The Definitive Guide Deeply Connected to The Snarl: Cult Guide

Dir: Raymond B. West

Seized with a fainting spell during a polo game, Donald Van Wye is given six months to live and told he must go to Arizona. His brother Tom, an irresponsible college youth, is wired to come home and take Donald's place. When Tom arrives, Donald finds that his little brother has committed himself to an actress named Maizie. Donald pleads with the actress to give Tom up, but when she refuses, Donald marries her in order to save his brother. The couple go to Arizona where their love ripens, and through Maizie's prayers, Donald regains his health. Mrs. Van Wye then comes to visit and tells Maizie that she is preventing Donald from assuming his rightful place in society. Crushed, Maizie starts across the desert alone, and when Donald learns of his mother's dreadful behavior, he follows Maizie and begs her to stay.

Dir: Raymond B. West

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

While on the job, Neva Blaine, a seasoned cabaret girl, is assigned to the well-to-do Warren Kennedy, who has come to her club to forget a recent romantic humiliation. Kennedy was to marry Blanche Calloway, but Ellis Hopper, his rival, seduced her and forced her to appear at the wedding with a note detailing her betrayal. As revenge, Kennedy decides to remake Neva, by schooling her in the ways of society, pair her with Hopper, then, at the proper moment, reveal her lowly background. Although she loves Kennedy, Neva wins Hopper's hand as instructed but, on the day of the wedding, writes to her mentor imploring him to save her from the marriage. When Kennedy refuses to intercede, Neva, desperate with grief, spills wine on her wedding gown and pretends to be drunk in the church, causing the guests to flee and Hopper to denounce her. Her fate apparently sealed, Neva goes off to live alone, but Kennedy, realizing his love for her, saves her from a lonely existence.

Dir: Raymond B. West

The Earl of Selkirk and his family learn of the impending arrival of American pirate John Paul Jones, they flee their castle, leaving behind Nora, the kitchen maid. Left alone in the house, Nora dons the clothes of her mistress and parades herself about the castle until the arrival of the king's light infantry. Because they mistake her for the lady of the house, she invites them to be her guests. Meanwhile, on board the pirate ship, third officer Darby O'Donovan recognizes the little island as his former home. Sent ashore by the commanding officer to investigate, Darby sees Nora, his old sweetheart, seated at the table with the redcoats and, impersonating an Irish gentleman, he interrupts the gathering. Later, a fisherman exposes Darby's true identity and he is arrested. Nora, determined to save her lover, disguises herself as a soldier and signals the pirate ship for help. After a thrilling battle between the pirates and the soldiers, the pirates escape and Darby sails to America accompanied by Nora.

Dir: Raymond B. West

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

Pampy lives in a quaint little Dutch village, where she supports her invalid father by selling flowers to tourists. Pampy is so beautiful that she provides inspiration to Donald Luther, an American artist who is visiting the village, and at his request, poses for him. Just as his interest starts to blossom into love, he is called away for two weeks. During his absence Pampy's father dies, leaving her only with directions to her wealthy grandfather's home in New York. A letter containing money for her voyage is intercepted by the unscrupulous Captain von der Bloom, who takes an innkeeper's daughter to the old man and tries to persuade him that she is his grandaughter. Pampy is finally able to sail to America when the village priest buys her passage, and she arrives just in time to prevent the old man from turning over a large sum of money to von der Bloom. The gloom of the old house is then awakened to laughter as it is filled with Pampy's charming presence, and all ends happily as she is reunited with her artist.

Dir: Raymond B. West

Scott Winthrop is a wealthy, matter of fact businessman who cannot conceive an undeniable right in another man's attempt to break up his home because he has happened to take a fancy to his wife. But Amy Winthrop, a romantic young woman with more spare time than is good for her, takes up with the notions of a so-called liberal organization and is in the arms of its leader on her wedding anniversary when her husband comes home with a costly present for her. She stubbornly announces that Mackley Stuart is her "elective" mate and that they are going away together. Unable to dissuade her, the husband sends word to the newspapers that he is relinquishing his wife to Stuart at their request. The publicity that follows practically forces them to wed. Later, while touring Europe, Winthrop runs across the couple in a Naples café. He manifests great pleasure and greets them as old friends. He congratulates them on their happiness and fills his former wife's ears with the same kind of twaddle that had lost her to him. With pitiless cruelty he pursues his campaign and the result he seeks is not long in coming. Amy throws herself at his head and he apparently is content. Stuart, furious, now finds himself in the position in which he had placed Winthrop. The three discuss the situation. Amy repudiates her husband and offers to leave him to return to her first love. Winthrop leads her to believe that he will take her back and then spurns her. Thus he proves to them that the fabric of morality cannot be lightly destroyed and is satisfied that he has ruined their lives as they ruined his.

