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

Dir: Charles Giblyn

Mabel waits on the residents of a local boardinghouse, but her fondness for pranks finally leads to her dismissal. By a strange turn of fortune, Mabel finds herself in the possession of a traveling corset saleswoman's suitcase, whereupon she adopts the profession herself. While passing through a small town, Mabel decides to take a swim in the ocean, but as she frolics, her suitcase, which contains all of her clothing, is stolen. Forced to wear only her bathing suit, Mabel sets off in search of her clothing and learns that the police, having identified the suitcase as belonging to a jewel thief, are in search of her. Following several adventures, she discovers that the jewel robbery, which involved her friend Lena, was only a publicity stunt.

Dir: Charles Giblyn

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

Irresponsible young heiress Beatrix Vanderdyke creates a scandal with her indiscreet visits to artist Sutherland Yorke. To extricate herself, Beatrix claims that she was actually visiting Pelham Franklyn, who has an apartment in the same building and to whom, she states, she is secretly married. Pelham, an old friend, is dumbfounded by the news but continues the ruse for Beatrix's sake. That night, he accompanies his new bride to her bedroom, but after alarming her, announces that she is quite safe and retreats. After the marriage announcement is published in the paper, the couple is compelled to continue their deception, finally taking an enforced honeymoon cruise on Pelham's yacht. Meanwhile, Yorke has been sending anonymous letters to the family which cast doubt upon the marriage. Upon returning from his honeymoon, Pelham, who has fallen in love with his bride, discovers this and goes to Yorke's apartment, arriving just as the scoundrel has been shot by a jealous husband. Before dying, Yorke writes an apology to Beatrix. Pelham then kidnaps Beatrix, and the two are married at sea.

Dir: Charles Giblyn

Peggy, a rambunctious young American girl, goes to Scotland to visit her uncle. Her American ways both shock and eventually delight the people of the old village--especially the handsome young minister.

Dir: Charles Giblyn

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

At the death of John Gower, his widow and daughter, Mildred, find themselves with only a few thousand dollars, as the family lived almost up to the limit of Cower's income. Mildred's mother tells her it is necessary that she marry money. Mildred is fond of Stanley Baird, but her hopes in this direction are shattered by the announcement of his engagement to another woman. Mrs. Gower marries Presbury, an elderly man who thinks she is wealthy, and when he learns the truth he begins taunting Mildred until she is willing to do anything to escape from her humiliating position. Presbury arranges a marriage between Mildred and a multimillionaire, General Siddall. The bride soon discovers that while her husband will buy anything for her she wants, so that he can make an impression upon the world with her beauty, he will not give her any money. This forces her to realize that she is barely more than a piece of furniture in the General's establishment. She leaves him, and meeting Baird learns that he and his wife have separated. He undertakes to furnish her with funds for the cultivation of her voice for an operatic career, with the hope that one day they will be free to marry. Mildred makes slow progress. Her voice is good but uncertain. She meets a young lawyer, Donald Keith, who tells her that she will never succeed because she is too fond of luxury and ease. Meanwhile she discovers through Keith's investigation that she was not legally married to General Siddall, as his first wife was still living, confined in an insane asylum. The General has made many attempts to get her to come back to him, but she refuses. Finally she declines to take any more money from Baird, and by economy, self-denial and hard work succeeds in her musical ambition. Having achieved her independence she is now free to choose between Stanley Baird and Donald Keith, to both of whom she owes a debt of gratitude. Her choice is a happy one, and leaves the story of the life of this typical American girl perfectly rounded out.

Dir: Charles Giblyn

Theodore Whitney, Sr. commissions his son Theodore, "Ted" Jr., to retrieve a missing stock certificate. On the road, Ted meets and falls in love with Betty Blake, the beautiful but elusive niece of Major Blackburn, whose home was recently robbed. When a detective disguised as British nobleman Lord Roxenham arrives to investigate the case, Ted bribes the officer to let him play the role for one night so that he may be near Betty. As the love struck young man is romancing his sweetheart, Lady Roxenham suddenly arrives, alienating Betty and throwing Ted into a panic. Lady Roxenham agrees to participate in the deception, but later Ted spies her breaking into the major's safe. After he alerts the household, she and the butler are revealed as notorious thieves. Betty, who had been trying to purchase Whitney's stock, accepts Ted's marriage proposal, and the profits are shared between the two.

Dir: Charles Giblyn

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

A young woman's sweetheart fights for the Union, while her brother fights for the Confederates, in the pivotal 1863 battle of the U.S. Civil War.

Dir: Charles Giblyn

Having to support her impoverished family, Grace Tyler poses for artist Michael Arnold, who seduces his new model and then leaves her. A few years later, after Grace has married the wealthy John Marshall, her sister Ruth, repeating Grace's mistake, becomes involved with Michael. Grace tries to break up the romance, until Michael threatens to expose their own affair to John, who has already become somewhat suspicious. Determined to learn the truth about his wife and Michael, John goes to the artist's studio while Grace and Ruth are also there, then, after a brief struggle, Michael dies from a knife wound. John is accused of the murder, but just before a jury convicts him, Ruth confesses to the crime and the court quickly acquits her because she had been defending her honor against Michael's advances.

Dir: Charles Giblyn

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

In Italy, Sister Beatrice becomes the confidante of the Contessa Angelica de Vecchio, whose brother, Prince Candoni, has placed her in a convent for having an affair with Carlo Parodi, a young radical. Angelica soon dies, and Beatrice, suddenly aware that she needlessly has shut herself off from the real world, leaves the convent and joins a group of revolutionaries. She marries Guido Perli, one of the leaders, and tries to temper his radical fervor with some religious tolerance. Finally, however, he calls on the people to rise against Candoni, and a horrified Beatrice alerts the prince. Candoni sends out his guards, and during the fighting, both Carlo and Guido are killed. Before he dies, however, Guido forgives his wife for betraying him to the prince, after which a remorseful Beatrice returns to the convent.

Dir: Charles Giblyn

Nance Molloy's cheerful disposition, in sharp contrast to the slum near the cathedral where she and her parents make their home, earns her the nickname "Sunshine Nan." However, her fights with the cathedral choirboys, led by MacPherson Clark, gets her into trouble. For interfering in a family squabble, she and her pal, Dan Lewis, are sent to reform school for five years, and upon her release, she becomes a stenographer in the elder Clark's shoe factory. Dan meanwhile has taken a job in the factory's chemical department, where he invents a dye process that promises to make him rich. In trouble over a woman, MacPherson decides to steal the formula and present it to his father as his own. Nan enters the lab just as MacPherson is copying Dan's formula, and the two old enemies begin to fight. Dan joins in the scuffle, but when some chemicals spill, the lab is enveloped in fire. Dan rescues Nan, and MacPherson, awakening in the hospital, remorsefully confesses his crime. Nan and Dan soon marry and the alley's name is changed to "Cathedral Court."

Dir: Charles Giblyn

The mad exploit of a daring young country girl who falls in love with an artist and hides in his automobile to escape marriage with a country youth she does not love.