Hidden Genre Gems for Fans of The Road to Romance: Cult Guide

Dir: John S. Robertson

Author Hilary Farrington and his wife Eloise have been married about a year, and although Hilary loves his wife, he has become engrossed in his writing and doesn't realize how lonely his wife has become. Eloise starts spending time in the company of Darrell McKnight, who neglects his own fiancée, Nora Gail. Eloise promises to go west with Darrell if her husband doesn't take her to his bungalow, where he is beginning his new book. Darrell tells Nora that he loves someone else. Nora decides to team up with Hilary to prevent a scandal. When Hilary leaves for his bungalow without asking Eloise to accompany him, she phones Darrell and tells him she will be ready to elope with him in half an hour. While Darrell waits outside the Farrington house, Hilary returns, having forgotten something. Eloise is dressing and does not hear Hilary enter the house. While he is looking for the forgotten item, Nora arrives and tells Hilary the whole story. They agree to work together to make Eloise and Darrell sick of each other. Hilary goes to Eloise's room and feigns surprise when he sees her preparing to leave. Darrell enters the house, and he and Eloise are taken aback when Hilary suggests the pair use his bungalow for their "honeymoon." When the two protest, Hilary convinces them to go by pulling out a gun. Darrell and Eloise encounter another surprise at the bungalow. The chauffeur reports that the car is out of gas, so all three principals have to stay in the bungalow. After a meal in which Hilary keeps reminding Eloise of their own honeymoon, Hilary says he will try to get gas for the car. Just as he is leaving, Nora appears, pretending she is lost and her car has broken down. Now Darrell believes that Hilary and Nora have planned an elopement of their own. Eloise become jealous, and everyone goes off to their rooms except for Hilary, who remains downstairs in the dark. Eloise calls her uncle, who is a Bishop, tells him everything that has happened, and begs him to come to the bungalow to help her get rid of Nora and Darrell. After a series of misadventures during the night, Eloise awakens first, finds Hilary's car, and discovers it has plenty of gas. She drives off and meets the Bishop at the train station. Back at the bungalow, Nora and Darrell have made up and decide to get married as soon as possible. Eloise and the Bishop arrive, and Nora and Darrell get married on the spot. Eloise and Hilary send everyone off in the car, then settle it for their own "second honeymoon."

Dir: John S. Robertson

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Little Miss Hoover perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

During World War I, Washington, D.C. society girl Nancy Craddock decides to enlist in the Food Administration on the theory that "eggs will win the war."

Dir: John S. Robertson

A boy called "Mascot," presumably the son of smuggler Captain Stark, is raised by Mr. Deane, the British military governor of Kingston after the boy's ship is captured. Years later in London, Mascot, now known as Stanley Deane, is the lawyer for the radical organization of mill employees called "The Well." Stanley falls in love with mill owner Amos Buckingham's daughter Alice, whom he knew when they were children. But Buckingham hates Stanley for his aid to the workmen and turns Alice against him by telling of his mysterious parentage. The workmen plan to blow up the Buckingham mansion and kill its master who, unknown to anyone, has disguised himself and gained admittance to The Well to study the real condition of the men. Stanley saves Alice, but after the explosion, a charred body supposed to be that of Buckingham is found and Stanley and all in The Well are arrested for murder. When Buckingham, still in disguise as a member of The Well is convicted, he discloses that the explosion was accidental and that the body was one he had used in his experiments. After Buckingham takes the blame for the bitterness of his workmen, everyone is acquitted. Stanley then discovers that his father is really a Boston banker and, freed of the aspersions cast upon his name, is welcomed by Buckingham as his son-in-law.

Dir: John S. Robertson

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

During World War I, beautiful and patriotic Leslie Selden is courted by two ardent admirers: Jack Wynn, a young man not yet taken by the draft, and Dr. Wolff, a Danish scientist who is actually a German agent. When Jack learns that Wolff is masterminding a plot to bomb several munitions factories and destroy the water system in New York City, he goes to the spy's home and confronts him. Wolff locks him up, then forges a note to Leslie claiming that the young man has run away to escape the draft. Her suspicions aroused, Leslie alerts the authorities and plants a dictograph in Wolff's house, through which she learns of the scheduled bombings. Accompanied by the police, she arrives at Wolff's residence just in time to prevent Jack's murder and the destruction of the city.

Dir: John S. Robertson

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Edgar Jones

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

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

Dir: John S. Robertson

Barnabetta Dreary's grim life of slaving for her Amish father Barnaby and her two brothers, is surprisingly changed when Barnaby marries Juliet Miller. Known as Erstwhile Susan, she becomes fond of Barnabetta, and because she retains control of her fortune, induces the other Drearys to relieve Barnabetta of some of her drudgery. After Barnaby has a stroke brought on when Susan proposes sending Barnabetta to school, she goes to a prep school where the president, Doctor Barrett, and a trustee, State Senator Jordan, both fall for her newly acquired charm, to the dismay of Jordan's sister who loves Barrett. When the sister interferes with Barnabetta's plan to work in the school after graduation, Barnabetta helps Jordan win his campaign for governor, and after exposing him to her family's crude table manners, Barnabetta accepts Jordan's marriage proposal, while Susan succeeds in reforming Barnaby and his sons.

Dir: John S. Robertson

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

The eldest daughter of a poor preacher, Penelope Penn leaves her country home to seek her fortune in the big city. Taking a room in a boarding-house at 39 East, Penelope futilely searches for work as an actress until she secretly accepts a minor part in the chorus. Napoleon Gibbs, Jr., Penelope's fellow boarder, defends her good name against the criticism of other boarders who are scandalized by the girl's late hours. Penelope, having understudied the leading lady of the show, finally gets an opportunity to fill her role and scores a complete triumph. Napoleon, eager to congratulate her, waits backstage where he sees the stage manager escorting his new star home. When she arrives back at the boarding-house, Penelope explains to the crestfallen Napoleon that she has no interest in her stage manager. Napoleon then seizes upon the opportunity to propose, and is accepted.

Dir: John S. Robertson

A young man with little means wants to marry a rich girl, and thinks up a scheme to get rich.

Dir: John S. Robertson

Phyllis Ashbrook hosts a party in the Adirondacks for her fiancé Roger Mason and their engaged friends, John Manning and Anita Webb. In a climbing expedition, Phyllis and John are separated from the others by a storm and seek refuge in a cabin. To save her reputation, Phyllis' parents insist that she marry John immediately, after which they may obtain a divorce and marry their respective partners. After the ceremony, John leaves for China to provide grounds for divorce, but upon discovering that he has mistakenly taken his new wife's suitcase, he returns to his apartment, where he finds Phyllis. Anita and Roger arrive and confess their devotion to each other, and when John and Phyllis realize that they, too, are in love, the divorce plans are abandoned.