The Recommended Vault Deeply Connected to The White Lie: Cult Guide

Dir: Howard Hickman

Following her parents' deaths, Mary Cary is placed in an orphanage, as her grandfather rejects her because of the circumstances of her parents' marriage. At the orphanage Mary is mistreated and humiliated, and when a matron catches her outside the grounds playing ball with a youthful admirer, she gets flogged. Later she learns that her grandfather is a well-known judge and that her father was a British aristocrat. A letter to her uncle brings prompt aid, and after she's rescued from the orphanage, she remains faithful to a young admirer.

Dir: Howard Hickman

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

Hamid-Ali, an Arab chieftain and bandit, captures an English baby during a raid on a caravan and, naming her Sheka, puts her in a harem to be prepared for the slave auction. At the auction, Sir Derek Anstruther, who has fallen in love with Sheka, disguises himself as an Arab and bids for her. After a fight, he kidnaps her and marries her at the English consulate. In England, Sheka has embarrassing moments conforming to British customs of dress and manner, which are intensified by the plot-tings of Derek's former sweetheart. When Derek neglects her because of financial worries, Sheka decides to sell herself to the libertine Duke of Wryden for the amount that Derek needs. Derek rushes to the duke's home when he hears of Sheka's plan, but after he learns that the duke investigated her and discovered she was his niece and an heiress to a large estate, Derek and Sheka are reunited.

Dir: Howard Hickman

Margaret Wayne is devoted to her husband John Rutherford Wayne and their small son "Sonny Boy." Her husband forsakes her for pleasure-loving Rita Kosloff. Family friend Philip Northrop tells Margaret of her husband's unfaithfulness. To make her husband jealous, Margaret pretends to be interested romantically in Philip, not knowing that he actually is in love with her. After Philip implicates Margaret in a compromising situation, her husband is eager to divorce her. He gains custody of their son and marries Rita. "Sonny Boy" becomes ill, and Margaret, who has become a nurse, is summoned to care for him. Margaret's devotion saves the boy's life and makes John realize that he has made a mistake. Philip then decides the only way out is to kill himself and Rita, which he does on a joyride. Margaret and John are finally reconciled.

Dir: Howard Hickman

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

Professor Lampton's work of excavating the tomb of Akhnaton (Ikhnaton) is held up by lack of funds, and Prince Dagmar, scion of a Balkan royal family, finances him with the ulterior motive of robbing the tomb of its treasures. Michael Amory, an artist assisting Lampton, loves Margaret, but believing her to be in love with the prince he departs with Gondo Koro, a Bedouin prophet who knows the location of the tomb. Dagmar sends Millicent, an adventuress, to obtain the information from Michael, and when Dagmar enters the tomb at night Michael surprises him. The thieves wound Michael, but they are captured and he and Margaret are reconciled.

Dir: Howard Hickman

Ellen Latimer meets artist Gibbs Josselyn at a party where she is snubbed. After they fall in love and marry, they move to Europe, where Gibbs finishes his art studies, because he resents the young, frivolous wife of his father Thomas, an architect. Five years later, after Gibbs has made a name for himself, they return, responding to Thomas' plea to see his grandson Tommy. At their Long Island home, Thomas and Tommy become fast friends, while Gibbs falls prey to his flirting stepmother Lillian, to Ellen's dismay. When Ellen and Thomas find Lillian in a negligee at Gibb's studio one morning after Gibbs supposedly was working and Lillian visiting a friend, Gibbs, innocent of any wrong-doing, leaves after quarreling with Thomas and threatening to kill him. The next day, when Thomas is found dead, Gibbs is imprisoned. After Tommy calmly confesses to shooting Thomas while playing soldier, Gibbs is released and reunited with the faithful Ellen.

