Essential Cult Cinema Mirroring the Impact of The Traffic Cop: Cult...

Dir: Howard M. Mitchell

Although they have a happy marriage, explorer Sir Charles Chatham and his American wife Lady Marion have been unable to have children. After Charles goes to Egypt, his sister Gertrude and her sweetheart Stephen Hartley, an American consulate attaché, take refuge from a storm in a deserted tower. Frightened, Gertrude yields to Stephen's advances. Although he intends to marry Gertrude, Stephen is suddenly called to deliver supplies to starving women and children in Russia. Marion takes pregnant Gertrude away to have her child, and notifies Stephen, but because he is shot during Bolshevik rioting, he returns too late to marry Gertrude, who dies after giving birth. To honor Gertrude's dying request and provide Charles with a much-desired child, Marion telegraphs Charles that the baby is theirs. However, when he returns, his mother, who wants the estate for her son George, tells Charles that Hartley is the father. To stop Charles from shooting Hartley, Marion confesses the truth, whereupon Charles adopts the baby.

Dir: Howard M. Mitchell

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

A victim of hypnotism begins to have compulsions to steal.

Dir: Howard M. Mitchell

Hoping to reconcile her divorced parents, Norris Gradley remains with her father, Giles, after he marries another woman. The new Mrs. Gradley snubs and mistreats Norris, who earns money by disguising herself as a boy and playing the violin at dances. Claude Wolcott, employed by Giles to drill oil wells, falls in love with Norris. When Giles discovers Rodney Bates trying to rekindle his romance with Mrs. Gradley, Claude prevents his employer from committing murder. The enraged Mrs. Gradley rushes from the house and falls to her death into an abyss. Norris reunites her parents and marries Claude.

Dir: Howard M. Mitchell

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

Forced to theft when in dire straits, family man John Howard is arrested for stealing food from a grocery store and is put in jail. The shock kills his wife, and his children are sent to an orphanage. Ella is adopted by a wealthy widow, and May finds a place on the farm of George Stuart, where she attracts the attentions of farmhand Billy Bender. Clifford Hamilton, manager of Stuart's grocery stores, calls at the farm with some papers and comes to know May and later her sister, who has been named heir to the widow. After firing the manager for dishonesty, Stuart finds that Hamilton is responsible for May's father's being jailed, and he reunites Howard with his children.

Dir: Howard M. Mitchell

In Red Dog, Nevada, a lawless mining town, Ann Murdock attempts to oust the reigning politicians, all of them corrupt, by persuading women to run for office. Because the women cannot vote, they convince their husbands to vote for them, and as a result all of the elective offices in Red Dog come to be held by women. The men, meanwhile, remain at home to care for the houses and babies. Disgruntled by his loss of power, the former town boss has the new town officials locked in jail. Tenderfoot Leonard Blair tries to assist them but is arrested on a trumped-up robbery charge. Ann finally rescues Leonard, with whom she has fallen in love, and the women are released from jail to continue their petticoat politics.

Dir: Howard M. Mitchell

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

Larry Hart criticizes his father, a newspaper publisher, for exploiting the plight of the poor to sensationalize the news, and to prove his point, Larry decides to reform an unfortunate slum dweller. While in the slums, Larry meets Jenny Carson, a waif dressed in boys' clothing, and finds her a job as a waitress. Larry falls in love with Jenny, but when his father meets her, he recognizes the waif as the daughter of his crooked ex-partner, Joe Farley, and forbids their marriage. Joe then appears and confronts his former partner with the proof that Hart and not Joe was the real swindler. After a series of misadventures, Hart admits his guilt, Larry and Jenny are married and Larry is able to implement his ideals when he takes control of his father's paper.

Dir: Howard M. Mitchell

Larry Gilmore must marry by a certain date to inherit a fortune. He is besieged by women anxious to assist in getting the money. To escape them, he gets a job as a police officer and dons a uniform. He falls in love with Mollie Martin, a waitress who does not know his identity but agrees to marry him. Before the ceremony several complications occur, and Larry rounds up a band of jewel thieves. A few seconds before the expiration date he marries and gets the fortune.

Dir: Howard M. Mitchell

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

Prominent French diplomat Emile Coullard is preparing an important international trade agreement. When Belloc appears at Coullard's country home to help prepare the document, it becomes evident that Belloc had met Marguerite, Coullard's charming wife, before. It later develops that Belloc had deceived and taken advantage of Marguerite when she was an innocent girl just out of a convent. Fernand, the illegitimate product of the union, had been raised by her friend, attorney De Brionne who, on his deathbed, declares that henceforth Marguerite should care for her grown child, now a notorious drinker. Marguerite arranges for Coullard to take Fernand as his secretary. Meanwhile, Belloc attempts to obtain the secret agreement in order to sell the information to a stock brokerage that could then make a killing on the market. Belloc forces Marguerite to open the safe by threatening to expose her past. A fight ensues with Fernand, and in attempting to escape, Belloc falls from a window to his death. Coullard eventually discovers everything, but forgives Marguerite of her past mistakes.

Dir: Howard M. Mitchell

In France, artist Arthur de Sivry, also known as the Marquis of Savoy, falls in love with Marie Gautier, a peasant girl from the country. His depraved uncle, Count de Baudine, who leases his farm to the Gautiers, makes unwelcome advances on Marie until she joins a troop of entertainers in Paris. Arthur follows her to the city and offers the use of his vacant apartment. Upon learning of their arrangement, the count spreads rumors to ruin Marie's reputation and claims that Arthur is engaged to another woman. Marie's father returns from a visit to Paris and, believing the rumors to be true, tells his wife of their daughter's downfall. However, Arthur finally proposes to Marie and all ends happily.

Dir: Howard M. Mitchell

One night at a party, when her drunken husband Tom makes a fool of himself, Bess Rutherford becomes so humiliated that she accepts long-time admirer Jim Carpenter's offer to leave Tom for him. Bess goes to New York with Jim, who persists in postponing their wedding date, forcing her to live as an illicit woman. Bess's son Jack suspects nothing of his mother's circumstances until his fiancée's mother, Mrs. Dexter, asks him to stop seeing her daughter Gladys. Finally learning of Bess's scandalous living conditions, Jack confronts Carpenter, who is secretly hoping to win Gladys, and in their confrontation, Carpenter is shot and killed. Bess, hysterical, drinks poison, but then realizes that the whole scene was a nightmare which ends happily when Tom promises to never drink again.