Visionary Picks Drawn from the Same DNA as The Two Edged Sword: Cult Guide

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Clover Ames's life consists only of the drudge work that she performs at her Aunt Sarah's boardinghouse. No longer able to withstand her aunt's abuse, Clover runs away and obtains a job as a maid to a wealthy woman. Willed $7,000 by Pierre Dubois, a boarder at her aunt's house, Clover, inspired by a novel that she has read, poses as a duchess at a fashionable winter resort. There she meets and falls in love with Walter Gray, who is also traveling incognito as a ribbon clerk. When Clover's money runs out, her trick is discovered and she vanishes. Obtaining employment in Gray's department store, Clover learns that her ribbon clerk is actually the owner's son, who rushes her to the wedding bureau.

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

To prevent Ben Farraday from exposing the whereabouts of her brother, an escapee from prison, Nan Kennedy agrees to steal important papers from Farraday's enemy, John Lawson. Nan is caught and Lawson agrees to let her go free on the condition that she do his bidding for a year. After arranging a wedding between Nan and Billy Bond, the son of a man whom he blames for stealing his wife, Lawson shocks everyone during the wedding reception by announcing that Nan is a thief. Billy runs away and turns to drink and Nan's only thought is to seek vengeance against Lawson. Knowing that his one weakness is his belief in spiritualism, Nan poses as a medium and advises him to sell certain stocks. The next day, Lawson finds himself ruined. Meanwhile, Billy vows to kill Lawson, leaving a note to inform his father of the deed. Discovering the note, the elder Bond rushes to Lawson's house and announces that Billy is actually Lawson's son. Overcome, Billy's nerves break and he cries for Nan. Lawson, repentant, finds her and a happy reunion takes place.

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When Silas Pettingill strikes oil and becomes immensely wealthy, his wife Maria and their daughter Helen demand to move from their Middle-Western home to a mansion on Fifth Avenue in New York City. Even then they are dissatisfied, for they have so fashionable friends. Helen is constantly reading books about royalty, and she bewails her fate because she knows no lords or earls. Wearying of their complaints, Silas goes out and makes friends with a taxicab driver, as agreeable young man named Hubert Stanwood, and as the hour grows late, takes him home with him to bed. In the morning Mrs. Pettingill demands to know who the stranger is. Not daring to tell her he has brought home only a chauffeur, he introduces Stanwood as Count Erfitt. Mrs. Pettingill runs to tell Helen the glad news, and they plan a series of social functions to introduce their guest. Soon the "Count" is seen everywhere with Helen. He does not want to pose under false colors, but Pettingill implores him not to let them know that he has deceived them. At a tea-dance they met Macklin Thurston, who is introduced to them as the Earl of Bradwood. Stanwood starts when he hears the name, for his own grandfather is the heir. He does not know that both have died, and that Thurston, discovering that the second son, Hubert, has been missing for several years, has appeared as a false claimant for the title. Stanwood decides to say nothing, but to investigate. Thurston is really the proprietor of an international employment agency. He uses this position to supply Huntington Lodge, the Adirondack home of the Pettingills, with two servants, Rita and Dugan, who are clever crooks. Both Thurston, as the Earl, and Stanwood, as the Count, are invited to a house party at the Lodge. Helen and Stanwood have fallen in love with each other at their first meeting. Stanwood proposes, and Helen accepts him. But Thurston tells Rita she must find a way to compromise Stanwood. She does so, and Helen breaks her engagement to Stanwood, and announced her engagement to Thurston, known as "the Earl." Stanwood engages a detective to unmask Thurston, but he has manufactured credentials, and Stanwood himself is unmasked as a false count by a man who knew him as a chauffeur. Helen orders him to drive her guests back to their hotel from the lawn fete that is in progress. Thurston goes to Helen's room and tries to persuade her to elope with him, but she refuses. Under cover of night, Rita and Dugan attempt to steal Helen's jewels. Stanwood returns in time to prevent them, but he is injured in the struggle, and when Helen enters she thinks it is he who is the thief. Still loving him, however, she urges him to escape, but the real thieves are apprehended. Detective Burke is about to take both Thurston and Stanwood into custody, not knowing which one of them is the tales Earl of Bradwood, when the lawyer arrives from New York and identifies Stanwood as the genuine Earl. Thurston is led away, and Stanwood and Helen, soon to be Lady Bradwood, are reunited.

