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Recommendations
Senior Film Conservator
In the vast archive of Romance cinema, The Spider stands as a unique vision beacon, the narrative complexity found here is a rare find in the 1931 landscape. From hidden underground hits to established classics, these are our top picks.
Few films from 1931 manage to capture to explore the darker corners of the human condition with unique vision.
At the end of his magic show at the Tivoli theater, Chatrand the Great announces over a radio broadcast that he is trying to establish the identity of an amnesia victim, his assistant "Alexander." Found unconscious with a head wound two years earlier in the streets of Washington, Alexander, now a mind reader in the act, cannot remember anything about his previous life. Beverly Lane, whose brother Paul disappeared two years earlier, listens intently to her radio, but her uncle, financier John Carrington, calls the announcement a cheap publicity stunt. When Beverly insists on going to the theater, Carrington accompanies her. Before his performance, Chatrand, upon seeing Beverly through the stage curtains, recognizes her from a picture in the locket Alexander carries. He has always wanted to meet the woman in the picture. During the act, Chatrand blindfolds Alexander and has him describe objects belonging to members of the audience and answer their questions. When Chatrand asks Alexander to describe Beverly's locket, which is identical to Alexander's, Carrington protests and struggles with Chatrand. Sonya, Chatrand's assistant, pulls a light switch. In the dark, a hand wearing a spider ring fires a gun, and Carrington falls. The police soon arrive and keep the audience from leaving, as a man from the audience, Dr. Blackstone, attends to Carrington. After Inspector Riley finds a gun beside Alexander, who is unconscious, Chatrand removes Alexander's mask. Beverly then embraces him and identifies him as her lost brother. Chatrand brings Alexander out of his trance, and upon seeing Beverly, Alexander exclaims, "He tried to kill me; I had to do it!" Treating this as a confession, Riley has Alexander and Beverly taken to the theater manager's office, while he keeps Chatrand under observation. Chatrand, however, escapes into a casket and then through a trap door. Alexander tells Beverly that two years earlier Carrington attempted to steal all their money, and that when Carrington tried to kill him, he fell, precipitating his amnesia. Chatrand then finds out that Carrington had been receiving telephone calls from someone who lost a great deal of money to him. When Riley learns that Carrington has died, he arrests Alexander for first-degree murder. Chatrand, however, convinces Riley to let him conduct a seance before the audience is allowed to leave to try to make the murderer betray himself. During the seance, as Chatrand's image appears before the audience, and Carrington, speaking through Chatrand, threatens to name his murderer, a shot breaks the mirror which is conveying the image. Chatrand next has Alexander, in the guise of a mind reader, attempt to "find" the mind of the murderer. After he reveals a number of dark secrets in the minds of some audience members, Alexander says that the murderer wears a spider ring, and he names the row in which the murderer is sitting. As he is about to reveal the murderer's seat number, a shot rings out. Dr. Blackstone, who hysterically says that Carrington deserved death for ruining a savings bank and turning his family and thousands of others into paupers, is apprehended. Chatrand, who suffered a wound to his arm, is attended to by Beverly, who has grown fond of him.
The influence of Kenneth MacKenna in The Spider can be felt in the way modern Romance films handle unique vision. From the specific lighting choices to the pacing, this 1931 release set a high bar for atmospheric immersion.
Based on the unique unique vision of The Spider, our vault has identified these titles as the most compelling follow-up experiences for fans of Romance cinema:
Dir: Jerome Storm
David Harrington plans to marry Betty Graves. He is an old-fashioned boy, believing in marriage, having children, and living a suburban life. Betty is more ultra-modern, and independent. When Betty gets a tour of the bungalow that David has built for them, she says it's cute but she would hate to have to live in it. The two break up and Betty goes back to a former sweetheart. Sybil, the wife of David's friend Herbert, has just has a row with her husband because he wouldn't buy her a new hat. So she takes their three children and hides in David's home, hoping to throw a scare into her husband. Now David tries to take care of the kids, hoping to forget his own troubles. Herbert phones David that he is coming over, but David tells his friend he has the measles. Meanwhile, Sybil's kids have gotten sick from eating too much taffy. So David calls Betty's father, who is a doctor. Betty comes over with her father, and David cooks up a scheme with the doctor to quarantine the house so that Betty will have to stay and help him take care of the children. Herbert arrives and chaos ensues when he discovers his wife and kids are there. Eventually, things get straightened out and David regains Betty's love.
