Cinematic Discoveries Following the Footsteps of The Opening Night: Cult Guide

Dir: Edward H. Griffith

A hot young rookie pitcher on the New York Giants baseball team is having personal problems that are affecting his game. His father disapproves of both his career choice and the woman he recently married and has basically disowned him.

Dir: Edward H. Griffith

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

Childhood friends Mary Lee and Vera receive two different versions of the 'birds and the bees' from their mothers: Mary Lee gets the facts; Vera gets a prudish fairytale version. Their lives separate after graduation, Mary Lee becomes a nurse who falls in proper love with a Doctor, whereas Vera follows her mother's advice and seeks to marry a rich man, but falls for the unlawful, syphilitic charms of a wealthy cad. Mary Lee and her Doctor rescue Vera and help her get proper care after a series of revelations showing actual patients of the loathsome disease. Finally, Mary Lee and her new husband volunteer to help our boys fighting the Huns in France.

Dir: Eduardo Notari

A crime drama in the Gennariello-series. The police detective in Naples that is confronted with modern gangsters and crime events.

Dir: Robert N. Bradbury

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of 'A mala nova 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: Frank Beal

During a raging Montana snowstorm, Doctor Jim Barnes collapses at Esther Anderson's cabin door. Esther offers Jim refuge, but when he discovers that their food supplies are running dangerously low, he braves the journey into town in order to replenish them. On the way, he is overcome with exhaustion and fails to return. Esther, unaware of Jim's condition and abused by her stepfather, joins a theatrical troop and leaves home. Time passes and Jim finally finds Esther, but a vindictive member of her troupe accuses her of having an affair with the manager and Jim believes the accusation. He leaves and Esther goes to New York City where she becomes engaged to a jealous artist, although she still loves Jim. Sam Tuttle, a long time friend, is aware of Esther's continuing love, and so brings Jim to New York City in time to save Esther from an unhappy marriage.

Dir: Colin Campbell

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

Zora, a girl of French origin, is raised by a wealthy Bedouin family after her mother Valerie dies while eloping with another man. Zora feels such great longing for the French artist Adrien that she accepts the offer of another artist, Raoul, to take her to Paris with the stipulation that if Adrien rejects her, she must give herself to him. Jan, the chieftain's son who is in love with Zora, follows the two to Paris. There Zora realizes that Adrien does not love her and discovers her real love for Jan. However, she feels bound to honor her pact with Raoul and is about to succumb to his advances when her father appears and recognizes Raoul as the man who destroyed his home years earlier. In the ensuing fight between the two men, Raoul is killed, thus freeing Zora to accept Jan's love.

Dir: Charles Horan

While working as a flower girl in Devlin Maddox's nightclub, Nellie Vaughan meets wealthy young Pelton Van Teel and falls in love. Maddox, desirous of using Nellie to blackmail Van Teel, spreads a rumor that she is his mistress. This makes Nellie uncomfortable, and she demands that Van Teel marry her immediately, to which he agrees. Meanwhile, Van Teel has been losing money gambling to Maddox, who threatens to break up the marriage by producing a worthless check that the young husband has written. Venturing to Maddox's apartment for a showdown, Nellie pulls a gun and demands the check, accidentally shooting Maddox when he throws a lamp at her. Maddox plans to charge Nellie with assault, but when the police arrive, his butler, actually a detective employed by the elder Van Teel, exposes Maddox, who is then arrested, clearing the path for the couple's happiness.

Dir: William Parke

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

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: Edward H. Griffith

A beautiful and intelligent horse is carried off North after his master, a Confederate soldier, is shot and left for dead. After many unusual and cruel adventures, Beauty is discovered by his former master and returned home to the South.

Dir: Edward H. Griffith

Ruth Hoagland grows up on an island off the Massachusetts coast with no companion other than her father, a half-witted fisherman who spends most of his time hunting for buried treasure. Vacationing yachtsman Bob Winthrop and Ruth fall in love, but Winthrop returns to New York, and after a year, has forgotten Ruth. After finding two chests in a cave, Ruth locates her father unconscious from a fall. She goes to the mainland for help, but returns with the Reverend Josiah Arbuthnot and Dr. William Strong, to find her father dead. Strong, out of kindness, offers to marry her, but Ruth declines, sure that Winthrop will return. She offers to divide the chests with Strong and Arbuthnot, but after Strong discovers they are worthless, he withdraws his savings, and gives Ruth money to develop her voice in New York, saying that it came from selling the chests' contents. After Ruth learns of Winthrop's affair with a musical comedy star, she returns to the island to prepare for her Broadway debut, where she discovers Strong's sacrifice.