The Auteur's Selection In the Shadow of The Sportsman: Cult Guide

Dir: Larry Semon

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Maurice Campbell

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

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: Larry Semon

Larry applies for a job as a revenue officer, ready to catch bootleggers.

Dir: Unknown Director

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

The Judge needs a present for his wife's birthday, so Harry suggests a new corset. They go to the shop, but he's so embarrassed to ask the saleslady he hides in a phone booth.Harry goes in, but finds a GUY wearing one, and runs out.They both dress as women to get back in, but Mrs. Rummy gets there and chases him out.

Dir: Reggie Morris

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Larry Semon

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

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

Dir: Larry Semon

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

A bumbling detective lands alongside the crooks even the police are afraid of. He makes his escape through the window to a woman's apartment, where the misadventures continue.

Dir: Richard Smith

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: Larry Semon

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