Deep Archive Finds in the Vein of The Kentuckians: Cult Guide

Dir: Maurice Elvey

A lady marries a horse trainer but withholds herself until her crippled brother is cured.

Dir: Charles Maigne

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

Sheila Cardross Malcourt shares only a loveless marriage with Louis Malcourt, but is unwilling to divorce him even to marry the man she really loves, for fear of hurting her foster parents. Instead, she stifles her feelings for Garry Hamil and strives to maintain her marriage. But when tragedy ensues, she finds herself faced with a new dilemma.

Dir: Charles Horan

While working as a flower girl in Devlin Maddox's nightclub, Nellie Vaughan meets wealthy young Pelton Van Teel and falls in love. Maddox, desirous of using Nellie to blackmail Van Teel, spreads a rumor that she is his mistress. This makes Nellie uncomfortable, and she demands that Van Teel marry her immediately, to which he agrees. Meanwhile, Van Teel has been losing money gambling to Maddox, who threatens to break up the marriage by producing a worthless check that the young husband has written. Venturing to Maddox's apartment for a showdown, Nellie pulls a gun and demands the check, accidentally shooting Maddox when he throws a lamp at her. Maddox plans to charge Nellie with assault, but when the police arrive, his butler, actually a detective employed by the elder Van Teel, exposes Maddox, who is then arrested, clearing the path for the couple's happiness.

Dir: Charles Maigne

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

Milt Shanks lives a shamed life, hated by his neighbors for having been a traitor to the North in the American Civil War. But Shanks carries with him a secret, one he promised Abraham Lincoln to tell no one.

Dir: Charles Maigne

Jimmy Ordway is amazed by his wife Charlotte's unending energy, he is an exhausted wreck after a honeymoon filled with golfing, riding, boating, swimming, polo, mountain climbing, and dancing in the evenings. At the house party Charlotte throws the evening they return, Jimmy plots with his male friends to have them entertain Charlotte non-stop in shifts until she drops. After he convinces his old friend Brandy, a professional athlete, to participate, Brandy, on finding the only woman he has met who could keep up with him, tries to steal Charlotte away. When Brandy tells her of Jimmy's infatuation with Julia Cleves, whose consolatory attentions have taken his mind off his troubles, Charlotte sees them blowing smoke kisses and upbraids Jimmy. To win her back, Jimmy, taking the cue from Petruchio, a character in The Taming of the Shrew by Shakespeare, sets out to tame Charlotte by abducting her and binding her in a boathouse. Charlotte secretly enjoys it, and when Brandy arrives to rescue her and attempts an undesired intimacy, she throws him into the water. Jimmy happily embraces Charlotte, who then prepares dinner for their thirty friends.

Dir: Charles Maigne

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

Rich Matthew Thurlow, spends nearly every night at cabarets, admires Dazie, a leading dancer whom he calls "Redhead." Dazie loves Matthew, but she is dismayed that he wastes his life in clubs. After Matthew, while intoxicated, marries Dazie to win a bet, Dazie insists that they remain married. When Matthew's uncle cuts off his allowance and ends his "soft" bank job, Dazie decides to make a man out of Matthew, but he scorns her. She rents a small apartment, while he gets work in an auto factory. Although Matthew is genial when Dazie's parents visit, he remains cold to her. When Matthew's uncle offers Dazie money for a divorce, she refuses, but says that she will agree to a divorce if Matthew really wants one. Matthew develops a new interest in life and realizes he loves Dazie when he becomes jealous through a misunderstanding. After his uncle, seeing Dazie's effect on Matthew, threatens to disinherit him for good if he does divorce her, Matthew confesses his love.

Dir: Charles Maigne

Stenographer Rita Charles is a woman who courts the attention of wealthy men. Rita works for T. J. Olverson during the day, and sees wealthy New Yorker Hugh Chalvey at night. She meets Dr. Varian, a young settlement doctor, who falls in love with her, but Rita does not encourage him because he does not make enough money. She tries to get Hugh to propose, but he does not want to marry her. She befriends T. J. Olverson, Jr., but his father sends Rita away on a month's vacation. Hugh follows her to Atlantic City and proposes. Rita realizes she loves Dr. Varian, however, who also follows her there, and she accepts his offer of marriage.

Dir: Edward LeSaint

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

When famous opera singer Elinore Duane undergoes an operation on her throat, she has a series of ether-induced visions. In one, she is transported to ancient Rome where she appears as a much-admired woman in love with Paul, a young heretic, and at odds with Lutor, the high priest. To save her love, she poisons Lutor with her ring. After several other visions which involve variations on this love triangle, Elinore awakens to discover that Lutor is actually her doctor, Sascha Jaccard, and that Paul is the son of a friend who has come to visit the recovering prima donna.

Dir: Bruno Ziener

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Alexander Butler

In Alberta, Canada, a Cornish emigrant unmasks a rustler posing as the girl's "blind" father.