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

Ira Wilton and his son-in-law Harry Bennett resort to the subterfuge of telling their wives that they are members of the Thirteenth Regiment, to be sure of having a night off each week, Friday night, for the regiment drills. They substantiate their deception by bringing into their little game Ira's daughter Laura and her fiancé Jack Brent, a genuine member of the Thirteenth. Their deception runs along nicely until one Friday night when the men have gone to the club, their wives find the invitation, and are just about to start out when they discover that the water pipe has burst. Laura informs the men by telephone what is discovered, and warns them to hurry home. They arrive and find that the kitchen and dining room are flooded, and, after all has been given a good soaking, Lord Dudley, an admirer of Laura, manages to stop the flow of water. Just as the trouble concerning the flood has subsided, Jack Brent arrives home and tells the men that the Thirteenth has been ordered to the front. The husbands, seeing a good chance to take a little vacation, purchase soldiers' clothing and fall in behind the Thirteenth Regiment as it passes their wives, but slip out as soon as it is out of sight. They then go to the barn, where they substitute their soldiers' habiliments for civilian clothes and then make all possible haste to the lake, where they intend to spend a little vacation. But their vacation is short-lived, for one day they see in the newspapers that the entire Thirteenth regiment has been wiped out. They hurry home to the old barn, where they get into their regimentals as quickly as possible--not forgetting to add a few rents here and there, to make it appear as if they have had a terrible struggle at the front and in escaping. When they arrive home they observe that Mrs. Wilton's brother has returned from the West and promised to take care of the "widows." In reply to Lena's (the fat cook), question concerning her lover Conrad, they were just about to tell her that he died with her name on his lips, when in come Harry and Conrad with the news that the newspaper report was all wrong. Ira and Harry fix it up with Conrad, and Jack, desiring to keep on the right side of the old man, tells the women that the men had a terrible fight, and brother Tom forgets about asking questions when a couple of good cigars are shoved into his mitt.

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A grandmother has an adventure for the first time in her life when she decides to have a night out.

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

William Baldwin, ruined in business by his partner John Blaisdell, implores Blaisdell's aid and receives in answer a five-dollar bill inscribed with "Spend this for a gun and use it on herself." Hopelessly, Baldwin and his daughter Nan go to the Yujon, where the father dies and Nan earns a living in a rough dance hall where as "Nightingale Nan" she is the miners' idol. When she discovers that the little claim on Bear Creek, the only thing her father has left her, is worthless, at first she collapses; then she becomes defiant and tells the miners who have been forcing their attentions upon her that they may have her, the lucky man to be the winner in a card-game, she to take the money won in the game and go away to seek fame and fortune. A bearded stranger wins the game with a pair of deuces and pays her $1,000 a card, and she leaves with him for her cabin. Once there, however, she repents her rash bargain, and implores him to release her, offering the money in return. He makes her sign an I.O.U. for herself, promising to pay the debt at any future time that he sees fit. "You'll win success," the stranger tells her, "but in the hour of your greatest triumph I shall claim you, and you must return." She leaves on this condition. Nan's voice wins success for her all over the world. Five years later, as Mlle. Nanon Boldini, she is the reigning operatic queen at La Scala, Milan, then comes to the Metropolitan Opera House, New York, to make her American debut in "Lucia di Lammermoor." Her success is instantaneous. Two of the most important patrons of the opera house, business rivals John Blaisdell and James Van Brunt, are united in their admiration of Mlle. Boldini, and obtain an introduction. When Nan discovers the identity of Blaisdell, the man who ruined her father, she quietly plans his downfall. She encourages his attention, even at the risk of displeasing a young stranger with whom she has fallen in love. She refuses an offer of marriage from the man who won her heart, telling him of her promise made under amazing conditions to a man in Alaska five years ago. That promise, she tells him, must be fulfilled, no matter how great the sacrifice she makes in doing so. Inviting Blaisdell to her apartment to dinner, she has a telephone connection so arranged that James Van Brunt, at his downtown office with the receiver at his ear, hears Blaisdell's answers to the carefully prepared questions Nan asks, betraying all his business secrets. As Blaisdell falls across the table in a drunken stupor, after having told everything, Nan's triumph is complete. It is at this moment that two fateful cards, the deuces with which the Alaskan won his game, are thrust under the door, and Nan falls fainting. The next day she prepares for her journey to the Northland, ready to pay the price of her five years' freedom. The man she loves insists on accompanying her. Going to her little cabin, she finds it sumptuously furnished. As she turns to her lover in surprise, he places on the table a crumpled "I.O.U." then tears it in two, giving her the pieces. As the realization slowly dawns on Nan that the man she has learned to love is the bearded stranger of so long ago, she fits the two pieces of the "I.O.U." back together, presents them to him, and creeps into the arms of her stranger-lover.

