The Definitive Guide Deeply Connected to The Stainless Barrier: Cult Guide

Dir: Thomas N. Heffron

Paul Le Marsan captains his seventeenth-century French pirate ship, the Cygnet, with an iron hand, but is all graciousness and charm with the ladies. When his crew captures the British ship Lady Devon, Paul encounters the beautiful Molly Tarpley, who is en route to join her uncle in the Carolinas. Escorting the British ship to the pirate town of Cayo del Muerto in the Bahama Islands, Paul protects Molly, drawing his sword on any buccaneer who dares to touch her. After accommodating Molly in his richly furnished home, Paul realizes that she will never return his love and agrees to sail the Lady Devon to the Carolinas. As the ship nears the coast, however, Paul's crew rebels, enabling the British to retake their ship and lock Paul in irons. To repay Paul for his kindness, Molly secretly releases him, kisses him once and watches as he rows away.

Dir: Thomas N. Heffron

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

Disgusted when the police department fails to apprehend the murderer of her guardian, Henri Du Bois, Celeste decides to track down the criminal herself. Her only clue is a cuff link dropped near the scene of the crime on which a sphinx is engraved, and with it, she wanders through Paris' tough Moulin Noir district. When she notices a young man wearing a tie pin of identical design, she cultivates his acquaintance and eventually asks him to visit her in her home. His suspicious behavior there convinces Celeste that he is the guilty party, and although she has fallen in love with him, she has him arrested, whereupon she learns that he is Du Bois' missing son, Andre. Further detective work reveals that the real murderer is Celeste's rejected suitor, Raoul Laverne. Upon his confession, Andre is released and eventually marries Celeste.

Dir: Thomas N. Heffron

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Thomas N. Heffron

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of The House of a Thousand Candles perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

During a dance, John Valiant challenges duel Edward Sassoon to defend the honor of Virginia beauty, Judith Fairfax, John promises Judith he won't take the life to his opponent, but when the smoke clears, Sassoon lies dead and John must flee North. Before he leaves, John entrusts Major Bristow to deliver an explanatory note to Judith, but, torn by his own desire for the Southern belle, Bristow pockets the letter instead. In the North, John founds a successful business and marries, but his young wife dies while giving birth to a son. Filled with hatred for John, Judith marries Tom Dandridge and has a daughter, Shirley. Many years later, John, Jr., now head of the Valiant Corporation, becomes engaged to Katherine Fargo. In order to save his company during a business panic, John must stake his entire fortune and, with his financial situation looking dim, loses Katherine's interest. In despair, John returns to his father's estate and falls in love with Shirley Dandridge. To rekindle her romance with John, Katherine tells Shirley of the family feud and Shirley suddenly cools toward John. On his deathbed, Barstow finally gives Judith John's letter in which John reveals that Edward had shot himself during the duel. John and Shirley are happily reconciled.

Dir: Thomas N. Heffron

Ann Tyson leaves her little cabin and goes West with her brother John, whom she has not seen in fifteen years during his imprisonment for a crime he did not commit. Ann becomes a barmaid in the local saloon, where she meets cowboy Deuce Duncan, and the two fall in love. Deuce correctly suspects that John is involved with a gang of cattle rustlers but remains silent because of his love for Ann. In a drunken rage, John attacks Ann, admitting that he is not her brother and demanding that she marry him. Deuce arrives and rescues Ann just as Clements, the head cattle rustler, sneaks up on the cabin and shoots John.

Dir: Thomas N. Heffron

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

A young man gets arrested after a drunken night. Sentenced to 30 days in jail, he tells his wife he has to go to Mexico for a month.

Dir: Thomas N. Heffron

To the town of Tombstone, in which Goodrich Mudd is known as the "Blacksheep," comes a burlesque company headed by Lida, a captivating woman. Mudd, the sheriff and Underdog, who works a mining claim in Tombstone and who is the boon companion of Mudd, compete to win the charmer, and in order to raise money with which to entertain Lida, Mudd, whose daily occupation is that of lolling in a hammock, plays a game of cards with the sheriff. During the game the manager of the theatrical company also takes a hand, but loses considerably. The money the manager takes from the company's cash box which is fastened to the treasurer of the company, who is handcuffed to the bedstead. Mudd takes Lida to dinner, and when he is far under the influence of wine, the burlesque queen hoists the $19 worth of fried chicken and other delicacies in a basket to the girls in the room above who have not eaten a thing for several days. But Tombstone's omnipresent bad man is always on the job, and when he sees the basket full of eats going up, he empties the contents into the cash box, which he had previously discovered and from which he had abstracted the balance of the company's receipts, lowers the box into its original place and "beats it." The theatrical manager cannot pay the hotel bill, so the proprietor attaches the wardrobe of the players, leaving them nothing but their stage costumes. Subsequently a lawyer arrives from Chicago, who tells Mudd that he has been left $2,000,000 by his aunt who recently died, and that he may obtain the fortune if he complies with the provisions in the will which are: (1) he must live in the Mudd mansion in Chicago; (2) must acquire culture; (3) must place a wreath on his grandfather's grave; (4) must get married to his cousin, Ada Steele, within 99 days; (5) if Ada refuses to marry him, he must marry someone else in 99 days; (6) to decline the terms the money will revert to his other cousin, Percy Vere. Great is the consternation of all present at the reading of the will when Mudd refuses to abide by the terms, and it is only when the crowd threatens to kill him that he finally agrees. He goes to the Mudd mansion in Chicago and takes all his friends with him. The lawyer informs Percy and Ada of the terms of the will, and as these two young people are engaged to be married, Ada contrives to get the fortune by "stringing" Mudd along until the last day when she will flatly refuse to marry him. It will then be too late for Mudd to get a wife, and the millions will go to Percy. Then he and Ada will get married. Percy and Ada go to the Mudd mansion, and Mudd tries to make love to Ada. She blows a whistle, which is the cue for Percy to come to her assistance, but he does not appear, for he has been captured by two female burglars who find upon him an incriminating letter from Ada Steele. The burglars offer to return the letter for $100,000. Some time later Ada and Percy are walking in Lincoln Park when they observe Mudd trying to put a wreath upon the spot in the lake where his grandfather met death by rocking a boat. He also recognizes the female burglars nearby, and tells them to kidnap Mudd until a certain time has passed when he (Percy) agrees to reward the burglars. They comply and Mudd mysteriously disappears. The time for Mudd's marriage is near at hand. Fearing that Percy may not live up to his word, the female burglars decide to watch him, and their suspicions are confirmed when they hear him say to Ada that the millions will soon be his and "The Spiders," whom the female burglars are called, can go hang. In revenge "The Spiders" give orders to release Mudd, who arrives at his mansion at 11:53. "The Spiders" are there, too, and they flaunt the letter found in Percy's pocket, revealing its import, and adding that Ada's absence proves that she has turned Mudd down. Mudd doesn't become alarmed, for he, at the last minute, marries Lida, who has always loved him.

