Masterpiece Selection Resonating with the Themes of The Light of Western Stars: Cult Guide

Dir: Charles Swickard

Wealthy young American Carrington O'Connell is traveling Europe with a "social advisor" to become more polished and sophisticated. While stopping at an inn in Switzerland, he is entranced by pretty young Adrienne Le Blanc, whose parents own the inn and in which she entertains travelers. Adrienne falls for him, but his "advisor" warns him against such a socially "unacceptable" relationship, and he reluctantly leaves. Adrienne soon gets a contract with a theatrical agent for appearances at a musical hall in America, where she happens to meet Carrington's wealthy father Michael. Complications ensue.

Dir: Charles Swickard

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

A young Egyptian goes to the rescue of his employers, a wealthy European family, when they are menaced by a local strongman and his gang.

Dir: Charles Swickard

Dick Bisbee loses his job in his millionaire uncle T. W. Bisbee's factory because of the hostility of crooked manager Elmer Robbins. Before leaving, Dick denounces his uncle for his niggardly ways and advises him that there are no pockets in a shroud. Dick goes to live at the home of his one office friend, bookkeeper Stetson, and he falls in love with Stetson's daughter Helen. The next day T. W. feels remorse and under Dick's guidance he abandons his miserly ways and spends his money having a good time. After overhearing Helen telling Dick what she would do if she had T. W.'s money, T. W. follows her advice. Robbins is arrested for embezzlement, and T. W. makes Stetson manager and Dick a partner in the factory.

Dir: Charles Swickard

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

When Jerry Marston played a sharp business trick on Hop Li, the leader of a Chinese tong, he made the mistake of his life. Jerry never knew what became of one of the Marston twins mysteriously disappearing less than three weeks after the boys were born. So the anxious years passed until his only son Alvin had married and gone abroad on his wedding tour. One evening the butler handed Jerry a package, and at the same time delivered a wireless message telling that Alvin and his bride Edith were arriving on that day's ship from abroad. Marston opened the package. Before him lay a red poppy, a sign of death sent him by Hop Li. When Alvin and his bride reached the house, they found Jerry dying with the red poppy clasped in his hand. Alvin knew enough of Chinese lore to realize that his father had received the tong's death signal and thereafter Alvin lived in the dread of a like warning. On their wedding anniversary, Alvin presented his wife with a string of pearls. That night as Edith lay in bed, she experienced what she thought was a frightful nightmare. Alvin, with leering face, seemed to appear at her bedroom window, enter and try to caress her. The next morning she discovered that her pearls were missing. Alvin assured her that the mystery would soon be cleared up and left for his office. When the man Edith presumed was her husband returned home that evening, his face was dark and leering. When she tried to summon help, he silenced her and then, throwing her pearls at her feet, disappeared. Mystified she summoned Helen and Rex Durant, neighbors. They assured her that Alvin would soon come home safely and as his usual self. When she read in the morning of a crime in Chinatown (the murder of Hop Li, and the burning of his opium den) she connected it with her husband, and his revolting appearance the previous evening. She associated his disappearance with the crime and decided to announce to her friends that her husband had gone to a sanatorium. Several weeks later Rex and Helen Durant came upon Alvin as he was walking aimlessly through the streets. They took him home and told Edith her husband had escaped from the sanatorium. Continuing the deception, she accepted the man as Alvin, but his strange conduct so mystified her that she was mentally tortured. She was convinced that the man was not her husband, but one who strikingly resembled him. One evening the prison siren sounded a screeching alarm. A prisoner had escaped. The sound was so distressing to Mrs. Marston that she pleaded with her companion to take her into the library where the noise might be less acute. While the man and woman were standing near the fireplace under a great Chinese vase, they were startled by a pistol shot. The bullet hit the vase which broke and part of it fell upon the man's head. The shock restored Alvin to his normal mental state. The two turned to the library door and saw a man fall to the floor. Rushing to where he lay. Mrs. Marston recognized the man who had appeared at her bedside and who had returned her pearls. The dying man related that he was Alvin's twin brother whom Hop Li had stolen when but an infant, and had brought him up an opium fiend. His hatred finally conquered him, and he committed the vengeful act of murder of which he has been convicted. Immediately after the guards arrived and found the man dead upon the floor. The picture ends happily with Alvin and Edith restored to connubial felicity.

Dir: Charles Swickard

Captain Unger is relating the story of his love for the Hindoo woman, Indore, to Captain Duane and begs him if anything should happen to care for their little girl. When the officers leave the room a Hindoo sent by Indore's husband poisons the decanter of wine. Unger returns and is astonished to see Indore, who has made her way to him. He consents to take her away, drinks the wine, and falls dead. Indore lifts the glass to her lips to die with him, but it is snatched from her by the native, who carries her back to his prince. She is reduced to slavery in the harem. Duane takes the child, Agatha, to England. Agatha develops into a beautiful woman. She is reading a message from Duane with a heavy heart, for it says he is on his way with his bride, Florence, to join his father on his journey to India. En route they meet the Grand Duke Alexis, who has known Florence in the past. Alexis, perceiving that Florence is jealous of Agatha, forces her to think her husband loves the Indian girl. In India, Alexis informs Agatha her mother is not dead and that she might see her. Guided by a native, Agatha confronts the prince and asks for her mother; he parries her question. Looking at her with a lustful smile, he draws near and she retreats in terror. Struggling fiercely, the girl screams as he overpowers her. Indore hears the scream, slips into the room and stabs the prince. She recognizes her child and clasps her in her arms. Thus the guard finds them. Jang Sahib, the hunchback, rushes in when he hears the guard's shriek, and orders the native to spread the news that their prince has been murdered by an English infidel. Soon there is a riot and many white men are slain. Captain Duane, discovering that Agatha has gone to the palace, hastens with a few horsemen. Jang Sahib tells Duane Agatha is not there. Duane fights. Meanwhile Florence, convinced by Alexis of her husband's infidelity, has left on a steamer with him, leaving a note for Duane. While crossing the desert in Sahib's caravan, Indore jumps over the cliff. She is later picked up by some traders still alive, but has lost her memory. At the Walled City Sahib compels Agatha to marry him. On the wedding day she grasps him by the throat and chokes him to death. Duane, crushed by despair, shuns the haunts of white men. He wanders into a native dive, and is startled by the sight of a dancing girl. He staggers to her and, in spite of the curses of the people, leads her out. It is Indore, whom he mistakes for Agatha. She does not even remember her child's name, but when left alone in Duane's home is stabbed by the prince's servant. She is shocked into her right mind and demands to know where Agatha is imprisoned. At the head of a troop, Duane goes to the Walled City in time to snatch Agatha from the funeral pyre into which she is being forced by the subjects of the murdered Sahib. They escape and begin their journey back. Duane and Agatha are happy at seeing each other again.

