The Cult Collection Comparable to the Style of The Lotus Woman: Cult Guide

Dir: Harry F. Millarde

A village schoolteacher, unaware that Eben, the village carpenter, is in love with her, marries a surveyor and has a son, David. Eben, distraught at losing her, goes away, and he returns years later to find that David, now an orphan, is running away from his cruel foster father, the squire. Eben befriends David, and when the town is destroyed by a storm the two escape harm. An epilog shows David 25 years later as a successful businessman, happily married, helping to rebuild the town. (SILENT)

Dir: Harry F. Millarde

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

Mark Sabre hires young Effie Bright to keep his snobbish, cold-hearted wife Mabel company while he goes off to war. When he returns home from the front wounded, he finds that Mabel has fired Effie, who shows up at Mark's door with her baby, having no place to go. Mark takes her in, but Mabel leaves him when the town shuns him for what they believe is going on with Mark and Effie. Matters are further complicated when Effie, driven to desperation, commits an unspeakable act that results in Mark having a nervous breakdown--and then things get worse.

Dir: Harry F. Millarde

Eugene Lenoir weds the sister of Major Warfield. The couple dies not many months after the marriage, but there is much animosity between the two families. Gabriel Lenoir inherits his brother's estate, and he makes the nurse, Nance Wilson, swear to kill the baby that was born to Eugene's wife shortly before she died. But the nurse takes the infant to be raised in a New York tenement instead. After the girl is grown, the nurse tells the Major of her existence. Warfield brings her back to Virginia under the name Capitola Black. When the United States declares war on Germany, Herbert Grayson comes to town to ferret out a gang of spies. Capitola decides to help her country, too, and she discovers that Gabriel Lenoir is one of the conspirators. She is almost killed but Grayson rescues her and reveals that Lenoir stole Capitola's fortune when she was a baby, and the villain gets his just rewards for his wrongdoings. The estate is returned to Capitola, who is attacked by one of Lenoir's accomplices that she locks up in the cellar. As Grayson is about to enlist and leave for the front in France, he asks for Capitola's hand in marriage.

Dir: Harry F. Millarde

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

Gretchen, an abandoned child, is raised by Frau Van Lom, the nastiest woman in the little Dutch village of Olenburg. As she grows up, Gretcen's few moments of happiness are those she spends with Carl, who is also an abandoned child, but who is raised by a poor family. When Gretchen refuses to marry a wealthy old man in exchange for his paying off Frau von Lom's mortgage, she is framed for theft and jailed. On top of that, Carl is taken away from the village and sent to the palace of the king. Complications ensue.

Dir: Harry F. Millarde

Card shark Lee Rogers overhears Joselyn Poe crying in her furnished room. She is trying to get a dancing job in New York without any luck. He gets her a job as a taxi dancer through which she meets chorus girl Kitty who introduces her to all sorts of cads. Meanwhile Lee, who realizes he loves her, decides to go straight

Dir: Harry F. Millarde

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

Annie Laurie is betrothed to Donald McGregor just before he leaves Scotland to fight the Germans in France during World War I. At home, Annie discovers a man washed up on the shore and cares for him until her father, fearing that she and the stranger, Lieutenant Hathaway, are falling in love, turns him out of the house. When Hathaway recovers, he returns to the front where he befriends Donald, while Annie becomes a Red Cross nurse. Both men are wounded in a charge and hospitalized. There Annie, though still torn between the two, eventually decides to honor her vow to Donald and marries him.

Dir: Harry F. Millarde

Desperate because a wealthy man has reduced her father to thievery, Rhoda agrees to rob the poor box of the church, although she finds the act abhorrent. During the robbery, Rhoda's father is shot and dies in the priests's arms, seeking absolution, while the man who ruined him looks on. Penitent, the man appoints Rhoda as his representative to return the ill-gotten gains to those he has robbed. Rhoda enters the underworld as an angel of mercy, gaining the sobriquet of "The White Moll." After many thrilling escapades, she brings The Dangler, the leader of a gang of crooks, to justice, saves others from death and finally wins The Pug, the man of her choice.

Dir: Harry F. Millarde

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

After her lover, Kale Loomis, has had her husband sent to prison on a false charge, Fay Gonard leaves her little daughter, Dolores May, on the steps of a convent. Reared in an atmosphere of strictness and seclusion, Dolores is possessed with a desire to see the world, and after meeting Lawrence Grant, a politician's son, her curiosity is aroused even more and she escapes from the convent. Found on the road by Kale's friends, Dolores lives in his home for a time, but later, Lawrence takes her under his wing with the intention of marrying her. Although she loves Lawrence, Dolores misses Kale's parties and returns to him, whereupon Kale threatens to publicize her activities unless Lawrence's father agrees to his demands. Lawrence takes a repentant Dolores away from one of Kale's riotous parties, but after Kale is found dead, Lawrence is arrested for murder. Dolores' father, however, confesses to the crime, and following his acquittal, he is reunited with his daughter and Lawrence, now her husband.

Dir: Harry F. Millarde

Lieut. Ralph Harrison is in love with Major Marston's wife, who pretends to love him. Harrison's mother implores Capt. Jim Craig to intervene to save her son from dishonor. When Craig visits Mrs. Marston, Harrison appears, precipitating a quarrel during which Harrison is wounded in the shoulder. Craig then leaves, and the major discovers Harrison. The major kills Harrison, and places the blame on Craig. To avoid a scandal, Craig runs away. Madge Summers of the Secret Service tracks him down and the two fall in love, but Craig is arrested and taken back to the army post. Further evidence of his wife's infidelity causes the major to go mad. He murders his wife and confesses to Harrison's murderer. Cleared of dishonor, Craig finds happiness with Madge.

Dir: Harry F. Millarde

Rudolph King becomes engaged to Martha Thorne, the niece of John Chandler, when he and Chandler form a pork-and-bean producing partnership. The two hold a house party for Pell Kingston, who buys pork and beans for the United States Army, to negotiate a contract. To convince Martha of the merits of kissing, the shy Rudolph asks Pell to kiss her in the dark, and when she responds favorably, Rudolph claims the credit. Martha discovers that Pell, to whom she is attracted, actually kissed her, but things become confused when Mrs. Irene Chandler also demonstrates an interest in Pell. After several amatory mix-ups, everything is cleared up, and Pell and Martha leave the party together.