Deep Archive Finds in the Vein of The Woman of Mystery: Cult Guide

The The Woman of Mystery Phenomenon

As a pivotal work in United States cinema, The Woman of Mystery to capture the existential zeitgeist of 1914.

Norma, a dancer, receives many presents from admirers. Among them she finds a peculiar looking box, out of which spring several poisonous snakes. Nelson, a detective, is called upon to solve the mystery. On the box he finds a peculiar trademark, which he seizes as a clue. At his home he finds the same odd mark on an ashtray bought by his mother in a Hindu curio shop, and he learns that the box containing the snakes was purchased by a Hindu woman. Calling upon the woman, he is surprised to find himself in the home of a Priestess of Buddhism. The Priestess tries to fascinate him with her beauty and, not succeeding, drops a powder into an incense burner, the fumes of which begin to throw him into a stupor. He fights his way to a window, blows a police whistle, and is attacked by three giant Hindu attendants. But the police arrive in time to save his life, and the Priestess is arrested and thrown into prison. The dancer, Norma, is attracted to Nelson by his bravery, and they become friends. Meanwhile, the Priestess succeeds in working a psychic miracle in which she goes into a trance and, while her earthly form remains in prison, her soul is freed and appears before the horrified detective in his study. His nature is changed immediately by the Priestess's mystic influence, and his face becomes the face of a hardened criminal. Changing his clothes for one of the rough suits used in his detective work, he visits a den of crooks and aids them to rob a bank, the plans of which he has been entrusted with in his professional capacity. Later he is called to the bank to investigate the robbery and, not knowing of his dual personality, makes every effort to find the man who had committed the crime. He finds his own scarf among the scattered papers taken from the safe. A threatening letter, which he receives from the followers of the Priestess, is seen by Norma, who is so greatly concerned for his safety that when he asks her to marry him, she quickly consents to an engagement, so that she can do all in her power to protect him. His old mother is puzzled by seeing him leave his own house through the window, when he is again visited by the spirit of the Priestess and influenced to aid the same band of crooks in the robbery of his own home. When his real personality returns, he finds himself in his own office, where he has been discovered by his mother, sleeping in a chair, dressed in his old clothes. Upon discovery that his house has been robbed, he calls the chief of police and is seen by the companions of his criminal personality, who thinks that he is acting as an agent of the authorities merely to place them in the hands of the law. When he is again transformed toy the spirit of the Priestess and returns to the thieves' den, they regard him as a spy and plan to do away with him, leaving him bound and gagged in the care of an old hag, while they celebrate his capture. But Norma, who, with his mother has been watching him, follows him to the den of thieves and, overpowering the old woman, helps him to escape. Meanwhile, the followers of the Priestess succeed in rescuing her from her prison cell and are speeding away in an automobile when Nelson, who still retains his criminal personality, asks them to assist him to escape from the crooks, who are closely upon his trail. Thus, he unwittingly places himself and his fiancée in the power of the Priestess, who makes them prisoners in a temple of Buddha. Norma faints, and when Nelson's real personality returns, he finds himself bound hand and foot in the temple. Norma quickly explains the situation to him and, by burning the ropes that bind his wrists with the fire in the incense burner, he frees his companion and makes his way to the roof by the aid of a heavy chain from which a large oriental lamp is swung from the ceiling. He succeeds in helping Norma to the roof by the same method and they reach the ground with the aid of a large tree. The chief of police, who has been summoned by Nelson's mother, overtakes the crooks and arrests them after a desperate struggle. But the Priestess cheats the majesty of the law by the aid of a poisoned ring with which she does away with herself during one of her wild fanatical dances. Her death marks the end of her influence over Nelson, and he at last feels free to marry Norma.