The Definitive Watchlist For Devotees of The Simp: Cult Guide

Dir: Reggie Morris

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Richard Smith

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Lunatics in Politics perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Two female candidates for Chief of Police live across the hall from each other, and their political rivalry follows them home, leading to plenty of hi-jinks.

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: Ferris Hartman

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

Shy Jessie Wilcox receives no tributes of affection on Valentine's Day, instead she receives ridiculing remarks from the young people who congregate at the post office. So the next day when Jessie receives a letter from her city relatives, she says that it is from her fiancé. She arranges for her cousin to send her daily "love" letters, buys a ring, and leaves, she says, to get married. In the city, Jessie seeks advice for her predicament from a fortune-teller and is locked in a room for several days until a white slaver says that she is not the kind of girl he wants. After Jessie reads about an unidentified body at the morgue, she claims it as her husband and plans to bring it home as proof of her marriage. The dead man's brother, Allan Avery, arrives to settle the estate with his brother's "widow." After Jessie confesses the ruse, she and Allan fall in love and marry, to the chagrin of Jessie's aunt, who wanted Allan for her daughter.

Dir: Maurice Campbell

Carver Endicott, a young sophisticate, is rejected by his fiancée for being too foppish and dull. When she feigns an interest in his father, Carver attempts to disgrace his family name by working as a farmhand and later as a busboy in a hotel. However, the newspapers only praise him for his self-sacrificing principles; and finding that he cannot bring shame to the family through menial labor, he takes up with a notorious actress. But when this maneuver also fails, he returns to his former fiancée, who has no further complaint about his being an inexperienced dullard.

Dir: Unknown Director

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

The village youths are rivals for the hand of the local belle. Their battles lead them to the village store, where chaos soon reigns, terminating in the place being blown up, leaving Bobby a happy victor.

Dir: Vernon Stallings

Krazy Kat is held in jail and Ignatz finally bails him out after encountering "guilt".

Dir: Lloyd Ingraham

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

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: Ralph Ince

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Frank Moser

The simple story is about two siblings, little brother Bud and big sister Susie. After they've been reading "Huckleberry Finn" they dream of adventures on the Mississippi River.