Hand-Picked Alternatives Movies That Echo the Spirit of The Jungle Trail: Cult Guide

Dir: Richard Stanton

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Richard Stanton

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

During the French Revolution, Englishman Sir Percy Blakeney is considered to be a terrible fop, completely unaware of the seriousness of the political situation abroad. In reality, Sir Percy is a hero to the French aristocrats and is known as "The Scarlet Pimpernel." His wife, Lady Marguerite, shares the opinion of most that Sir Percy is useless, until his heroism is proven when she discovers his secret identity. In Calais, Sir Percy is able to elude Chauvelin, a member of the new French government, even though Chauvelin threatens the safety of Lady Marguerite's brother, Armand St. Just. Lady Marguerite goes to Calais to aid her husband, and they finally are able to escape on a ship bound for England, assured of their love for each other.

Dir: Richard Stanton

In New York, Bill Stratton saves a friend's marriage, but Bill's fiancée, Evelyn, misinterprets the situation and believes Bill to be unfaithful to her. She breaks her engagement, and Bill, in remorse, goes to Alaska. In the town of Yellow Gulch, Bill meets "Silver" Jack Belmont, the man responsible for nearly ruining the marriage of Bill's friend. Bill also learns that an old miner named "Lucky" Matthew Durant is Evelyn's father. Durant has been lying to his daughter, claiming he is rich. Bill tells Evelyn the truth about her father, but she does not believe him. Instead, she believes Belmont when he says he will take her to her father's mine. Eventually, Bill and Belmont confront each other and Bill defeats Belmont in a fight. Bill then reconciles Evelyn and her father.

Dir: Richard Stanton

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

a young man gos on a weekend hunting trip; soon finds out that instead of being the hunter he has become the hunted .. in a desperate quest for survival he must battle a savage hunger Beast

Dir: Richard Stanton

Finding his partner, Joe Brooks, murdered in the snow, "Roaring" Bill Wagstaff's troubles begin. A ray of sunshine enters his life soon after though, with the arrival of Hazel Weir who has come West to teach, but finds herself lost in the woods outside the town of Cariboo Meadows. Bill discovers her and under the guise of leading her to town, takes her to his cabin where he declares his love. Hazel, who is smarting from unfair accusations of scandal, rejects Bill's offer and leaves for Cariboo Meadows. Later, Bill learns of Hazel's problems and rushes to town to confirm his faith in her. En route, he stops at a saloon where he sees his dead partner's snowshoes leaning against a wall. At the point of a gun, he extracts the name of Joe's killer from the saloon keeper and then sets out after the man, Nig Geroux. After avenging his partner's death, Bill finds Hazel, who accepts his love.

Dir: Richard Stanton

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

Dick Mason is arrested for defending a girl's honor in a Chicago restaurant brawl, and his father sends him to Lithuania where his family owns a share in a cattle concession. By chance, the girl from the restaurant is also bound for the Balkans. While on board, Dick undertakes to renew his acquaintance with this attractive foreigner, but encounters considerable resistance. In Lithuania, Dick meets with Count Vortsky, the Minister of Finance, who presses him to sell his cattle concession, hoping to clinch a coup attempt he is planning with the Bulgarian Ambassador. Somewhat suspicious, Dick agrees to announce his decision only in the presence of Princess Alexia, who turns out to be the girl from the restaurant. When she advises him not to sell, the love-bitten Dick refuses the count. The count nevertheless instigates a revolution, but with the help of his Chicago assistants, Dick squelches the uprising and wins the princess' heart.

Dir: Richard Stanton

After four men have proposed to Adele Moore, a beautiful young woman whose father wishes her to marry for financial reasons, she is undecided as to the one she prefers and decides to consult a fortune teller. Gazing into the crystal ball, Adele witnesses an enactment of the life she would lead with each one of them and is shocked to find every marriage ending in heartache. The lawyer proves faithless, the banker steals money, the doctor neglects her, and the poor clerk suggests that she sacrifice her honor to his threatening employer. Dismissing all of them, Adele moves to Vermont and opens a store. Business is slow until a passing salesman assumes management of the store and transforms it into a booming success. Happy at last, Adele agrees to marry him.

Dir: Richard Stanton

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of North of Fifty-Three perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Shirley Moreland, Born and raised in the lap of luxury, Shirley Moreland suddenly finds that she has not been living upon the income left to her by her late father, but upon the generosity of Ralph Stuart, a life-long friend of her father's. Discovering that it was her father's wish that she should marry the aged Stuart, Shirley consents, although she does not love him. Soon after, she encounters Gerald Halsted, her former sweetheart, and the old love is rekindled. With the power of hypnotism, Halsted forces Shirley to disobey her marriage vows and poison her husband. She does so, and after the reading of the will in which Stuart leaves the bulk of his estate to Shirley's sister Helen, Halsted forsakes Shirley for her sister. As the marriage ceremony is about to take place, Walton Maynard, a young doctor who understands hypnotic powers, forces Halsted to confess to the crime and thus frees Helen from the fate that befell her sister.

Dir: Richard Stanton

Bob McGuire, Royal Northwest Mounted officer trailing a ring of opium smugglers, suspects gambling house proprietor Big Bill Lusk. Lusk's plan is to frame McGuire by drugging him and marrying him to Katie Peck, a dance hall girl who knows the plot. McGuire's superior officer is killed, and McGuire is accused of the murder; but Katie, who has fallen in love with McGuire, discloses that Lusk is the murderer and exposes the smugglers' plot.

Dir: Richard Stanton

John Dowling, a greedy factory owner, cuts his employees' pay while raising their food prices at the company store. The employees strike but to no avail. Mary Garvin visits Dowling to plead the laborers' cause, but because her mother had once refused his marriage proposal, he attacks Mary out of revenge. In the struggle, Dowling is shot, and Mary is tried and convicted of murder. Before the execution, foreman "Bull" Thompson boasts that his bullet killed Dowling during Mary and the factory owner's struggle, and Dowling's son Chester, who has attempted to introduce reforms into the factory, races to the governor's train to secure a pardon for Mary. After Mary's release, she and Chester are married.