Must-Watch List Comparable to the Style of The Master Mind: Cult Guide

Dir: William Parke

Bruce Wendell, the son of West Virginia coal mine owner James Wendell, graduates from West Point and prepares to lead a fighting unit to the front during World War I. As his father lies dying, however, he convinces Bruce to remain at home and guard the mine. Bruce's fiancée Ann Blair assumes that he is a coward and breaks off their engagement, but her brother Bobbie remains Bruce's loyal friend. Meyer, a German agent, persuades railroad president Parrish to refuse to transport Wendell's coal, but when Bruce adamantly refuses to close the mine, the spy's men decide to blow it up. While Ann is being abducted by Meyer, Bobbie is buried in an explosion at the mine. Bruce rescues Bobbie and then sends a plea to Lieutenant Parrish to rescue Ann. Meyer and his gang are captured and Ann renews her vow of love to Bruce.

Dir: Kenneth S. Webb

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

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Alexander Butler

In Alberta, Canada, a Cornish emigrant unmasks a rustler posing as the girl's "blind" father.

Dir: Kenneth S. Webb

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

"Caliph" Quigg runs a cheap restaurant by day and a seeker of adventure by night. Ed Simmons and Bill Hillman are two hard-working employees of Ogden, a prosperous harness maker. Laura, the harness-maker's daughter, is the object of both their affections. Laura has ideas of her own regarding a prospective husband but dares not communicate them to her father, fearing the harness strap. She is only a kid and should not be dreaming of husbands. Her dad is insane on the subject of riddles and when the question of which she shall choose for a husband is broached he asks the following riddle: "What kind of a hen lays the longest?" Get O. Henry's answer in the snappiest of climaxes.

Dir: Kenneth S. Webb

Eddie Gillian, a wild young New Yorker, lives well on a generous allowance given to him by Old Bryson, his crabby uncle. Eddie loves Bryson's ward, Margaret Hayden, but spends most of his time with Lotta Lauriere, a burlesque queen. After Bryson's death, Eddie is shocked to learn that he has been left only $1,000, which the will advises him to spend prudently and unselfishly. When Lotta discovers this and deserts him, Eddie gives the money to Margaret, who has inherited only $10, telling her that it is rightfully hers. Bryson's lawyer then informs Eddie that he will inherit half a million provided that he spend the $1,000 generously, and although Eddie attempts to turn that, too, over to Margaret, she agrees to share it with him as his wife.

Dir: Robert N. Bradbury

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

A simple country girl, brutally mistreated by her stepfather, awakens first the sympathy, then the love, of The Boy. The Spider, who lusts after The Girl, makes a bargain with the stepfather and takes her to the city where, kept prisoner, she is soon broken in health and spirit. Cast out and near death, she is taken in by The Boy. Following the demise of The Spider, The Boy takes her to church, where he prays, and after many hours she is restored to health.

Dir: Kenneth S. Webb

Wealthy but bored Phyllis Blake and several of her like-minded friends come up with a plan to relieve their boredom--they start a business called "The Adventure Shop", which will provide its customers with thrills and excitement. Their first customer is wealthy pickle manufacturer Josephus Potts, who wants to cure his son Josephus Jr. of his addiction to thrill-seeking. Phyllis takes Junior to a gambling den and then a meeting of an anarchist organization. These have no effect on him, so they take it to the next step--introducing Junior to the city's dark underworld, with its killers, blackmailers, and other criminal types. The real adventure comes when she and Junior are kidnapped and held for $50,000 ransom--an activity that was not on the itinerary.

Dir: Maurice Elvey

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

A lady marries a horse trainer but withholds herself until her crippled brother is cured.

Dir: Bruno Ziener

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Kenneth S. Webb

After growing up in the West with her father, Drina Hilliard travels to New York to surprise her mother Marie, whose profitable Fifth Avenue millinery store has provided the means for Drina to go to college. Arriving while Marie is vacationing in Atlantic City, Drina discovers that Marie greatly overcharges her customers, then splits the profits with the women whose rich husbands or lovers pay. When Marie returns, she tries to get Drina to marry Colonel Lambert, an old rounder who pays the bills for a dozen women's hats, but Drina, attracted to Blair Carson, who drove bandits from their New York-bound train, refuses the colonel. After Drina sees Blair with Zelie, a showgirl the colonel has cast off, and realizes that Marie is ill and on the verge of bankruptcy, she nearly accepts the colonel's proposal, when Blair appears and confesses his love. Marie vows to run her store legitimately, and the colonel and Zelie console each other over their losses.