Editor's Top Picks Following the Footsteps of The Idle Rich: Cult Guide

Dir: William C. de Mille

We start with the birth of two children "the whole wide world apart," one in a swell house in Washington Square, the other in the slums of New York. We see them on their third birthday; Bob, the rich little boy, surrounded by the presence of love and care ; Jenny, the poor little girl, stealing an apple from a fruit stand. We see them getting their education^ Bob, under the care of a private tutor and Jenny learning to read through stolen glances at the Police Gazette. When they are grown up, Bob Van Dyke and his sister, Beth, now orphaned, are caught in the whirl of a gay social life and are spending the fortune left them by their parents. Jenny, left alone in the world, has been adopted by Dugan, an old crook, who stands in the place of a father to her, and who makes use of her in his illegal calling. The young cracks-man, Kelly, suggests to Dugan that they burglarize a house in Washington Square by putting Jenny through the basement window and have her open the front door for them. Jenny is captured by Bob and is about to turn her over to the police but in questioning her, sees through her girlish beauty, a soul struggling for expression and he determines to try to save her. Jenny, never having heard of right and wrong, is fascinated by the rich young man and when he leaves his money on the table and says that he will go upstairs "until he hears the front door close behind her", she realizes that she has found someone in the world who will trust her. She is about to go when she sees Bob's photograph on the table. She is tempted to steal it but hesitates and leaves fifty cents, her whole fortune, in place of the picture. She then goes out and shuts the door and facing her crook companions, announces that she is going to live straight. Back in the tenement home, she packs her small bundle of clothes and leaves. Two years pass, during which time Jenny has succeeded in making herself an expert dressmaker. She lives alone in a little room and, inspired by Bob's photograph and the memories it recalls, has grown to worship the young man who trusted her, although she has not seen him since. A strike is called in the dress factory and Jenny is let out of work. She saves a little newsboy who has stolen money and who is being pursued by the police and is able to reform him. Penniless, Jenny is finally thrown into the street with her goods and chattels. In the meantime, Bob and Beth have speculated with what is left of their fortune and while down town to pawn some of his sister's jewels, Bob finds Jenny and takes her to his home to have her make clothes for his sister. While there the love of the two young people grows and the difference in their stations is apparently insurmountable. Bob's speculations go wrong and he is tempted to use money belonging to their old nurse. Jenny overhears their plan to use the money and pleads with Bob^not to do this thing for if the speculation goes wrong, he will be a thief. Bob is deaf to her entreaties and puts the money in the safe. Jenny sees her ideal tottering and induces Kelly to enter the house and open the safe for her. She then takes the money and hides it. The next morning the loss is discovered. Detectives find Jenny's finger-prints on the safe and she is arrested but will not tell where the money is, preferring to go to jail rather than let Bob do anything dishonest. Bob realizes this and promises to go straight. Jenny steals away as Bob awaits the impending smash. Bob and Beth are forced to live in a small Harlem flat and Beth marries her wealthy young lover from the smart set . Bob realizes that he had happiness in his hand and let it go and hunts up Jenny. He sees that class does not count and, in spite of Jenny's protests, takes her in his arms.

Dir: William C. de Mille

Piffle, a circus clown, is badly injured after saving the son of Judge Jonathan Le Roy from a team of runaway horses. During his convalescence at the Le Roy home, Piffle falls in love with Millicent, the judge's daughter. When she learns that Dick Ordway, the father of her unborn child, has died while prospecting in the desert, Millicent tries to drown herself. Piffle comes to the rescue once again, proposing to marry Millicent and be a father to her child. Although she does not love Piffle, Millicent agrees. At the judge's insistence, Piffle leaves the circus to become a banker. Some time later, Dick reappears, but decides not to pursue Millicent, focusing instead on selling shares in his mine. The mine becomes a bonanza, and Dick tries to buy back all of the shares, but Piffle refuses to sell. Dick visits Piffle's home, hoping to negotiate a sale, and has an unexpected reunion with Millicent. Realizing that Millicent and Dick are still in love, Piffle returns to the circus, where he finds fulfillment bringing joy to children.

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

Dir: William C. de Mille

An island ordeal: A woman chooses a count over an alcoholic doctor. The envious count poisons her but performs a life-saving blood transfusion, costing his life. She has the count's baby and ultimately remarries the rehabilitated doctor.

