The Global Archive Complementing the Tone of The Life Mask: Cult Guide

Dir: Frank Hall Crane

George Castleman, an engineer, succeeds in securing the supervision of a big railroad in the west. He hurries home to tell the good news to Mildred, his wife. As usual she is at the Bridge Club, or other place of amusement, but being so full of his good luck he phones her to come home at once. However, she continues to play her game of bridge for another hour. An hour later she enters with excuses to George, who allows her kisses to make it all right. He eagerly tells her the news and she is delighted, but when he talks of her going with him, she says: "Surely you do not expect me to go with you?" He laughingly explains that it is not tor a few months, but for years; that it is a big railroad. But she persists in her refusal to go with him. He makes arrangements for the trip, and goes off alone to face the wilderness, with Mildred's words ringing in his ears, "When you want to see me, you can easily come home." George reaches the west and the building of the road begins in earnest, but it is slow work in the mountainous country. One day Dan Holden, while sitting in front of his hut in the mountains, with his little grandchild Zell, sees in the distance the railroad crew breaking through the forest. As they draw nearer and nearer, day by day, both are fascinated by the work, never before having seen cars, tracks or steam shovels. Zell is attracted to George and he somewhat to her. However, he explains to her that he is married but she persists in seeing him, if only to cheer him up. One day, while returning from watching the men at work, old Mr. Holden falls and seriously injures himself. George carries him to his hut but the injury is too much for the aged man to survive and he dies two days later. Lonesome, Zell shares her lonesomeness with that of the engineer. Months later, strange are the happenings in the little mountain hut and also in the beautiful home in the city. Zell is a real little mother, being called the little mother of the hills, and George is bending over, looking at their new born babe with true love and happiness. On the other hand, Mildred has met a man named Morgan, a flirtatious society man, who has designs upon her and urges her to bring divorce proceedings against her husband. Leaving the city to get evidence against George, Morgan and Mildred arrive at the little village, leaving in a coach for George's hut. The driver, a half-witted chap, driving carelessly around a curve, drove his wagon and occupants over the edge of a cliff, losing his life as well as killing both passengers. The news was a terrible shock to George, but after directing his men to give the three unfortunates as decent burial as the little mountain place could afford, he was at liberty to consider Zell's love for him in a different light with the result that after marrying the little mother of the hills, he continues his work content at last that his wife and babe are worthy of his sacrifice.

Dir: Frank Hall Crane

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

Ruined by a powerful financial ring, Farrington commits suicide, after which his daughter Paula vows to take vengeance in her own hands and hunt the man behind the ring. At a house party, Paula meets Dr. Smith, who falls in love with her, but a misunderstanding separates them. Unsuccessful in locating the man, but knowing that papers in the house of Van Brunt, one of the ring members, will identify the leader, Paula secures the papers with the aid of Old Bill Fitch, a reformed burglar. To her horror, she discovers that the man is Dr. Smith's father. Paula relinquishes vengeance for love, and Dr. Smith's father, realizing the error of his ways, agrees to make reparations.

Dir: Frank Hall Crane

Cowboy Mark West lives with his sister Mary, who suffers from a serious spinal disorder. While on vacation at the West's ranch, Violet Ridgeway, an Eastern socialite, toys with Mark's affections and then promptly forgets him. After Violet leaves, Mark works hard and earns the money to pay for an operation for his sister, which Doctor Welsh and Doctor Boyd agree to perform even though they know that it will probably result in her death. As expected, Mary dies, and Mark receives a letter detailing the doctor's risk-taking. A vengeful Mark kills Dr. Boyd, but Welsh, who is engaged to Violet, flees to safety. Mark goes to prison, but later Violet marries him in order to satisfy a stipulation in her late aunt's will. On his way back to jail, Mark escapes, and when Welsh and Violet reunite, they travel past Mark's hideout, and he captures them. Peblo, an evil Indian who is infatuated with Violet, kidnaps her, but Mark kills him. During the fight, Welsh behaves like a coward, and an enlightened Violet escapes to freedom across the Canadian border with Mark.

