The Essential Watchlist that Capture the Essence of The Michigan Kid: 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: Irvin Willat

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

A fur smuggler's daughter asks to accompany him on his trip to the US to sell his furs. She falls for Robert, a young man who has recently been dumped by his girlfriend for a rich man. She and Robert fall in love, but her father suddenly takes her back to Canada to avoid tax agents. Robert searcher for her for a year, and when he finally finds her, he must fight both her father and her father's gang for her. Complications ensue.

Dir: Irvin Willat

Wu Fang rules the Chinese underworld with the aid of crooked politician Jim Murdock, who shields the criminal from the police in exchange for a share of the profits. When Wu Fang kills Sergt. Joe Duncan, however, Patrolman Terence Shannon decides to conduct a raid. Wu Fang, who is expecting to receive a large shipment of opium, kidnaps Chinatown mission worker Patsy O'Connell and threatens to harm her if the police interfere in the drug smuggling operation. Although Terence is attracted to Patsy, he places duty before his own feelings and goes ahead with the raid but is captured by Wu Fang. Patsy and Terence are about to be thrown into a rat-infested pit when Officer Michael O'Shea and his men arrive, and in the ensuing battle, Wu Fang is killed and Murdock arrested. Chinatown having been made safe, Patsy agrees to be the wife of the new police chief, Terence.

Dir: Irvin Willat

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

A widely respected deep-sea diver is approached by a ring of con artists who want him to be the front man for a phony scheme to recover gold from sunken ships. When he refuses, they send a sexy young woman to seduce his son, and then blackmail the father into going along with their scheme.

Dir: Irvin Willat

Alain de Montcalm is the son of a French trading post proprietor. When a murder and kidnapping occur, Alain pursues the abducted girl and her captor across the far northern wasteland of ice.

Dir: Irvin Willat

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

During World War I, a professional thief known as The Lone Wolf is assigned to steal a cylinder with important information from behind the German lines and bring it to Allied intelligence headquarters. However, German agents set out to stop him, headed by the man who was responsible for the death of the thief's sister.

Dir: Harley Knoles

Jim McDonald, the foreman of a shipbuilding plant and head of the labor union, strives to combat the anarchistic propaganda being put forth by Klimoff, the leader of a Bolshevik gang whose goal is to disrupt the country with strikes and anarchy. Despite McDonald's efforts, a strike is called, resulting in chaos. McDonald's child is knocked down by runaway horses abandoned by their striking driver, and dies. Mob scenes take place in America, as well as in Russia. Eventually, the unrest is quelled with an armistice called between Capital and Labor for a year, during which time wages are to be increased to reflect the cost of living, and leaders are to work out a common plan for their mutual advantage. The strikers now realize that they have been pawns of the Bolsheviks and call off the strike, agreeing to the plan.

Dir: Irvin Willat

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

Jailed unjustly for a murder he did not commit, a young man uses his amazing powers of escape to free himself and pursue the actual killers, who hold his fiancée captive.

Dir: Edgar Jones

A mail-order bride arrives at a Maine lumber camp but doesn't like her prospective husband.

Dir: Bruno Ziener

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.