Dir: William C. de Mille

The Hoorah, richest mine in California, has made millionaires of its three bachelor owners, Joe, Bud, and Dill. It occurs to the two latter men that this wealth, representing the labor and sacrifices of many long years, must, in the event of their death, revert to strangers. They decide that Joe, the most eligible partner, should marry and give them an heir. This Joe refuses to do. However, Bud and Bill set about to find a suitable wife for him. Their efforts are unrewarded, and Joe, in disgust, leaves town. Geraldine Kent, daughter of a poor but aspiring society woman, accepts the invitation of a friend to take a western trip. The mother, of her own invitation, accompanies them. Arriving at the hotel, they discover Joe in an undignified position on the floor playing with a youngster of five. The mother is shocked, but when she learns that Joe is wealthy, she is attentive to him, and persuades Geraldine to accept his proposal of marriage. Joe's lack of polish is such a source of constant embarrassment to him and his wife that his suggestion to Geraldine that they run away from it all is gladly accepted. Discovered by her mother just as they are about to leave, Joe is enlightened by Mrs. Kent's expression of her sorrow at forcing Geraldine to marry such a boor because they were so sadly in need of money. Heartbroken, Joe gives them the money and departs. At the end of a year, Geraldine sues for divorce. Bud and Bill leave Hoorah City for a trip to see Joe's baby. Not until Joe reads in the paper an account of the divorce proceedings does he know that he has a son. He also starts out to see the baby, and the three men meet. Both Bud and Bill claim the right to be the namesake of what they consider a "partnership baby," but learning the little one is a girl, they order at once baby wardrobes by the carload. Joe realizes the mother-in-law's responsibility for his unhappiness and sends her east by the first train. Geraldine has learned that Joe's greatest desire was for a child, and when he accuses her of marrying him for his money, she meets it with a statement that he married her for the baby. He suggests that she take the money and he the baby, but as the little one starts to cry, he is frightened, and hands it to the mother. As they look at the baby, and then at each other, they realize how foolish they have been, and Joe takes both mother and child into his arms.

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

Dir: William C. de Mille

The Kid, a product of the slums, is employed at an artificial flower factory, as an expert "slipper-on." She possesses a monstrosity of a hat which is the envy of her companions wherever it appears, and she loves it. Judge Evans, a young man of unapproachable character, takes up his residence in the tenement district in order to unearth the man at the head of the vice ring composed of social and political parasites. In reality, he is the father of Doris Mordant, to whom Evans is engaged. Realizing that he must "get" the Judge or be ruined himself, Mordant, assisted by unscrupulous politicians, arranges a plot in which the Kid (whom the Judge has discovered in the tenement where he himself lives), evidently accosts a man on the street. She is taken into Judge Evans' court and to prove his assertion that "there is some good in all of 'em" the Judge tells the Kid to select five companions and he will send them all to his farm for three months. Mordant frames up a scheme to send with them a woman of the streets, and provides her with money and a camera. At the farm, the Kid discovers the girls plotting to secure a compromising picture of the Judge and the woman, but they persuade her to keep still by telling her they will "queer" Evans' engagement to Doris and then he will turn to her, and the Kid's love is so great, she finally acquiesces. Following his trial and disgrace, the Judge falls ill and the Kid cares for him. He learns to love the child of the slums, and her devotion to him is as pitiful as it is sincere. The Kid believes the Judge is pining for Doris, and with her companions, whom she forces into telling the truth, goes to the District Attorney's office and before Mordant, Doris, Evans and others, makes a clean breast of the while affair. Evans' love for Doris is dead and he turns to the Kid, declaring his love. She is taken to the home of the competent woman for one year. Every month the Judge receives a photograph which shows the metamorphosis of both hat and girl. At the end of the year Evans goes to claim as his own the girl who saved him from ruin, and finds her the embodiment of refinement and simplicity.

Dir: William C. de Mille

Headed by a young nobleman, the Russian League of Freedom determines to free the peasants from oppression by the government. Prince Paul Alexis is in love with Karin Dolokhof, daughter of the chancellor. Both are working for the league. Shortly after they announce their engagement the prince receives word from the Czar that he must marry the Princess Tanya, for political reasons. Upon receiving the command the prince expresses his intention to leave Russia with Karin Dolokhof, but she reminds him of his allegiance to the freedom league. Princess Tanya is in love with Count Egor Strannik, but under pressure, she discards the count and marries the unwilling prince. Through espionage, the chief of the secret police learns of the prince's affiliation with the freedom league and as Prince Alexis and his wife, Princess Tanya, hold a reception, at which the government heads are present, he sends Count Egor Strannik to secure the evidence. The count, who is still in love with Princess Tanya, tries to force his love upon her, and as he holds her in his arms, Prince Alexis discovers them and beats the count with a knout. For revenge the count, with a band of followers, forces the prince to reveal the hiding place of some important league papers.

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

Dir: William C. de Mille

Deciding that there is money in cows, young New Yorker Dick Tavis buys a Western ranch; when the novelty has worn off he decides that there is also monotony. Then he falls in love with a girl on a calendar and takes a new interest in life, particularly after he discovers who the girl is. The fact that her uncle swindled him on the ranch does not matter. He figures he can take care of the uncle, and he does, but not until he has been forced to masquerade as a woman and have half the men at a fashionable resort fall in love with him.

Dir: Reggie Morris

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

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

Dir: Richard Smith

Two female candidates for Chief of Police live across the hall from each other, and their political rivalry follows them home, leading to plenty of hi-jinks.

Dir: William C. de Mille

The old Atwell home is said to be haunted, and Jeremy Foster, the gardener--who is actually the head of a band of thieves that use the house for a hideout--does his best to keep the superstition alive. Despite the rumors, impoverished sisters Lois and Alice Atwell decide to move into the empty family home. They take possession the same night that Ted Rawson is ordered to explore the place as an initiation rite by his fraternity. That same night, Spud Foster, a member of his uncle's gang, hides there with his stolen loot. In the middle of the night, Lois apprehends Ted and takes him captive, believing that he's a burglar. The noise awakens Spud who, mistaking Lois for a ghost, flees the house. After much confusion, Lois' fears about Ted's character are allayed when he helps fight off the thieves; relieved, she confesses her love to the fraternity man.