Essential Cult Cinema Drawn from the Same DNA as The Master Mystery: Cult Guide

Dir: Harry Grossman

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of The $1,000,000 Reward perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

When bank teller Charles Shelby apprehends Helen Marsley as she attempts to pick his pocket, he threatens to have her arrested, but after the girl pleads poverty, Shelby relents and finds her a job as stenographer with Frank Chevy, the leader of a band of thieves with whom he has connections. In reality, Helen is working in conjunction with the police to hunt down the Chevy gang, whom she holds responsible for the death of her father. By means of a Dictaphone with hidden wires, Helen discovers that with Shelby's aid the gang plans to draw a large overdraft on the bank. Upon completion of the fraud, Helen notifies the police who arrive in time to arrest the thieves, and Shelby, disgraced, commits suicide rather than face prison. Thus, the crooks are brought to justice and Helen's father is avenged.

Dir: Harry Grossman

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

Just as John Weston is committing suicide, a would-be burglar, Bert Manners, is startled by and shoots at his own reflection in a mirror. Bert is caught with the gun and is accused of murder. Helen, a school chum of Weston's daughter, finds the evidence that acquits Bert and causes Hartley to confess his keeping the suicide secret in order to hide his theft of Weston's bonds.

Dir: Harry Grossman

A 15-chapter serial.