The Auteur's Selection In the Shadow of The Love Gamble: Cult Guide

Dir: Edward LeSaint

Harley P. Hennage, at the opening of the story, is a gambler about 35 years of age, who spends much of his time at the Red Dog Retreat at Gila Junction. Marie, the town belle, respects Harley as the best friend she has. Harley, on the other hand, has never declared his love, and it is not until Marie falls in love with a strange prospector that she has an intimation that Harley loves her, too. Harley resents Corblay's intrusion, and tells him to get out of town. When he learns of Marie's love for Corblay, he relents and leaves himself. As a newcomer of the Silver Dollar Retreat in distant San Pasqual, Hennage turns to business and forgetfulness, and in time comes to be known as the worst man in town. Marie's husband, meanwhile, has gone out into the desert accompanied by his faithful Indian and Carey, of Boston. Carey assaults Corblay and escapes with the burros and the gold which was discovered on the way to the claim. Corblay dies in the desert, leaving a note in his canteen and an inscription on a sandstone ledge, reading: "Stranger, look in my canteen and see that I get justice." Later, Hennage, hearing of Marie's poverty and the arrival of a child, arranges to have Marie come to San Pasqual, where he secures her a position as cashier in the eating house. For the moment Hennage's hopes have revived, but when he sees that the girl remains true to the memory of her lost husband, he holds himself aloof. Eighteen years elapse. Hennage has attached himself like a father to the now-grown child, Donna. One afternoon Marie is taken sick and is carried to her hut. Hennage is sent for and is with her when she dies. Marie gives him the location map of her husband's claim, telling him that while she has hated it because it stood for the desert and her tragedy, yet she would like him to search for the claim on the chance that perhaps there may be something there and that Donna will now need it. Donna, about this time, meets and falls in love with Bob McGraw, a young man who has just filed on certain water rights in the Sierras on the hunch that the surrounding land is to be open to entry. Borax O'Rourke is infatuated with Donna and attempts to force his attention upon her. She is shielded by Hennage and later by McGraw. Hennage, in searching for the lost claim, runs across the canteen that belonged to Corblay and sees the inscription on the ledge. He starts back for civilization. About this time Carey shows up in San Pasqual in search of one Bob McGraw. He is anxious to buy the rights which McGraw has filed on. A hold-up has been committed and the evidence points to young McGraw. Carey discovers where McGraw is located and attempts to use his information to force the young man to sell. Hennage, returning with the story of Corblay's death and the canteen, meets Carey, and with the Indian's aid, learns that Carey is the man who killed Corblay years before. Hennage forces restitution to the child, Donna. He meets death in a gun duel with O'Rourke, whom he had previously told to get out of town for his insult against Donna. The Indian, left to guard Carey, stabs him to death.

