The Recommended Vault Deeply Connected to The Heart of Salome: Cult Guide

Dir: Victor Schertzinger

Wealthy young man Steven du Peyster encounters more adventures than he might have expected when he accepts a wager that he can live successfully on six dollars a week.

Dir: Victor Schertzinger

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

Shy Joel Parker seems bound for nowhere, until Abbie Nettleton enters his life. With her prodding, Joel goes from timid nobody to a baseball star with bravura.

Dir: Victor Schertzinger

A young woman works in the scullery of a grand hotel, and dreams of a life among its fashionable patrons.

Dir: Victor Schertzinger

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

A young man with little ambition is given an opportunity to set himself up in business by means of financial support from his father. But the young man becomes involved in a shady railroad deal which threatens to destroy his own father.

Dir: Victor Schertzinger

Jim Bowen, a cashier in a prosperous insurance firm, lives happily with his wife Mary and son Frankie until Alan Perry, the profligate son of Jim's employer, frames Jim for forgery. Because the fraudulent check was cashed in ward boss John Boland's cabaret, Mary decides to work there while Jim serves his time, in the hope of tracking down the real criminal. Perry, who frequents the café, becomes infatuated with Mary and, on the very night her husband escapes from prison, follows her home and tries to force his attentions on her. When Boland arrives unexpectedly, Perry knocks him down, apparently killing him, whereupon Mary threatens to call the police unless he confesses to having framed Jim. Boland hears Perry's confession as he regains consciousness, and on the basis of his testimony, Perry is arrested and Jim freed.

Dir: Victor Schertzinger

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

David Clary runs a sleepy little dry-goods store in a sleepy little town. A vamp from the big city shows up, intent on taking Clary for everything he's worth by a combination of seduction and blackmail. But the day is saved by the ingenuity of David's corset model.

Dir: Victor Schertzinger

Farmer Toby Watkinsm whose fanciful poetry does not impress his exasperated uncle, leaves the farm to become a subscription solicitor for the "Sawbert Weekly Clarion." In Sawbert, Toby meets Mayor Lot Morris' daughter Jean, and the shy young people fall in love. Crooked stock promoter Kendall Reeves arrives in town and unveils his plan to open a string-bean cannery. While the venture receives the mayor's support, "Clarion" editor Zachary Bartrum, Morris' political enemy, suspects Reeves and decides to block the scheme. On the night Reeves presents his plan to the citizens, Bartrum falls ill and asks Toby to deliver his opposing speech, but seeing Jean in the audience, he loses his courage and dashes from the hall. The next day, Toby overhears Joe Farley, Reeves' former partner, demanding a share of the profits. Farley learns of this and warns Reeves, who goes to the mayor's home and, gun in hand, demands $5,000. Toby arrives and defeats the crook in a fight, after which the grateful mayor becomes reconciled to Bartrum and bestows his blessing on his daughter's romance with Toby.

Dir: Victor Schertzinger

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

The mind of theology student Webster Smith becomes unbalanced from strain. Traveling across the desert as God's savior, he arrives weakened at Red Butte, a small mining town. Faro Fan, who runs a saloon and gambling joint cleanly, and who cares for the town's homeless children, helps Smith, but when he learns her business, he curses her. While Smith builds a church, Faro nurses renegade Spanish Ed, who spreads a fever to her wards. After Smith prays for fire to purge the town, excepting his church, saloon keeper Delicate Hanson, trying to disinfect his bar by burning whiskey on it, starts a fire which quickly spreads to the church, while leaving Faro's house unscathed. Furious, Smith attacks Faro. When she hits his head with a club, his sanity returns, and he helps her nurse the children. After Smith leaves to get supplies, Spanish Ed, crazed with thirst, tries to attract Faro. When Smith returns, Faro shoots him, thinking he is Spanish Ed. As she nurses him to health, they fall in love.

Dir: Victor Schertzinger

James Ashe sends his son James Jr. off to manage a family-owned logging mill. While attending to his duties, James Jr. falls in love with a beautiful girl.

Dir: Victor Schertzinger

Jimmy Duncan, the son of the well-respected Reverend Duncan, takes over his local newspaper as manager. He takes on the criminal element in town with great vigor, until he realizes that his own father is in league with those devils.