Dir: Howard Hickman

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

Bob Lang, the superintendent at the Western mining town of Fracas, convenes a meeting to procure a doctor for the community. After a letter is sent to a leading university, Kitty Kelly, a recent medical school graduate, accepts their offer. When the town learns that a woman doctor is coming, they plan to send her right back, but after they see pretty Kitty, all the miners fill her waiting room with ailments linked to mysterious epidemics. Although Kitty is attracted to Bob, she castigates him for drinking. After he seizes her and threatens to hold her in his arms until she forgives him, Kitty, not displeased, makes Bob promise to stop drinking for ninety days. Jerry Williams, a saloon keeper who lives with Lola, a squaw, and their child, lures Kitty to a secluded shack and assaults her. Lola tells Bob, who rescues Kitty and thrashes Williams. When Williams is found dead the next day, Bob is arrested. After Kitty investigates and gets Lola to confess, Kitty and Bob resume their romance.

Dir: Howard Hickman

Norma Brisbane has a taste for the finer things in life, but learns after her father's suicide that she is penniless. Resolved to recover her fortune in the easiest manner possible, Norma poses as the wife of her silly but wealthy suitor, Cuthbert Van Zelt, and soon she is invited to a number of lavish social affairs. At one such party, Norma steals the Duke of Duffield's family jewels but replaces them upon learning that they are made of paste. Next, she bets the duke that his jewels are fake and thereby wins a large sum of money. The duke persuades Norma to secure some old love letters from the man who is blackmailing him, Emerson Trent. After accomplishing this task, Norma discovers that Trent is not only the man who ruined her father, but the uncle of the man she loves, Oliver Garrett. Impressed by her courage, Trent promises to make amends, and Norma, her financial worries ended, marries Oliver.

Dir: Howard Hickman

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

When Marquita Shay, the adopted daughter of Canadian farmer John Grayson, reaches womanhood, Grayson enrolls her in a St. Louis boarding school where she meets and marries Humphrey Wells, the son of a wealthy financier. Treated like a servant by her in-laws, Marquita leaves the Humphrey's home to return to Grayson. She discovers that Grayson has committed suicide after falling victim to a phony stock deal perpetrated by Wells senior. Time passes and Marquita travels to New York where she becomes secretary to Baron Brinker who, with Wells, swindled Grayson. She brings Wells and Brinker to their financial ruin and reunites with her husband who renounces his father.

Dir: Howard Hickman

Nancy is a scrub girl in a fashionable residence, remains honest and law-abiding despite being raised by Mother Hawkins, the fence for many of the city's criminals. She befriends wealthy John Lewis, who argues with his neighbor, Southern gentleman Andrew Calvert, that a lady is made, not born. After Mother Hawkins takes $100 from visiting crook, Gentleman Chi, for Nancy's help in robbing a safe, Nancy leaves her look-out post and Chi, arrested, vows revenge. For protection, Nancy goes to Lewis who sees an opportunity to prove his theory. Five years of wealth and education turn Nancy, now introduced as Lewis' niece, into a woman of refinement and grace. After she befriends Calvert's daughter Virginia, Chi returns. He pursues Virginia, planning to elope with her after she has stolen the family jewels, but Nancy, drawing on her upbringing, steals them back. When Nancy is caught, Virginia confesses, and Lewis, in love with Nancy, proposes to her.

Dir: Howard Hickman

After her father dies and a banker, to whom he owed $5,000, insults the family's honor, dancing instructor Mary Lee, the last of a long line of Southern aristocrats, goes to New York vowing to repay the debt. In Paris, Raoul Garson, an American theatrical manager, signs dancing sensation Anna Gerard, who resembles Mary, to appear on Broadway against the wishes of her Apache lover Pierre La Rouge. When Anna, performing as "Zura," quits, Garson discovers Mary wandering the streets and gives her $5,000 to appear as Zura, while she promises secrecy. After La Rouge comes and murders Anna, Garson makes it look as if Mary died. Mary's fiancé, Richard Crane, returning from an engineering project in South America, finds Mary, but she will not admit her identity. When Anna's fiancé, John Wentworth, realizes the ruse and informs the police, Richard confesses to protect Mary. Mary goes to Paris and dances before Pierre as Anna's ghost. After he confesses, she and Richard find happiness in South America.