Curated Recommendations Seeking the Same Brilliance as The Plumber's Daughter: Cult Guide

Dir: Larry Semon

The waiters of a fancy restaurant go on strike for better wages, threatening harm to any replacements that may be hired. Larry is among scabs hired to replace the striking waiters they must wait on tables and fight off the strikers.

Dir: Larry Semon

Big Ben has the largest store in the town of New Ralgia. His chief clerk is in love with the post mistress. The three of them get involved in a series of mishaps with their customers and with the town ladies' man, whose advances conceal a more sinister purpose.

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

Dir: Larry Semon

What with pretty women lounging around the lobby, Larry's existence as a secret guardian of a hotel is all roses until a valise filled with jewels is left in his hands for safekeeping. Larry locks it up in the hotel safe, but not before crooks have caught a glimpse of the gems. Thenceforth every art and artifice is employed by them to separate Larry and the hotel from the jewels.

Dir: Unknown Director

The Judge needs a present for his wife's birthday, so Harry suggests a new corset. They go to the shop, but he's so embarrassed to ask the saleslady he hides in a phone booth.Harry goes in, but finds a GUY wearing one, and runs out.They both dress as women to get back in, but Mrs. Rummy gets there and chases him out.

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

Dir: Larry Semon

A woman and her daughter are throwing a party, and Larry Semon is in the kitchen, joined by some monkeys and jewel thieves. What could go wrong?

Dir: Edgar Jones

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

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

Dir: Larry Semon

Larry's absurdly plush life of ease as a convict comes to an end when his sentence is up. Tossed out, he tries several ways, including a stickup to get back in the comfortable jail. Exchanging clothes with a lookalike escaped prisoner, he goes back, only to find he's to be hung. Now desperate to leave again, he joins other cons in a jailbreak.

Dir: Larry Semon

A bumbling detective lands alongside the crooks even the police are afraid of. He makes his escape through the window to a woman's apartment, where the misadventures continue.

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of His Home Sweet Home perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Dir: Larry Semon

Semon's character, working behind the scenes, creates mayhem during a vaudeville performance.

Dir: Charley Chase

A young married couple volunteer to take charge of several orphans after the asylum has burned down. Of course they find their hands full with their troublesome charges.