Dir: Thomas N. Heffron

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

Tony comes to America virtually the slave of his padrone, who holds him in debt for his passage money. But Rosa Picciano marries him to escape parental discipline and Tony hopes for freedom at last, but Rosa makes it plain that she does not love him. When the bambina comes, he lavishes all his love on little Giulia and is heartbroken when Rosa divorces him on a trumped-up charge and gains possession of the child. But Tony wins her back from her heartless mother and has her to thank that his hands are not stained with blood.

Dir: Thomas N. Heffron

Mrs. Black, formerly a plump, good-natured widow, tells Professor Black, her new husband whom she adores and fears, that she is 29 instead of 36, neatly knocking off 7 years. To further convince him of her youth, she also tells him that her son "Little Johnny," whom he has never met, is 10--in reality, John is a husky 17-year-old fellow in school in England, fully 6 feet tall, broad-shouldered, and quite up-to-date, even to his Irish valet Larry McManus. Not being able to tell the Professor this, Mrs. Black invents a mythical "Aunt Prue," living in New England, with whom Johnny is supposed to be staying. The professor must curb his impatience to see his new son, for whom he has, with great care, been buying toys. So does the Professor's class of gushing young girls, who look forward with equal eagerness to seeing "Professor's Little Johnny." To regain the slimness of her youth, Mrs. Black takes reducing exercises from physical-culture teacher Tom Larkey, but loses more money and patience than flesh. As John writes that he needs money and wants to come home, she takes the $400 due Larkey and sends it to her beloved offspring, telling him he must stay in England and finish his college course. His professor decides that he needs building-up and sends for an instructor to teach him the proper exercises. The instructor proves to be Larkey, who adds to Mrs. Black's troubles by hounding her for the debt due him. Meanwhile her son has promptly lost the money sent him in poker, and gives a Spaniard an I.O.U. for $400 on the back of an envelope addressed to his mother, Mrs. Black. Pedro, the Spaniard, is going to America and decides to look up Mrs. Black; finding her, he demands the $400 her son owes him, so all her ingenuity is taxed to dodge the two creditors and keep her husband away from them until she shall find some means of obtaining the money due. John falls in love with a pretty girl in England and follows her to America, telegraphing his mother on his arrival in New York that he will soon be with her. And Mrs. Black has just learned from her dignified husband that he never forgives a liar. Then things begin to happen, with Mrs. Black as the prime factor. Jack and his valet arrive; the valet is presented as "Aunt Prue's" husband; and Jack masquerades first as the gas man and finally as Lizzie, the new cook. Of course the fatal truth at last comes out, and the penitent Mrs. Black leaps into an auto, about which she understands nothing, and runs away. Her frantic husband sees the machine smash, and when, after believing her gone from him forever, he learns that she escaped injury, he is so glad to find "Mrs. Black is Back," that he readily forgives her deception and welcomes son John.

Dir: Thomas N. Heffron

Garry Garrity, an Irish blacksmith, receives word from America that he has fallen heir to his uncle's millions. Arriving in Chicago to take charge of his estate, Garry's awkward ways incur the enmity of his cousin and ward, Louise Evans, but after Louise sees through the rough surface to Garry's sterling qualities, the two fall in love. This disturbs Count Caminetti, who had designs on both Louise and the fortune. The count schemes with Mrs. Hawtry, who has visions of becoming a wealthy countess, to frame Garry in a compromising situation, thus forcing him to marry Mrs. Hawtry, who would then divorce him and sue for alimony. When Louise hears the scandalous rumors generated by the count, she insists that Garry marry Mrs. Hawtry until an innkeeper admits that it has been a frame-up. Garry rushes to confront the count and as he is choking a confession from him, Louise enters. After overhearing everything, Louise begs Garry's forgiveness.