Cinematic Discoveries Following the Footsteps of The Only Thing: Cult Guide

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On the South Sea island of Somona, an American rough-and-ready hero, Sylvester Todd, punches a German prince for insulting Lady Diana Loring of England. Sylvester flees the island, and at the request of an English official, sails to another province to help quell a native uprising. The German foreman of an English platinum mine on the island plans to destroy it with the assistance of the natives. When Lady Diana arrives, Sylvester takes her and several other English friends to a chateau for safety, but the building is surrounded by the rebels. Sylvester escapes to a wireless station and sends off an appeal for help. The party is rescued by an American warship, after which Sylvester and Diana marry.

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Patricia Reynolds, the belle of the summer resort she is visiting with her friend, Amy Powellson, attracts the attention of Arthur Kirby, whom Amy loves. On an evening drive, Arthur tries to kiss Patricia , whereupon she leaps from the car and walks home. While Amy, disguised in Patricia 's clothing, accompanies Arthur to a roadhouse, Patricia , walking near the beach, sees her invalid friend, Jim Wheeler, jump into the ocean intending to kill himself. After rescuing him, Patricia persuades Jim to visit a specialist, but when she later is accused of spending the night with Arthur, she refuses to defend herself in order to conceal Jim's attempted suicide. Hastings Carson tries to save her reputation, but he subsequently attacks her, and she is forced to swim from his yacht to shore. Cured, Jim returns to remove Patricia from this social quagmire by marrying her.

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Genuinely sweet natured, Ambrosia Lee loves to help everyone, soothing their sorrows with her cheerful spirit. Her charms are put to the test, when she tries to save her own Aunt Charlotte's marriage. Happily, all ends well, when her Aunt and Uncle are happily reunited.

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Mary seemed to have been born with music in her feet. She danced to school, danced at her work and danced while at play. Her invalid mother, realizing her talents and knowing her ambition to become an expert dancer, made the father promise that Mary should have her heart's desire. When the mother died Mary's father sold the farm and purchased a traveling show to give Mary her chance to be a stage dancer. There was a Madame La Rue in the company, who had a daughter of about Mary's age, and the two girls disagreed, with Mme. La Rue continually inspiring discord. Mary's father is stricken at a time when Mary is on the stage giving her performance, Mme. La Rue has him removed to her own dressing room, and there the old man makes his dying statement to the scheming woman. He tells her where in his trunk he keeps his money; asks that his wealthy brother, in a distant town, be notified of his death, and that Mary be taken to her undo who will provide her from his abundance with a home. Mme. La Rue takes the money from the trunk, wires to Mary's uncle that she is bringing Mary and the body of her father to him, and, deserting Mary, takes her own daughter instead. Mme. La Rue and her child are accordingly, established in luxury. When the authorities disband the juvenile opera company because the owner is dead and there is no one to carry on the show. Mary is taken in charge by a shrewish woman who makes a kitchen slave of the child. Mary bears oppression as long as she can, and then runs away to the town where her father is buried. Near the ocean shore she locates a cottage that offers shelter, even though the owner is not at home. Mary goes to sleep in the bed and awakes next morning to find that a kindly disposed young man, who makes his living fishing with his nets, owns the cottage and straightway offers a home and working partnership. Mary one day meets Phillip, a handsome young author, who is a visitor at the home of Mary's uncle. Mme. La Rue has been trying to ensnare Phillip as a husband for her daughter, Zella, but Phillip is slow to advance. Mary and Phillip meet frequently on the beach, and Bob grows jealous of his rival. One day Mme. La Rue and Zella recognize Mary as she is conversing with Phillip, they also observe Bob's jealous conduct. Going to Bob they tell him that Phillip is engaged to Zella and is only trifling with Mary. Bob in a rage assaults Phillip, and believes that the blow be strikes has killed the young author. Informing Mary of what he has done, the two friends agree that they had better leave the neighborhood and go at once to a distant town. In the years that follow Bob devotes himself to the task of realizing, for Mary, her ambition to become a great dancer. At a society function where Mary is the attraction, Phillip (who has only been stunned by Bob's blow) sees the girl and recognizes his little friend from the fishing village. The renewal of acquaintance discloses Mary's parentage, and the locket she wears proves that she should be occupying the place in her uncle's home that Mme. La Rue had, by fraud, established for Zella. The outcome gives Mary her proper place and we are left to believe that she and Phillip will find their way to happiness.

