Essential Cult Cinema Mirroring the Impact of The Spy in White: Cul...

Dir: Francis J. Grandon

A raft carrying a little girl and a dead woman drifts in from a shipwreck to Devil's Island. There, a band of thieves and smugglers name the girl Rose Marie, though she grows up as "nobody's girl." Living in a cave, she learns to read through the kindness of Jason, who is soon killed by the cruel leader, Red Gull. In Red Gull's power, and urged on by Jason's jealous wife, Rose Marie makes her escape in a rowboat, where she is spotted by an aviator flying above the sea. He rescues her, taking her to be cared for at his home where she is well treated. When newspapers report a mysterious shipwreck on Devil's Island, Rose Marie reveals the way in which Red Gull lured ships to their doom there. She guides the authorities to the island, where, after a fierce battle, the thieves are wiped out. Eventually the aviator falls in love with Rose Marie, and "nobody's girl" is somebody's sweetheart at last.

Dir: Dallas M. Fitzgerald

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

Returning to England a hero after saving a British garrison in India, Leigh Dering marries Jean Desmond, the daughter of a wealthy merchant. Humiliated by the patronage of his wealthy father-in-law, Leigh turns to drink, estranging him from Jean. Returning home one night he finds the body of his wife's father. When Jean accuses her husband of the crime, Leigh disappears, making it seem as if he has been killed in a railway accident. Five years pass and Leigh has become a victim of drink and drugs, barely existing in India. Jean marries Willoughby, an unscrupulous officer who was forced to leave India when his betrayal of the Rajah's sister earned the enmity of the ruler, thus endangering the garrison that Leigh had rescued. When Willoughby returns to India with his new wife, the Rajah seizes upon the opportunity for revenge. Planning to blow up the palace during a reception, the Rajah is thwarted by Leigh. In a rage, the Rajah kills Willoughby in hand-to-hand combat, thereby permitting the reconciliation between Jean and Leigh, who have already paid the price of redemption.

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.

Dir: Donatien

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

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: George Beranger

John Fenton visits a fortune-teller to gain insight into his parentage. While there, a police raid occurs, and he climbs the fire escape to the apartment above. There he finds a girl standing over the body of a young man who has just shot himself. The girl, Belle Charmion, explains that her half brother, Gordon Brewster, had stolen some jewels from their uncle and, fearing that the police would capture him, had attempted suicide. Fenton conceals the brother in another room and impersonates him when the police arrive. Later, he and Belle take Brewster to his uncle's home. In the excitement, the jewels have been forgotten, and Fenton returns to search for them. By this time, the family butler, who is a member of an underworld gang, has tipped off his friends, who then steal the Fenton jewels. At the butler's home, a scuffle ensues; Fenton recovers the jewels and learns that he is actually a distant relative of the Charmions, having been kidnapped in infancy by a crook. With both mysteries thus resolved, Belle and Fenton become engaged.

Dir: Josef Stein

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Une histoire de brigands perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Bela Lugosi plays a lascivious Arab sheikh confronting European travelers in the desert in an adventure story set in the Sahara.

Dir: J.P. McGowan

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Robert N. Bradbury

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

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Bertram Millhauser

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Cecil M. Hepworth

A soldier's tunic button, made from Aladdin's lamp, grants his wishes.