Essential Cult Cinema Mirroring the Impact of The Wharf Rat: Cult Guide

Dir: Chester Withey

Genevieve Rutherford Hale, a pampered youngest child, reads an advertisement for women to work on farms to increase food production during World War I. After having her modiste make silk overalls which Genevieve models on Russian ballet attire, she arrives at the Hubbard ranch in New York State with her chauffeur, maid, and pet dog, to be a "farmerette." While Genevieve finds the chores difficult and the other girls unfriendly, Bobbie, the youngest Hubbard, discovers officer training camp to be equally discouraging. Although he is tempted to desert, Bobbie only leaves for one night to see his home again. He finds Genevieve crying in a potato patch, and together they resolve to do their patriotic duty. When a prying neighbor, seeing them together, tells the Hubbards that Genevieve was with a soldier, Genevieve remains silent about Bobbie's identity, and is banished from the ranch. After Bobbie gets a furlough and explains matters, the Hubbards apologize to Genevieve. Bobby proposes, and they plan to marry when he returns from "over there."

Dir: Chester Withey

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

When innocent country girl Paula Letchworth comes to the big city she foolishly allows herself to be influenced by her superficial friends while ignoring the wise counsel of Allen Cotter who truly cares for her. Paula's frivolous life leads her into a marriage with Lawrence Topham, a worthless louse who abuses her and squanders her money. Desperate, Paula offers to buy a divorce from Topham, and turns to Allen for the money. After Topham spends his fee, however, he refuses to go through with the deal, and Paula's invalid mother, unable to endure further cruelty to her daughter, shoots him. Paula and Allen both have reason to believe that the other is guilty of the murder, although the evidence points to suicide. Realizing that the lovers' suspicions are keeping them apart, Paula's mother confesses to the shooting shortly before her death, thus eliminating the barriers between Allen and Paula.

Dir: Chester Withey

A German-American father, loyal to his new U.S. home, finds himself on opposite sides with his son in the wartime conflict between Germany and America. The son becomes involved with German agents plotting against U.S., and the father must decide between his son and his adopted homeland.

Dir: Chester Withey

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

Senator John Coburn's son Steve, who associates more with gamblers, criminals and drug addicts than with his father's congressional cronies, impulsively murders his mistress' new lover. The senator tries to use his influence to have Steve acquitted, but all of the evidence firmly and correctly implicates him, and so the jury prepares to find Steve guilty without much deliberation. Before the verdict can be announced, however, Steve's mother rises in court to make an impassioned plea for her son. As a result, moved by the mother's grief, the jurors choose to ignore all of the evidence, and declare that Steve is not guilty.

Dir: Chester Withey

Rosalie and Reginald become acquainted while they are guests at a hotel in Palm Beach, Florida, and later they are married. Misunderstandings, aggravated by a case of measles, send the young wife to Reno, Nevada for a divorce. A year later she finds her ex-husband engaged to Marcia Hunter--a match promoted by Mrs. Hunter with an eye for Carter's wealth and social position. Regretting her hasty divorce, Rosalie almost succeeds in winning him back until the Hunters, a poet, and a rejected suitor interfere with her plan. Nevertheless, Rosalie stops the wedding by sending a note to the bishop, telling him that Reggie is divorced. Returning to Reggie, she becomes Mrs. Carter again.

Dir: Chester Withey

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of The Old Folks at Home perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

A young man planning to marry receives a cautionary tale from his bishop based on the sad tale of the bishop's own early romance.

Dir: Chester Withey

Betty Griffon delays her wedding to Harry Lindsey, because her brother Dick is late for the ceremony. Upon learning that her dear brother has been injured in an accident, Betty refuses to leave on her honeymoon until he has recovered. When Harry objects, Betty proclaims that he is insensitive and demands a divorce. To oblige his wife, Harry hires his friend Tom Robinson to testify as corespondent in a divorce case, and a separation is granted. Betty and Harry realize that they really love each other too late and decide to remarry, but are prevented from doing so by the divorce papers which forbids Harry from marrying again. They finally decide to circumvent the New York law by becoming really married in New Jersey, and all ends happily.

Dir: Chester Withey

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

Maggie Pepper, a strong-willed, sharp-witted saleswoman for a dry goods store, raises her deceased brother's daughter, Claire, to shield the girl from her thieving mother, Ada. Unaware that she is speaking to her employer, Joe Holbrook, Maggie shares her ideas for improving the store. Maggie is fired by the insecure manager, but rehired as Joe's assistant, and the store prospers with the help of her innovations. After Ada marries Sam Darkin, she reclaims Claire and teaches the girl to be a pickpocket. The mother and daughter are soon apprehended in Joe's store, and Claire is returned to Maggie's care while Ada is sent to prison. Realizing that Joe's interest in her has ended his engagement, Maggie quits her job and takes Claire to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as protection from Darkin. Joe arrives soon after and rescues Claire from being kidnapped by her stepfather. Although he sustains only a minor wound, Joe pretends to be seriously hurt so that Maggie will nurse him through the night. The next day, Joe proposes marriage and she accepts.

Dir: Chester Withey

When anarchist bombs disrupt the engagement ball of Princess Marie Pavlovna, her fiancé, Prince Michail Koloyar, helps her to escape in a carriage. Then Theo Kameneff, secretly in the pay of a foreign government, becomes dictator and, desiring the princess, issues an edict that all women between the ages of seventeen and thirty-two must register and become state property. Outraged, Marie, disguised as a shopkeeper, organizes women to refuse the order. After she is discovered by Orel Kosloff, Kameneff's henchman, Marie declines Kameneff's offer to repeal the edict if she will live with him. Kosloff then initiates mass brutality, killing women who do not register, including to Kameneff's dismay, his beloved sister, whom he tried to save. Meanwhile, Michail, who has infiltrated the Bolshevik ranks, is found out and narrowly escapes a firing squad. After he stops Kameneff's attack on Marie, Kameneff is shot by a potter, revenging his daughter's ravishment. Marie and Michail finally escape across the border.

Dir: Chester Withey

Polly, a young woman on the run from three unwanted suitors, checks into a hotel using an assumed name. This subterfuge leads a Secret Service agent to mistake her for a German spy, which in turn leads her to become unwittingly involved with real German spies.