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Chattfield Bruce, In China to buy goods for an American firm, Chattfield Bruce is impressed by the conduct of Wong Lee, a pirate who plies his occupation solely for the purpose of giving to the poor the rice and treasures he steals from the rich. The Chinese pirate has been particularly active in his depredations against the rich shipowner, Fong Wo Chong. The merchant offers a reward for the pirate's apprehension and Caglioni, one of Wong Lee's henchmen, betrays his master. Bruce discovers the fact in time to notify Wong Lee. In gratitude, the pirate gives the American a ring guaranteed to give the wearer the allegiance of Chinamen in any part of the world. When Bruce returns to America he resumes his position in good society and becomes noted for his generosity to the poor. He is reputed to receive large incomes from his estates, but in reality Bruce has adopted the Wong Lee method of equaling the wealth of the world. Wong Lee's son comes to New York and opens a store in Chinatown, as the base of operations for Bruce's activities. To provide himself with an occupation that will give him wider scope for his practicing his peculiar style of philanthropy, Bruce retains his position with Nathan Goldberg, a merchant with social aspirations for his daughter. Marjorie Woods, a schoolmate of Miss Goldberg, arrives from Europe with Sir Archibald Bamford, a bankrupt nobleman, following closely in her wake, his eyes upon the fortune Miss Woods is reputed to possess. Goldberg has purchased for his daughter a string of pearls of great value. There is arranged a lawn party by the Goldbergs as a welcome to Marjorie. To this the Goldbergs invite everybody listed in the social register. Goldberg hires detectives to guard the pearls. Unknown to Bruce, Wong Lee's betrayer has come to America and Caglioni is now a member of the local detective force and in charge of the arrangements for protecting the Goldberg pearls. Bruce has arranged that Wong Lee's son shall act as one of the waiters at the garden party. At an opportune time Bruce gets the Goldberg pearls into his hands, and clumsily drops them to the ground, when, in picking them up, the young Chinese man substitutes worthless imitations for the string of expensive pearls and slips the real ones into his wide sleeve. The Goldberg pearls were intended to be subsequently disposed of through the Chinese man's source of distribution, Bruce to use the proceeds to build a hospital for the infirm and afflicted poor. Bruce and Marjorie have been invited to spend the night at the Goldbergs. Bruce wanders into the Goldberg drawing room in time to witness the burglary of the wall-safe where Goldberg deposited the spurious pearls for safekeeping. Caglioni is concerned in the burglary and has also recognized Bruce as the man who, in China, warned Wong Lee of his danger. Marjorie, restless, wanders into the drawing room and is another witness to the burglary. The girl is mystified by Bruce's strange conduct. Bruce confesses to Marjorie that he is a social buccaneer. Miss Woods induces him to abandon his peculiar pastime and become a good, dutiful husband.

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Inheriting his father's alcoholism, Lawyer Tom Gallatin goes into the woods to rehabilitate himself. Once there, he loses his way and then meets Jane Loring, who is also lost. They are attracted to each other, but when Jane offers him a drink from a flask, Tom takes more than just a few sips, and then tries to rape her. A search party rescues Jane, after which, sobered by the seriousness of his attempted crime, Tom cures himself of his drinking problem. Later, in the city, Jane and Tom meet again and she forgives him. However, Coleman Van Duyn, who loves Jane, and Nina Jaffray, who wants to marry Tom, decide to make sure that no romance develops. They convince Jane that Tom is already engaged to Nina, but then, guilt-ridden, the alleged fiancee confesses everything to Jane, who quickly goes to Tom and tells him that she loves him.

