Must-Watch List in the Vein of The Great Secret: Cult Guide

Dir: Christy Cabanne

Robert Wallace, the elder son of a rich and indulgent father, marries Margaret Christy, a spirited patriot, so that he can escape the call to war. Discovering the reason for Robert's haste to get married, Margaret is appalled and resolves to bring home to her husband a sense of his personal responsibility. In order to instill patriotism in Robert, Margaret contrasts him with John Harding, the man who gave her up to go to war. When Robert protests his wife's tactics, Margaret accuses him of being a contemptible coward. The next day a German insults the American flag, and Robert, his sense of justice aroused, makes him salute it. He then bids Margaret farewell and marches off to war. Margaret sees him off without divulging the secret that she is pregnant, thus sacrificing her own welfare for that of her country.

Dir: Christy Cabanne

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

Reginald Morton is a wealthy idler of athletic tendencies. He has become bored with the shallow social set in which he moves, although he is engaged to marry Dorothy Fleming, a member of it. Dorothy is engaged to Reggie mainly because of his money, and is flirting desperately with all comers. While out in his automobile one day Reggie chances upon a lost little girl sitting on the curb. He takes her back to her home in the slums and there he sees and falls in love with Agnes Shannon, a sweet young girl of good family now compelled to earn her living in a cheap cabaret. He then discovers that Dorothy is faithless to him and breaks his engagement, leaving him free to pay court to Agnes. His rival for the affections of Agnes is Tony Bernard, the leader of the gangsters of the neighborhood, and Bernard has instructed one of his henchmen to bring Agnes to him. Reggie frustrates the scheme, beats up the henchman, and the owner of the dive in which Agnes works hires him as his bouncer. But Bernard has not given up the idea of possessing the girl, and as Reggie is the only obstacle in the way of getting her, he orders him shot. They way-lay Reggie, but he beats them up one by one. Cornered at last, Reggie challenges Bernard to enter a room alone with him and have it out, the man who survives the battle to get the girl. Bernard agrees. A fight takes place. The light is smashed, but it continues until the two men, their shirts stripped from their back, are too exhausted to go on. By a supreme effort Reggie deals the final blow and staggers out, where he is attacked by the band. But the police have been tipped off. How Reggie finally wins Agnes is the culmination of a romance.

Dir: Christy Cabanne

Philip de Mornay, a courtier in the French royal court of the 18th century, falls in love with Daphne La Tour, the daughter of a nobleman. Knowing that her family would never approve of their marriage, he takes her and hides her in a brothel, but is soon captured by pirates. Soldiers looking for women to bring with them to a settlement across the ocean in Louisiana raid the brothel and take the girls, including Daphne. Later on the trip to the new world their ship is attacked by pirates--and she discovers that her lover Philip is on board the pirate ship.

Dir: Christy Cabanne

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

Rich, spoiled social butterfly Pamela Sayre lives the good life with her two maiden aunts. Bertie Holden, the somewhat slacker son of a wealthy couple, is in love with Pamela, who seems to prefer muscular, daredevil-type men, which Bertie definitely isn't. Pamela flirts with the wealthy but much older Charles Van Gordon in order to make Bertie jealous, but her plan seems to backfire.

Dir: Christy Cabanne

The Prologue shows man as 'Power,' garbed in Greek-classic costume, standing at the parting of life's highway. One road leads to 'Success' - the other to ''Failure'. He (Power) is confronted by a figure emblematic of 'Pleasure,' who points out to him "the easiest way," then 'Ignorance' leads him to the end of the road. where 'Destruction' stands. The classic figures disappear and the story begins: 'Power-The Absentee' leaves his factory in charge of his manager 'Might." who wrecks the property in order that his wife, 'Extravagance," and his daughter, 'Vanity,' may devote themselves to lives of selfish pleasure. It is only when 'Justice,' the office stenographer. forces 'Power' to right the harm done to his employees that he sees the error in believing that 'Might' is right. Then comes the realization that 'Justice' should go hand-in-hand with 'Power," and so they are wed, and 'Ambition,''Opportunity' and 'Success' array themselves on his side.

Dir: Christy Cabanne

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

Mary Alden and her brothers Matthew and George have extremely different political views. Matthew is a committed pacifist, and is constantly giving speeches against war. George is notified that his draft number, 258, has been called and to report for induction, but he refuses. Mary, on the other hand, is intensely patriotic and comes up with a plan to shame him into reporting for induction. Meanwhile, Matthew is being set up for a patsy by a gang of German secret agents led by Van Bierman who are planning to blow up an airplane factory.

Dir: Christy Cabanne

Gerald, the somewhat frail son of a wealthy New York family, is bested at the beach by Bill, a strapping young cowboy from Arizona. His fiancée Mary, ashamed of his "yellow streak", leaves him and goes by train to visit some friends in Arizona, with Bill in tow. Gerald follows them, and he and Mary wind up captured by Yaqui Indians and Gerald must prove to Mary that he is not the "weakling" she thinks he is by coming up with a plan for them to escape their captors.

Dir: Christy Cabanne

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

Romeo and Juliet type story loosely based upon the famed Hatfield/McCoy feud.

Dir: Christy Cabanne

Shy, timid banker Florian Amidon is assaulted, robbed, and knocked out while on vacation. When he wakes up he discovers that he's in the booming oil town of Bakerstown, has no memory of how he got there--and that there's a five-year gap in his life from the time he was robbed until that moment. He and his friend Judge Blodgett enlist the services of clairvoyant Madame Leclaire to help Florian find out what happened to him. What she discovers changes his life forever.

Dir: Christy Cabanne

Theatrical manager Isaac Shuman has a reputation for taking advantage of young girls who want to become stars on Broadway. Reporter Tom Warder investigates these stories and exposes Shuman in his newspaper. Shuman threatens to kill Warder, then leaves town. He returns several years later and hatches a scheme to frame Tom and have him sent to prison. He succeeds, but Tom hatches his own plan to get his revenge.