, thereby discovering the secret den of the bandits. Circus is surprised there by Red and forced to surrender, but he escapes, returns to town in time to prevent a bank robbery, proves that the sheriff is one of Red's hirelings, and wins Ethel for his wife.

Dir: Harry Garson

Zoe Blundell, peeved at the seeming negligence of her husband Theodore, retaliates by spending most of her evenings away from home, usually in the company of men. Theodore, not sufficiently impressed with the truth of the old adage, "There is safety in number," takes issue with her, with the result that quarrel after quarrel occurs. Hon. Peter Mottram, an old friend of Theodore's, attempts to establish a reconciliation between them and almost succeeds, until Zoe's petulance overturns his plans, and a wider breach than even is the result. Finally they separate and Zoe goes to Italy, where she is followed by an old flame, Leonard Ferris, who seeks to bring about a divorce between Zoe and her husband. In the meantime Theodore has found that although experience seems to have proved that it is impossible to live with a woman, neither can he live without one, and he is discovered living in a flat with a pretty young widow, Mrs. Annerly. Several complications occur, involving Leonard Ferris and Ethel Pierpont, whose mother has been angling for Ferris as a son-in-law. Peter Mottram again steps in and this time succeeds in bringing about a reconciliation between the estranged pair. - Moving Picture World, September 25, 1920.

Dir: Harry Garson

Clara Kimball Young portrays two roles. As Janet, a convent novitiate, she agrees to exchange places with her sister, Lucy, a cabaret dancer, who believes she has killed a man.