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Col. Jessup of Mayville does not waste any affection on his young wife, who finally runs away with a theatrical company, taking her son with her, but leaving her baby daughter. Later, she dies, and the boy, Byron Bennett, known as Buddy, is leading man for a theatrical company playing one-night stands, but this season has been disastrous and the company is about to disband when they receive word that the house is sold out for the performance at Mayville, so they hang on. However, the manager collects the receipts for the performance and takes the first train, leaving the company stranded. Buddy secures a position as Instructor for the Jessup Volunteer Hose Company which is to give an amateur theatrical performance. He persuades Grace Jessup's father to allow her to take the leading part in order to out-do Hose Company No. 1, which also plans a performance. Grace becomes interested in traveling salesman Percy Pennington. He tries to persuade her to elope, but she refuses until he makes a definite promise of marriage. He boasts to Buddy and his friend Skinny and intimates that the promise will not be carried out. Soon after, he starts out riding with Grace. Buddy is suspicious and follows on a bicycle, but is outdistanced. At last, however, he sees the horse tied by the roadside, and hears Grace scream. Rushing to her assistance he overcomes Percy, and carries a wilting Grace home.Col. Jessup, thinking Bud is the culprit, fires at him twice. One bullet lodges in the shoulder; the other is stopped by Buddy's watch in which he carries a picture of his mother. Grace regains consciousness and explains matters, and Jessup is amazed to find that the picture in the watch is that of his wife. The doctor advises that Buddy will recover, and there is a reconciliation among father, son, and daughter.