Dir: Charles Swickard

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

The picture tells the story of a little Spanish boy who is cast upon the shore of the east coast of Mexico early in the sixteenth century, when Mexico was dominated by the Aztec Indians. Never having seen a white person before, the local natives, a tribe called Tehuans, bring him up as a god and call him Chiapa. When he reaches manhood, Chiapa is given authority over his entire tribe. He falls in love with the priestess, Tecolote, and she yields to his advances although she is quite unworthy of him, and encourages other suitors. Then the Aztecs hear that under the white god the Tehuans are very prosperous, and start forth to conquer them. The Aztec army is under command of Mexitli, the chief general of Montezuma, the Emperor, and having conquered the Tehuans, he carried off Tecolote as his personal slave. Chiapa follows as a spy. In the garden of Montezuma, he is wounded by a guard, but Lolomi, the beautiful daughter of the Emperor, saves him. They fall in love. Meanwhile Mexitli has tired of Tecolote, and now seeks the hand of the Princess Lolomi, who would rather die than have him. As the Emperor gives Mexitli his consent, he tries to get the princess by force, and in doing so discovers Chiapa. Luiapa is sentenced to die at the end of the year on the sacrificial stone. But Lolomi, finding her pleas to her father of no avail, sends word to the Tehuans that their god is captive. An avenging army sweeps down, and there is brought about a sequence of thrilling scenes with a smashing finish.

Dir: Charles Swickard

College student Li Ting Lang is a favorite of his friends until his attentions toward socialite Marion Halstead bring forth protests on all sides. In defiance, Marion announces her engagement to Li Ting Lang. Gradually, she becomes socially isolated and Li, realizing that she will be friendless, releases her from her commitment. Soon after, an emissary to America arrives with instructions to compel Li to return to his native land and administers a drug to Li, who awakens aboard a ship bound for China, while back in America, his friends believe that he has committed suicide. Li arrives in the middle of a revolution and becomes a great military leader. Years later, while visiting the Orient on her honeymoon, Marion sees Li and recognizes him. Venturing to his house, she is followed by one of his enemies who plans to kill the girl and throw the guilt on Li, thereby ruining him. When the plotters arrive, Li defends Marion single handed until a rescue party of his old college chums comes to his aid. After a warm reunion among old friends, Marion departs with her husband, and Li is sadly left alone once again.

Dir: Charles Swickard

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

British army doctor Robert Lowndes battles a cholera epidemic at a small fort in Cawnpore, India, in the 1850s. When he catches a fever he begins to take morphine in order to continue treating his patients. Unfortunately he becomes an addict. He is supported by his girlfriend Betty Archer, but a rival suitor, Capt. Guy Douglas, is determined to get Lowndes out of the picture any way he can, including giving him drugs. Matters are further complicated by the outbreak of the Sepoy Rebellion, a nationwide mutiny of Indian soldiers in the British army, which breaks out in Cawnpore.

Dir: Charles Swickard

When her mother dies, Mary not only becomes the household slave of her overbearing father, Scottish American Andy MacTavish, but also becomes a mother to her little sister Ruth at their home on the Dakota plains. Years later, Jack Fraser, the son of a surgeon at the nearby fort and a steady visitor at the MacTavish home, secretly marries Ruth although he is deeply loved by Mary. Sometime later, a baby is born to Ruth, and Mary, doubting her sister's assertion that she is married to Fraser, takes the child to the fort to find out the truth from Fraser himself. Andy, believing the baby to be Mary's, orders her from the house. In the meantime, the Indians go on the warpath and Mary is surrounded. Buck Mathews, a half-breed who has lusted after Mary, sees her with the child, and pitying the helplessness of the girl, leaves the Indians to protect Mary. Fraser arrives just as Buck is fatally wounded, rescues Mary, who forgives Buck before he dies. Fraser now acknowledges that he is the husband of Ruth.

Dir: Charles Swickard

D'Artagnan goes to Paris and becomes a member of the famous King's Musketeers. The Queen sends him on a dangerous mission to England. His three companions are either captured or put out of commission in the course of fights on foot and horseback. D'Artagnan reaches London and recovers from the Duke of Buckingham a pair of studs the Queen gave him as tokens of regard. On the ship on which he returns the hero is captured by his deadly enemy, De Rochfort. Jumping over the side, he clings to the chains of the vessel till it reaches port in France. He restores the studs to the Queen, and she has them put back into the necklace where they belong. Cardinal Richelieu has induced the King to command the Queen to appear wearing the necklace at a great court ball. When he sees the complete necklace, his plan to embarrass the Queen falls through. In addition to obtaining the favor of the Queen, D'Artagnan is rejoiced over the safe return of his comrades and his reward from his sweetheart for his bravery.