Dir: Raymond B. West

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

Scottish fisherman Andy MacTavish rescues a baby whom he discovers washed up on the shore during a storm, and names her Ariel. As a girl, Ariel often dances on the beach and dreams of a man who will appear to her out of the mist. Her dream comes true when she witnesses an airplane crash in which the pilot, Franklin Shirley, is injured. Andy and Ariel care for Franklin until he recovers his health, after which he returns home. Having fallen in love with Franklin, Ariel follows him to London, where, with the encouragement of impresario Abe Strohman, she becomes a renowned dancer. Now Franklin's social equal, Ariel uses all her wiles to win his love, despite the fact that he is already engaged to Elaine Shackleford. When Elaine's mother asks her to give him up, however, she reluctantly agrees and prepares to give herself to Strohman. Elaine surprises everyone by eloping with Richard Barrows, leaving Franklin free to wed his dancer.

Dir: Raymond B. West

Bessie Wheaton returns from Europe to find that her nouveau-riche family has adopted and magnified the worst characteristics of the upper class. Her father spends all of his time at the club, her mother cultivates snobbishness, and her sister thinks only of marrying into royalty. To shake them out of their aristocratic poses, Bessie decides to reflect all of their faults, becoming as lazy as her father and as status conscious as her mother. She even rejects her own sweetheart, Allan Shelby, to lure Count d'Orr away from her sister. Finally, her family members confront her and she angrily tells them that she was only mirroring their behavior. She then runs away, but Allan, with whom she quickly reconciles, brings her back, just as her family acknowledges their recent burlesque of the upper crust.

Dir: Raymond B. West

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

The social climbing Flower family is comprised of Mr. Flower, a banker who has overextended himself financially, Mrs. Flower, a socially ambitious mother, Julia Flower, a marriage-minded elder daughter and Madge Flower, a high-spirited younger daughter. When Madge is expelled from boarding school for her practical jokes and pranks, she joins her mother and sister in Palm Beach, where they are wintering, in hopes of snaring a titled husband for Julia. Julia, fearful that her little sister will impair her success on the marriage market, forces Madge to dress as a child of ten. Julia has her sights set on the Earl of Larsdale, but after a series of misadventures, Madge elopes with the young man who turns out not to be an earl at all, but a prosperous young American who is holding her father's notes. Thus, she saves the day for the Flower family.

Dir: Raymond B. West

Thisbe Lorraine, an American who hopes to pursue an art career in Paris, falls in love with German aristocrat Ernst Faber, who makes love to the young woman and then leaves her. Disillusioned, Thisbe resolves to live by her own rules and returns to New York, where her sex novels earn her great fame and wealth. At a grotto café in Greenwich Village, Thisbe encounters "Tea Cup Ann," a fortuneteller who predicts that her sinful ways will bring her only sorrow. Later, Thisbe falls in love with artist Le Saint Hammond, who asks her to pose for his statue of Psyche, but when he learns of her past, her rejects her and then begins to drink excessively. Thisbe's sorrow turns to joy, however, when Le Saint finally returns to her.

Dir: Raymond B. West

When the wealthy Robert Reyburn offers to pay for struggling painter Phyllis Page to continue her studies in Europe, he is not interested simply in serving as a patron of the arts. As a result, they indulge in a brief romance behind the back of Robert's wife Edith, then, several years later, Phyllis returns to the United States as a famous artist and becomes a high society favorite. Later, Edith successfully arranges a romance between her brother Dick and Phyllis. When Dick proposes, however, Edith turns him down, because she knows that, as his wife, she eventually would have to tell him who gave her the money for her European training and explain the conditions under which the money was offered.