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Judge of the Circuit Court, Camden McClure is a extremist advocate of law enforcement until he kills his brother during a fight. Fleeing from his crime, the judge hires Cal Nelson as his guide through the Western badlands. While crossing the desert, they meet Mary Jackson, who is lost and exhausted. Mary recovers, but the judge suffers heat stroke and, in his delirium, confesses his crime to Mary. To ease his guilt, Mary admits that she is a murderer, too, and the couple decide to get married. However, when the judge reads that his brother is alive, he once again adheres to the letter of the law and denounces Mary to the authorities. Cal, who has fallen in love with Mary, carries her to the desert to escape the sheriff, and there Mary admits that she fabricated her crime to relieve the judge. The judge then discovers that his brother is actually dead, and follows the fugitives into the desert, but is killed in a sandstorm, thus freeing Mary to wed Cal.

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From a Montana mining camp, a young man progresses to the society heights of New York, making his mark publicly as a dancer, but secretly as a gentleman burglar.

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Aside from the fact that Polly had red hair in abundance, she was not otherwise an exceptional child, save for one thing. She was willing to work and slave, if need be, to keep her baby brother, affectionately termed "The Lump," from being sent to the poor house. So she did housework and prepared breakfasts for John Ruffin, an attorney, and Hon. Gedge-Tompkins. John Ruffin's sister, Lady Osterly, has separated from her husband, and he holds their child. When Lady Osterly calls on Ruffin she is struck with the remarkable resemblance Polly bears to her own child. Ruffin and Lady Osterly formulate a plan to come into possession of her daughter, by using Polly as a substitute. When they offer Polly twenty sovereigns to go to the Duke of Osterly's home and impersonate the other child, the amount of money fairly staggers Polly and she accepts. By changing the children when the child of the Osterly's is out riding with her nurse. Polly gains access to the Duke's home and the Osterly child comes to John Ruffin's apartments to stay until her mother can get her ticketed to the continent and travel away with her. Polly does the best she can under strange conditions, but despite her resemblance to the Osterly child, the servants are suspicious and the Duke falls to wondering what has happened. Young Lord Ronald, visiting the Duke, is above all suspicious of Polly. The Osterly girl is under similar suspicion at Ruffin's home. "The Lump" positively declines to have anything to do with her. There is a blunder in the preparations Lady Osterly and John Ruffin make for the European trip. Polly disregards positive instructions and leaves the Osterly mansion before plans can be worked out. The Duke follows Polly in his automobile, searching for her in a nearby park where she has liked to go with young Lord Ronald to play. Finding Polly where he thought he would the Duke carries her back to his home. Here John Ruffin directly arrives, to tell the Duke that his wife and child must, by that time, be well on their way across the Channel. Lady Osterly, through miscalculation, has become worried because Ruffin does not arrive with the tickets and telephones him at the Duke's (her husband's) home. The servants call the Duke in answer to the summons and thus husband and wife find themselves talking to each other, much to their mutual surprise, as well as secret delight. As a result of this accidental 'phone call, a reconciliation is effected and everything ends happily for everybody, including Polly Redhead, who has made a great conquest of young Lord Ronald's heart.

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New York playboy Carter Richmond inherits the family fortune, but it doesn't take him long to blow it. All that's left is an abandoned mine in California, so he travels west to see if he can get anything for it. He finds that a miner, Big Him Helton, and his pretty young daughter Mary have been "squatters" at the site for years, and a neighboring miner, Placer Murray, has been trying to run them off so he can take it over himself. Mary accidentally shoots Carter, thinking him to be one of Murray's men. As she nurses him back to health, they begin to fall in love. Complications ensue.