Dir: Frank Hall Crane

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

Charles Nelson is a self-made man and has amassed a fortune. His family consists of his wife, son Kenneth, and daughter Alice. His wife has become absorbed in society, requiring all the money her husband can made to support the large establishment and entertain. The wife, son, and daughter are out night after night, leaving Mr. Nelson much alone; while he pays the bills, he has little of the society of his family. He turns to vaudeville performer Kitty Claire for consolation and companionship. His son Kenneth gets into an argument with a friend at his club and hears that his father is keeping a woman in an establishment uptown. Kenneth returns home under the influence of liquor and insults his mother's companion, Mary Burke. Mr. Nelson enters, sees the situation and asks him what it all means. Kenneth turns on him and tells him that everyone knows he is keeping a woman in an apartment uptown. This conversation is overheard by Mrs. Nelson, who asks Mr. Nelson if it is true. He replies, "Yes." They agree to part. Kenneth clings to his mother. His sister Alice sympathizes with her father. She realizes that it is their own fault; they have given him nothing in return for all his labor in their behalf. Mr. Nelson is now living at the Alpine apartments, to which comes Kitty Claire. He tells her that the end has come. Meanwhile Kenneth, has come to see his father. Kitty, going out, hears him ask if his father is in, and seeks an acquaintance with Kenneth, who becomes infatuated with her, moves to the same hotel, and begins to live a Bohemian life with Kitty Claire and Dick LeRoy, another vaudeville performer. He finally asks Kitty to become his wife. She replies, "It is impossible, there is another man." The boy, crushed and brokenhearted, demands the man's name. Mr. Nelson enters at the point when Kenneth demands the name of the man. Kitty points to Mr. Nelson. Humiliated and ashamed Kenneth decides to end his life. He is about to write a letter when his mother arrives; she sees the pistol and tries to keep him from carrying out his plan. They are interrupted by a knock at the door; Kenneth is called down to the office by the clerk; while he is gone Mrs. Nelson seizes the opportunity to telephone Mr. Nelson, who arrives with Alice. Kenneth and his father are reconciled, also Mrs. Nelson, and her husband and the family are reunited.

Dir: Frank Hall Crane

After a touring theatrical company goes broke on the road, press agent Jack Bartling persuades a local Suffragette leader, Mrs. Eubanks, whose husband is a Senator and soap manufacturer, to hire him for publicity. When Jack and the Eubanks' daughter Nell fall in love, her parents object, however the Senator promises his consent if Jack can keep Nell, also a Suffragette, out of prison, and Mrs. Eubanks vows her approval if Jack converts her husband to the cause. At a protest in front of the Governor's house, Jack saves Nell from being arrested, thus alienating Mrs. Eubanks who wanted her to be arrested. The Eubanks move to New York, and after Jack locates them and sneaks into their apartment disguised as a window washer, he convinces Mrs. Eubanks to have Suffragettes all over the country clip the Senator's ten-cent coupons for his "Floating Lily" Soap. After the Senator agrees to support the Suffragettes rather than pay off $650,000 for the coupons, the Eubanks finally approve Jack as their son-in-law.

Dir: Frank Hall Crane

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

During World War I, Dick Randall says goodbye to his mother and joins the troops in battle overseas. Dazed by the explosion of a shell, he wanders over the German lines and is hiding in a haystack when French peasant girl Corinne Frenaud discovers him. Convalescing in her mother's cottage, Dick falls in love with Corinne, and she proves her love by accompanying him across the American lines after a shell destroys the cottage. Corinne quickly becomes the favorite of Dick's regiment, but he is distracted from his jealousy by the idea of showering Berlin with pamphlets featuring a photo of Kaiser Wilhelm and the inscription "Wanted for Murder." With help from a pilot, Dick flies over Berlin and drops the photos, but the plane is shot on its way back to France. Corinne again rescues him just as the truce is declared, and later, Dick takes the brave woman to America as his bride.