Dir: Edward LeSaint

The city editor remarked to his star reporter, Jimmie, "This is the biggest steal that any corporation tried to put over the municipality. Run it down, break it up, and you will own the shop." Jimmie went after the new assignment fast and furious, and the front page of his paper began to attract the attention of the populace to a new condition of affairs, in which a railroad trust appeared to be hiding behind an innocent application made by a coterie of seemingly disinterested citizens, all of whom were associated with big corporations. Councilman Blake, a cold-blooded politician, led the controlling faction of aldermen, and while he had long been a "suspect" nobody was clever enough to "put it over on him." At the preliminary council meeting only a single vote was required to give the "people's property" to the railroad trust. The lacking vote was Black, who, knowing his previous power, reserved his right to hold the big job in leash. At this point in the game, grim Grayson, the head of the railway trust, came to the city secretly, just as Blake expected he would, praying for a conference. In the interim Reporter Jimmie met and impressed Alice, Blake's stenographer, who felt the power of his personality, and could not restrain her interest in the story that was unfolding as he came day after day for interviews. When she learned that Councilman Blake was to be a guest that night at Grayson's country home she "tipped it off" to Jimmie by 'phone. He managed to get unobserved into Grayson's house and his sharp ears overheard the conclusion of the bargain between the councilman and the magnate. Blake hurried away, and Grayson sat down to enjoy reflecting that he had the winning of the franchise fight in his pocket, signed for a certainty by Blake. The alert Jimmie leaped upon him, bound and gagged him, and, possessing himself of the precious document, escaped from the house and made a run for his horse he had concealed in the shrubbery. He ran into the husky secretary of Grayson and handed him a punch on the point of the jaw and then proceeded to his horse. The secretary, however, rallied for the count and took a shot at Jimmie, that came so close that it made a brain bruise across his brow. Grayson's man staggered to his feet, rushed to the house and found his master trussed up like a stuffed turkey. He released him, learned the truth of the raid, and consequently, upon his master's demand, rushed for his automobile. The wounded reporter rode madly on and then the automobile came flashing into the scene. Jimmie tried out all the tricks at his command in fox chasing, in cutting across ploughed fields and taking down narrow, rough lanes, but Grayson's car ate up the miles savagely and came closer and closer. Now they were in the city limits, and on a shaded boulevard the car caught up with the tired rider and his foam-flecked steed. Jimmie was dragged from his horse, and was about to be thrown in the car and carried away when a mounted patrolman appeared and asked impertinent questions. Jimmie thrust the document in the officer's hand, when Grayson declared his identity and insisted that a valuable document had been stolen from him. The patrolman glanced at the document and the significance of it appealed to him so powerfully that he handed it back to Jimmie and told him to "Beat it." Then he compelled the frantic Grayson and his huskies to conform with the speed laws so he could trot alongside their automobile through the park. Things were happening in the City Hall in the interim and likewise at the newspaper office, a sort of expectant hush that comes before great news "breaks." The editor was about to order the presses to start, giving up the expected scoop as too late, when Jimmie with a bloody handkerchief bound about his brow, and the knock-out document in his hand, staggered into the office with his smashing story. It was a big thing and the bold-face type played it up scare-heads. The scene shifted to the council chamber. Blake concluded his speech and the voting was about to begin, when Jimmie darted into the room and pushed the "extra" under the nose of the astonished Blake, and then passed other copies around so quickly that the great franchise steal died a-bornin'. Blake's pretty stenographer was at work early that morning when the telephone rang and she recognized the voice, unmistakably Jimmie's that said, "Hello a friend is talking. Will you marry me?" It wasn't hard to guess the answer, and when the orange blossoms bloomed upon her brow two months later, the newspaper that Jimmie helped to the greatest scoop of the time was heavily represented both in "among those present" and the bridal gifts.

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

Dir: Edward LeSaint

Stuart Kirkward, a wealthy miner, has built a magnificent house in preparation of his marriage to Peggy Carter, who elopes on the eve of her wedding with George Rothwell, a mining promoter, who is already married. At the station they meet Rothwell's wife, who tells Peggy the truth about him. Peggy in endeavoring to escape from the unpleasant scene rides away on her horse, only to be followed by Rothwell. Both meet with an accident, are hurled to their doom over a steep cliff. Just before this, Stuart had assumed the guardianship of a little daughter of a friend of his, and in connection with the accident he finds himself with the girl on his hands. He sends her away to boarding school, where she meets the son of George Rothwell, the man who had eloped with Stuart's intended bride. When the girl, whose name is Renee, comes back from school to her guardian, he finds that she has grown to be a full-fledged lady, and begins to feel more than a fatherly affection for her. Some time later, at a house party, Stuart is led to believe that she loves the son of George Rothwell, and, although bearing in mind that he is the son of the man who was his bitterest enemy, he decides to give the boy a chance. It is here that he makes the great discovery that, instead of Rothwell, Jr., it is he whom Renee loves. All the past is forgotten and they turn their thoughts to the future.

Dir: Edward LeSaint

When his fiancée commits suicide after being used by an American artist, a Japanese art dealer seeks to get vengeance by seducing the artist's wife.