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

Peter is smitten with Winifred, a model, whom he met on board the steamer returning from Europe, but is discouraged by his sister, Ena, who is more ambitious for him. Peter is the son of Peter Rolls, the wealthy New Yorker. Ena tells Winifred that Peter is engaged to Eileen, sister of Lord Ravglan and that he is just trifling with her. Winifred believes her and refuses to speak to him. Before disembarking, Ena gives Winifred a stylish gown which she bought in New York. Winifred is working in a stylish modiste's shop. One of the best customers insults her and she slaps his face. Mme. Nadine, the modiste, sees her action, and fearful of losing the customer, discharges her. She tries to get a position in the other shops, but in each case finds herself blacklisted by Madame Nadine. In sore straits, she moves to cheaper quarters. She meets Lily, a salesgirl in Roll's department store, and the former takes her to Megeison, the store manager to get her a position. The manager, at first says he has no opening, but when he sees what a handsome girl Winifred is, he employs her. Ena Rolls comes to the store to do some shopping, and sees Winifred against whom she harbors a dislike. She makes various remarks calculated to arouse Win's anger, and when Win resents them she complains to Megeison, who pretends to discharge her. When Ena leaves, he tells her that she may remain and transfers her to another department. Megeison arranges a party for that night at which Winifred, Lily, a floorwalker and himself are to be present. Megeison tells the floorwalker to escort the girls to the party, but to keep them ignorant of the fact that it is to be held at his house. Winifred dons the dress Ena gave her, the only decent gown she possesses. They start off, but when Winifred sees that she is being taken to his apartment she tries to back out, but she is persuaded to continue by Lily. Meanwhile, Peter in his hunt for Winifred, gets a clue which leads him to the department store. Here he learns that she has been discharged and is told that Megeison could give him her address. In Megeison's apartment, all drink except Winifred and after a while, she feels sheepish and drinks with them. She catches Megeison trying to "dope" her drink and denounces him. He catches her and tries to kiss her and a struggle follows in which her dress is badly torn, the pieces falling on the floor. She manages to elude him and escapes to another room where she locks herself in. Peter enters and asks for information about Winifred, but Megeison tells him that he knows nothing about her. Then the pieces of Winifred's dress catch his eye and he demands to know the truth. Megeison's valet, who went through another room to admit him, opens the door and Peter sees Winifred within. Winifred shrinks from Peter, thinking he is in league with Megeison, but when she realizes that he really loves her and has come to claim her for his own, she leaves misery behind, and goes with Peter, her suffering relieved in the knowledge of his devotion.

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Young attorney John Norton is in love with Broadway star Mona Mainard. Mona's young brother Tommy has served a term in Sing Sing. When he is released, he comes at once to his sister and tells her he is going away to begin life anew. She urges him to remain, but he refuses, and she gives him money for his railroad fare. He knows of her love for Norton, who has now been made assistant district attorney, in recognition of his ability, and does not want to stand in her way. Mona leaves the stage and marries Norton. Boss politician Ryan is in love with adventuress Pearl Le Claire. He has installed her in a handsome apartment in the Arcadia, the leading hotel, where he guards her jealously. Norton wins case after case. Mona realizes that less-clever lawyers are no match for him, and knows that based on circumstantial evidence, he secures many convictions of innocent persons. District attorney Daniels becomes ill and Norton succeeds to his position. He convicts on circumstantial evidence an old man who obviously could not have committed the crime and is not guilty. As sentence is pronounced, the old man dies on the witness stand. Mona, in the gallery, is amazed at the injustice of it, and writes to a newspaper a scathing denunciation of the case under an assumed name. The breach widens between husband and wife. Mona pleads with Norton to change his tactics, but he knows that his record has made him a favorite with the public, and that he is in line for the governorship of the state. Tommy has secured work as bell-boy in the Arcadia Hotel. In a jealous rage Ryan kills Pearl Le Claire, but the evidence points directly to Tommy. The boy gives the name of John Smith, not wishing to bring disgrace upon his sister, and is taken to the Tombs. Mona sees his picture in the newspaper. She rushes to him. He insists that he did not commit the murder, and convinces her of his innocence. She goes to her husband and begs him to give up this case, but he tells her that Ryan will make him governor of the state if he wins it. She confesses that Tommy is her brother, but even that does not influence him. Norton has a laboratory adjacent to his library. where he experiments with poisons and chemicals in preparing for his cases. Among his bottles is one containing a harmless sedative. Mona changes the labels on some of the bottles. That night, while her husband is working with his stenographer in the library, Mona feigns hysteria. Norton rushes to the laboratory, snatches up the bottle which he supposes contains the sedative, and gives her some of the contents. Mona now simulates an agony of pain. Servants and policemen rush in, and she accuses her husband of having poisoned her. He swears that he did not, but all the evidence is against him. Circumstantial evidence proves that he has attempted to kill her. He begs her to forgive his hard-heartedness; he promises to do anything in the world for her if she will only live. Obtaining his promise not to prosecute her brother, Mona sits up, smiles, and makes him admit that circumstantial evidence may be wrong; also, that she is the best little actress in the world. Tommy is released, and as Ryan confesses, the real culprit is brought to justice without the aid of circumstantial evidence.

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A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.