Dir: Frank Hall Crane

Lucy Millington is an independent woman who looks upon men with contempt. Novelist Donald Prime, who has written a book on women, considers himself an authority on the subject. Both are lured into the desolate backwoods of Arcady by adventurers who plan to keep them in captivity until a fortune bequeathed to them has been safely deposited in the hands of their rivals. While attempting to find their way back to civilization they face many dangers including a canoe trip in perilous waters and an encounter with a band of outlaws. Finally, through sheer pluck and daring, they reach their lawyer just in the nick of time to claim their inheritance. During their days stranded in Arcady, they discover their love for each other, and so after they leave the lawyer's office, their next stop is to the justice of the peace.

Dir: Frank Hall Crane

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

Margaret Ellis marries archaeologist Philip Bellamy to please her father, a trustee of Calder College where Philip teaches, and Philip's mother, who convinces Margaret that Philip will not succeed in finding ancient Greek ruins in North Africa, unless she is his wife. Bob Harding, who loves Margaret, joins them on their expedition as Philip's business manager. When Margaret contracts desert fever, Bob cares for her, but the alcoholic Philip takes the last bottle of brandy which Margaret needs. Hassan, a guide who hates Philip, sees the caving in of the ruins of a half-buried relic while Philip explores it, and announces Philip's death. Back home, after a tablet honoring Philip is unveiled, he returns drunk and smelling with hashish to overhear Margaret and Bob confess that they love each other. Philip accuses them of plotting his death, but when Hassan, who is now the servant of Margaret's doctor, sees Philip threaten Margaret, he stabs Philip to death. Margaret now accepts Bob's love.

Dir: Frank Hall Crane

Scandalous European temptress Lila Despard, travels to America to escape her lover, criminal Jack Firthenbras. On the ship, she meets Andrew Livingston, a United States Navy planner, and Senator and Mrs. Gales. Her new friends host a party for Lila in Washington, D.C., where a spy named Dromiroff threatens to expose her past unless she steals Andrew's secret naval plans. In order to secure the papers, Lila makes love to Andrew, but the plan backfires when she falls in love with him. Eventually, Lila agrees to marry Andrew, but during their honeymoon, Dromiroff abducts her from the bridal suite. At headquarters, Lila is shot while destroying the documents, and before dying, she telephones Andrew to confess her misdeeds. The conspirators are killed when their car plunges from a cliff.

Dir: Frank Hall Crane

Dora, the daughter of a wealthy man, marries a good-looking young fellow from the country who has made an auspicious start in New York business life. Having won the girl by trickery, he proceeds to reveal a baseness of disposition that makes his young wife's life a terrible burden. He becomes a drunkard who abuses his wife and baby. Dora resents his cruelty and he robs her of the child, surreptitiously conveying it to his mother, then going away to sea on a fishing schooner. Bereft of husband and child, Dora falls prey to grief. Fresh suffering awaits her when news comes that her vicious young husband was drowned at sea. Concealing her identity, she makes her way to the fishing village where her husband was born, becomes his mother's paying guest, recognizes her child, and inspires the love of her husband's brother, now a clergyman. Dora's troubles are about to recommence with undiminished severity. Her husband married her under a false name, so she is in ignorance of his relatives, and in this state of ignorance she lends a willing ear to the wooing of the Rev. John St. John, her late husband's brother. The wedding ceremony is about to take place when a storm at sea arises, a ship in distress is sighted, there is a call to man the life-boat, and Dora's fiancé volunteers. Among the rescued is Dora's legal husband Frank, who re-asserts his claim to wife and child, grows jealous of his brother, and once more becomes a drunkard. One of his New York reprobate companions appears to demand money. There is a quarrel and both men are killed. The sinful man has reaped as he sowed, and like so many of his kind has made others suffer for his misdeeds, particularly the fond girl who married him.