Top-Tier Alternatives In the Shadow of The Reclamation: Cult Guide

Dir: Edward Sloman

During lunch, Cuthbert King asks his sister Phyllis for a loan to pay off his gambling debts. Upon leaving the restaurant, he accidentally takes the overcoat of antique jewelry dealer Grayson Blair. When Phyllis is unable to pay her bill, Grayson, attracted to her, picks up the check, but after he arrives home and discovers that a valuable Hindu necklace he had stored in his coat pocket is missing, he suspects Phyllis as the crook. Dressing up in her brother's clothes, Phyllis finds the necklace, suspects her brother, and seeks out Grayson, whom she has discovered to be the jewel's owner. After a series of mix-ups during which Rhi, who has been trailing the necklace to return it to the Hindu idol from which it was stolen, tries unsuccessfully to kill Grayson, the overcoat is recognized, everything is cleared up, and Grayson and Phyllis become engaged.

Dir: Edward Sloman

Lone Star, an Indian lad of superior intelligence, marvels at the efficacy of the white man's medical methods. He later goes East to secure an education and release his tribe from the practices of the medicine man. After a medical course in college Lone Star goes to New York and here becomes a noted surgeon. He meets Helen Mattes, the daughter of a rich New Yorker, and falls in love with the girl. Her father objects to his daughter mating with an Indian and he brings Helen to the same conclusion. A short time after the girl has told Lone Star that she can never marry him he saves her life by a very delicate operation. Then, disgusted with so-called "high society." he returns to the Indian village and there sets about to give them the benefit of his education.

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

Dir: Edward Sloman

Gerard Hale and Luther Snaith, partners in the same law firm, are rivals for a seat vacant in the Senate as well as for the hand of the governor's daughter Marion. When Tom Shores, recently released from prison, turns up at the law office with his sister Mary and her two-year-old baby, the illegitimate child of Gerard's late father, Gerard Hale, Sr., Snaith sees the opportunity to win both the Senate seat and Marion. Gerard meets with Mary and learns that the child is the offspring of his father. Overcome with his father's dereliction, Gerard gives Mary a check for $50,000. As Mary and Tom leave, they are seized by detectives who bring them back to the office for identification. Meanwhile, Mrs. Hale and Marion have stopped in to visit and Gerard, afraid that the truth will prove fatal to his mother's ailing heart, testifies that the baby is his. Upset over the revelation, Mrs. Hale is confined to bed and Snaith threatens to expose the truth unless Gerard withdraws from the Senate race. Sensing that death is approaching, Mrs. Hale asks Gerard to do his duty and wed Mary. Mary insists upon telling her the truth, but Gerard refuses, fearing that it would prove fatal to his mother, but Gerard is spared from the sacrifice when his mother dies, freeing him from the shackles of truth.

Dir: Edward Sloman

Having overslept on the morning of his wedding, James Page is rushing to the home of his bride, Marah Manning, when he sees Jed Baldwin being attacked. He goes to Jed's rescue and is arrested for his efforts. After being released, James discovers that Marah has called off the wedding; to console himself he ventures West with Baldwin. His troubles just begin when he arrives in Arizona and, mistaken for outlaw Pete Rawley, is thrown in jail. Meanwhile, the real Rawley holds up Marah and her father, who are searching for James and takes the two to his mountain retreat, where they believe that James is their captor. Then Pete's sweetheart Phoebe helps James escape, believing that he is Pete, and takes him to the mountain retreat where they find the real Rawley. After the couples straighten themselves out, Pete and Phoebe escape across the border and Marah forgives James.

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

Dir: Edward Sloman

Wealthy banker John Sevier is engaged to Elaine Morier, who runs an upscale gambling club with her father Gerald. One night at the club John stops a fight between club employee Jim Hammond and a wealthy young customer named Tom Leonard. He takes Leonard home and meets his sister Marion. The next day he discovers that his banking partner, Jim Collins, has made too many bad investments with the bank's money and the institution is in danger of going under. John promises to use his own money to save the bank, but Elaine, outraged, breaks off their engagement. However, Marion and Tom congratulate him on his courage in putting up his own money to save the bank. Elaine and her father--who were scheming to take John for his money all along--realize that they made a mistake and try to get the two back together again. Complications ensue.