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Dir: Harry F. Millarde
Desperate because a wealthy man has reduced her father to thievery, Rhoda agrees to rob the poor box of the church, although she finds the act abhorrent. During the robbery, Rhoda's father is shot and dies in the priests's arms, seeking absolution, while the man who ruined him looks on. Penitent, the man appoints Rhoda as his representative to return the ill-gotten gains to those he has robbed. Rhoda enters the underworld as an angel of mercy, gaining the sobriquet of "The White Moll." After many thrilling escapades, she brings The Dangler, the leader of a gang of crooks, to justice, saves others from death and finally wins The Pug, the man of her choice.
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Dir: Victor Heerman
In the gold fields of the Canadian Northwest, a man is falsely accused of a crime and determines that a lookalike is responsible.
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Dir: Roy Clements
A man agrees to marry the daughter of a deceased friend - who is, in fact, being impersonated by the servant girl of the daughter, who has also already died.
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Dir: Jack Conway
Lucy Hegan, the proprietor of a settlement house for the poor, is engaged to Hugh Gordon, the head of a large pharmaceutical and chemical firm who, unknown to Lucy, is also the ringleader of a powerful drug and white slave operation in the Chinese quarter. While conducting an investigation into illicit drug traffic for his paper, newspaper reporter Allan Martin meets Lucy and falls in love with her. In the course of her work, Lucy has befriended reformed crook Monk Mullen and his mother, and when Monk learns that she is to marry Gordon, the ex-crook provides Allan with proof of Gordon's underworld drug trafficking. Armed with his information, Allan leads a raid on Gordon's headquarters, and in the ensuing battle, the drug king is killed by his henchman, Ling Choo Fang, thus freeing Lucy to marry her young reporter.
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Dir: Jacques Jaccard
Douglas MacLeod of the Royal North West Mounted Police is in love with Suzanne Foucharde, who has adopted an abandoned Indian baby, the illegitimate child of Louis La Rocque and Na Fa Kowa. When La Rocque insinuates that the baby is Suzanne's, her brother Henry defends his sister's honor and kills the villain. In spite of his love for Suzanne, it is Douglas' duty to arrest Henry. He does so, but later allows him to escape, taking the bullet himself that was fired after Henry by Constable Burke. Meanwhile, the dead body of Na Fa Kowa is found, accompanied by a note proving that the Indian was the baby's mother. In the spring, when Douglas recovers from his wounds, he and Suzanne are married.
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Dir: Sidney Franklin
A chorus girl hopes to rise to stardom and thus accepts the advances of a wealthy man. But she becomes fearful of her reputation and safety. In an attempt to escape the rake's attentions, she hides out with a disparate group of men who room in a house called "The Barn." There she learns that there is more to life than that found on the stage.
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Dir: Harry Southwell
A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.
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Dir: F. Martin Thornton
In Paris an orphan cartoonist loves a man with a mad wife, who dies in time to prevent her marriage to a jilted Comte.
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Dir: Ewald André Dupont
Fred Hopkins, a jeweler's assistant, replaces the pearl necklace Lord Reading bought as a wedding present with a worthless imitation. A hunt begins, which the flower seller Rahel and the jumping jack dealer David are able to end by finding the jewelry. Hopkins, who is convicted, then commits suicide for fear of being punished with poison.
View DetailsAnalysis relative to The Spider
| Film Title | Atmosphere | Complexity | Similarity |
|---|---|---|---|
| An Old Fashioned Boy | Gritty | Linear | 98% Match |
| The White Moll | Gritty | Abstract | 96% Match |
| The River's End | Gothic | Linear | 91% Match |
| The Tiger's Coat | Gothic | Abstract | 88% Match |
| The Money Changers | Ethereal | Layered | 94% Match |
This guide was algorithmically generated using the cinematic metadata of Kenneth MacKenna's archive. Last updated: 5/23/2026.
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