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

Dir: Edward LeSaint

Maj. Ralph Seton is a British army officer stationed in Cawnpore, India, when the Sepoy Rebellion--a mutiny of Indian soldiers in the Brtitish army in India--breaks out in 1857. He receives the prestigious Victoria Cross--the highest decoration that can be awarded to a British soldier--for his actions in battle. However, after a night of drunken debauchery, he is stripped of the honor and disgraced in front of his love, Joan Strathallen, the daughter of his commanding officer. When Indian rebel leader Azimoolah instigates an uprising by the natives and has Joan kidnapped, Seton sets out to redeem his honor and save the woman he loves.

Dir: Edward LeSaint

James Kelly and Tom Baldwin, two old pals, agree that their children, Larry and Helen, should marry. During the month before the marriage, Larry plans to have a fling and is smitten by a woman he meets on a train. Not realizing that the woman is Helen, he takes a job on the ranch next to hers, and she poses as a maid to sound out her fiancee's character. Tom exposes a group of cattle thieves but is accused of murder and makes a run for it. His horse catches up with a train, and when he jumps through the window, he finds himself facing his future wife.

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

Dir: Edward LeSaint

De Guise visits the Paris home of the Marquis Henry De Montfort to obtain the marquis' system of beating the roulette wheel. In the struggle, De Guise kills the marquis and then abducts his daughter Blanche, who has fainted. On the road, De Guise is knocked unconscious in a fight with the "Stag," a leader of the Paris underworld, and the latter takes Blanche to his den in the slums. Blanche awakens with no recollection of what has transpired and begins a new life with the Stag. Using her father's roulette system, the two soon make a fortune and enter Paris' select gambling society. Blanche meets De Guise, stabs him, and is arrested, but an operation for "pressure on the brain" saves her from prison and restores her memory. De Guise recovers and again abducts Blanche, but the Stag comes to her rescue and, now choosing straight life, finds happiness with her.

Dir: Edward LeSaint

Dick Brown kills himself in front of Adele Durant after she rejects him and Dick's friend Robert Bradley threatens to accuse her of murder unless she places her life in his hands. He leaves her at a dance hall in an isolated spot in Mexico, where she falls in with a group of bandits planning to seize an American mine. Learning that the brigands plan to kill the lone mine owner, she warns him of their approach and discovers that he is none other than Bradley, whom she loathes. They flee together but are captured and held with other prisoners of the gang. While Bradley goes for help, bandit Pedro Vasquale threatens to kill the prisoners unless Adele comes to him in his cabin. When he embraces her, she stabs him. Bradley, recognizing her noble character, marries her.

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

Dir: Edward LeSaint

Chicago Charlie, a crook, gets Harriet Gordon, a wealthy heiress, to elope with him. He takes her to a road house on the promise that a minister will be waiting. There he drugs her. Detective Scully arrives, but Charlie gets away. Five years later Harriet is engaged to the district attorney. Chicago Charlie is arrested and convicted, Peggy, his sweetheart, pleads to see him. Harriet helps her and takes her as a maid. Chicago Charlie escapes from prison. He tells Peggy he must have money to get away. With Harriet, Peggy meets Charlie. She recognizes him. She .gives him money, but he demands also the engagement ring she wears. He takes it. While Peggy is trying to pawn the ring Charlie attacks Harriet, who takes a knife from a table and kills him. Detective Scully finds Peggy leaning over the body. Through the ring he traces Harriet. However, knowing all the circumstances, he reports to headquarters that a detective stabbed Charlie while Charlie was trying to escape.

Dir: Edward LeSaint

Hugh Payne owns and operates a mine in the West, supporting his brother Larry's luxurious life style. Hugh has nurtured Abby Hope, a young girl with whom he has fallen in love. When Larry comes to visit, he and Abby decide to get married, and to spare Abby's feelings, Hugh pretends that he is infatuated with another woman. When the building in which they are staying breaks out in flames, Hugh rescues Larry and Abby from the fire. Larry, finally realizing that Abby really loves his brother, confesses that her love is returned by Hugh, and the two are united.