Dir: Edward Sloman

When the unruly drinking party at "Big Bill" Darcey's hunting lodge runs out of liquor, they move to the lodge of Darcey's agent, Enoch Foyle, and finding attractive Nora Farnes waiting alone, harass her. Bill, who previously was interested only in pleasure, with his consumptive friend Sammy Goode, protects Nora, who, armed with a revolver, intends to confront Foyle for swindling her mother. When Foyle returns, Nora wounds him slightly. Bill brings her to his lodge for the night, and falling in love, convinces her to marry him to protect her name. As he is preparing to leave on his honeymoon, Bill learns that Foyle fleeced him of his fortune. Finding Nora at Foyle's lodge, he loses faith in her, and leaves with Sammy for the desert because of Sammy's illness. Lost and exhausted, Sammy makes a dying request that Bill return and listen to Nora's explanation. After Bill's rescue, he finds Nora dining with Foyle, but upon learning that she has hidden detectives to overhear Foyle's confession, Bill is reconciled with Nora, and they finish the dinner.

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

Dir: Edward Sloman

Loath to leave her pet dog in the baggage car, the wealthy Norah McDonald dresses the animal in baby clothes and carries him into the Pullman coach. There she meets millionaire philanthropist Paul Howell, who remarks that she seems rather young to be married. When Norah responds that she is unwed, Paul assumes that she has been betrayed and sympathetically offers her a position in his charity organization. Attracted to Paul, Norah accepts the job, but she disapproves of his bureaucratic methods and soon establishes a rival organization based less on efficiency than on charity. Norah's success and a few glaring failures of his own finally convince Paul that red tape and philanthropy don't mix, and after he learns that her "baby" is a Pekinese, the two become engaged.

Dir: Edward Sloman

Millionaire Jack Woodford, who loves a good mystery, seizes an opportunity to play Sherlock Holmes when he overhears pretty Alice Moreland, the daughter of Rev. Robert Moreland, discussing a jewel robbery in her home. Posing as detectives, Jack and his valet, Jasper Stride, visit the reverend's home, where Jack's suspicions are aroused first by Moreland's secretary, Harvey Faxon, and then by Alice's brother Harry. During the night, however, he sees Alice herself take a set of jewels from the safe, but when he tries to retrieve them from her room, Faxon enters and accuses him of robbery. He is imprisoned in the basement but soon escapes, and that night, he again sees Alice carrying jewels. As Jack approaches, he realizes that Alice is sleepwalking and that Faxon is waiting to take the jewels from her when she reaches her room. Jack and Stride capture Faxon, and Alice demonstrates her gratitude to the amateur sleuth by confessing that she loves him.

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

Dir: Edward Sloman

Young Jeffrey Claiborne, the son of a wealthy father, comes to the aid of pretty Betty Jane Moir, who is being bothered by a lecherous chauffeur. He accepts Betty's grateful offer of employment in her mother's taxi company. Smitten, Jeffrey proposes to her, but her mother, not knowing who he really is, dismisses him as not worthy of being her daughter's husband. Determined to prove his worth, he gets his chance when he discovers that Betty's mother is being blackmailed by a criminal gang.

Dir: Edward Sloman

Episode 1: "Fate and Death" Arthur and Esther Stanley and son, little Arthur, en route from Virginia to England, are victims of a train wreck. Father and mother are killed but the child escapes death. Quabba, the gypsy, now the king of the band, learns of the accident from his followers. He hastens to the wreck and finds the bodies of Arthur and Esther Stanley but finds no trace of their son. De Vaux, the conspirator, who has been shadowing the Stanleys, is also present at the wreck. He finds little Arthur and discovers The Diamond From the Sky suspended from his neck. He transfers the jewel to his pocket and disappears into the night carrying off little Arthur. Later Quabba sees De Vaux carrying the child into an orphanage, temporarily used as a hospital. Quabba awaits his chance and steals the child.