The Essential Watchlist that Capture the Essence of The Show: Cult ...

Dir: Edgar Jones

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

Dir: Larry Semon

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

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.

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

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

The story follows Larry as he attempts to help his sweetheart escape an unwanted wedding to a wealthy but unattractive suitor. The film concludes with a high-speed chase involving a car and a bed.

Dir: Lloyd Ingraham

While walking along the street one day, Arthur P. Hampton, an impoverished young doctor, and his chums, Stub Masters and Johnny Stokes, are persuaded to part with their last remaining funds by tag day solicitor Mary Jane Smith, with whom the doctor promptly falls in love. Doc's friends then hit upon a get-rich-quick scheme. Knowing that his Uncle George has promised a large sum of money upon his nephew's marriage, they persuade Doc to send out fake wedding invitations naming Mary Jane as the blushing bride. Uncle George, elated at the good news, writes to Mary Jane's aunt, Angelica Burns, an old sweetheart, to invite Mary Jane and Angelica to be his guests on an ocean voyage. Meanwhile, Mary Jane pays a visit to the doctor's office and, upon seeing the wedding invitations, becomes so flustered that she trips and sprains her ankle. Doc comes to her rescue and then begs her to pose as his wife. She agrees, but at ship-side, Stub and Johnnie confess all to Uncle George, who flies into a rage until Doc announces that he and Mary Jane have chosen a wedding at sea.

Dir: Larry Semon

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Scamps and Scandals perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

A lawman out to get moonshiners runs into a female director filming a movie with a female cast. Chaos ensues.

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: Reggie Morris

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

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

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.

Dir: Larry Semon

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