Masterpiece Selection Resonating with the Themes of The World to Live In: Cult Guide

Dir: Charles Maigne

Lola Gray working in a New York department store as a clerk, loves Charles Cox, a millionaire's son who is described by his friends as "Broadway's million-dollar kid." One evening at a lavish party, Charlie, quite intoxicated, proposes to Lola, but because of his irresponsible habits, she refuses him. Heartbroken, Charlie decides to drown himself in the hotel fountain and urges his friends and the proprietor to join him. When Lola learns from her sister, Ida Bell Gray, that Cox, Sr., having read about Charlie's antics in the newspaper, plans to disown his son, she phones Charlie immediately to accept his proposal. Although startled by the news of his disinheritance, Charlie is comforted by Lola's assertion that she prefers a man of character to one of wealth, and the two begin their married life on a farm in the Midwest.

Dir: Charles Maigne

Sylvia Landis promises to marry the wealthy but unprincipled Quarrier because of his social standing. Avarice is the only emotion that Sylvia feels towards her fiance, and when she meets Stephen Siward, a young man afflicted with alcoholism, she falls in love. With the aid of his friend Plank, Stephen fights bravely to cure himself. Plank is enamored of Leila Mortimer, whose husband is trying to blackmail Stephen and extort money from Quarrier. While the two star-crossed couples are dining at a hotel, Quarrier informs Mortimer that Plank is attempting to steal his wife. The two men rush to the hotel where they quarrel, and the drunken Mortimer shoots Quarrier. The dying Quarrier then picks up the revolver and shoots his assailant, thus clearing the path for the marriage of the two sets of lovers.

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

Dir: Charles Maigne

Sheila Cardross Malcourt shares only a loveless marriage with Louis Malcourt, but is unwilling to divorce him even to marry the man she really loves, for fear of hurting her foster parents. Instead, she stifles her feelings for Garry Hamil and strives to maintain her marriage. But when tragedy ensues, she finds herself faced with a new dilemma.

Dir: Charles Maigne

The only daughter of wealthy Wall Street banker, Evelyn Murray, while with her aristocratic fiancé, Bert Van Vliet, runs down and injures newsboy Terry McGuire. To avoid an embarrassing outcome, Bert persuades her to flee the scene of the accident. Evelyn is conscience-stricken and informs her father; he is then forced to pay "hush money" to a garage attendant who has witnessed the accident. That evening Murray gives a dinner to honor John Deems, Bishop of New York, to whom he plans to contribute money for a youth foundation. Influenced by the bishop, Evelyn goes to the hospital, becomes acquainted with the injured boy, and arranges for his care. Opposed by her father and fiancé, Evelyn disappears and is reconciled to them only when they agree to adopt a less arrogant attitude toward their money and power.

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

Dir: Charles Maigne

Believing her husband, Laurence Teck, (Maurice B. Flynn) to be dead in the African jungle, Carol (Mary Miles Minter) marries musician David Verne (Casson Ferguson). Laurence does come home, but, thinking it best for Carol, he returns to the jungle. The shock kills David, and Carol sets out in search of Laurence, has many adventures, and finally finds him with the friendly native king who saved him.

Dir: Charles Maigne

June Tolliver, whose family has long feuded with the Falins, falls in love with engineer John Hale when he comes to their mountain town. John sends her to the city to be educated with the promise of marriage when she returns. Because John is appointed deputy he tries to remain neutral, but he finds the Falins supporting him when June's Uncle Rufe is accused of murder. June is called to testify during his trial but does not perjure herself for Rufe's sake. To prevent a Tolliver from being hanged, Jud Tolliver has Rufe shot. John is also injured, but June's pleading finally brings an end to the feud.

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

Dir: Charles Maigne

Boone Stallard, elected to the Kentucky Legislature by a mountain district, clashes with Randolph Marshall, a Blue Grass aristocrat who is engaged to Anne, the governor's daughter. When a feud breaks out in the mountains between the Keatons and the Stallards, Boone returns home and with the help of Marshall restores law and order; later, Marshall obtains a commutation of the sentence of Stallard's brother, who has been condemned to death. Boone, now realizing the differences between a rugged, simple mountaineer and an aristocrat, decides not to ask Anne to marry him.

Dir: Charles Maigne

When Easter Hicks, a Kentucky mountain girl, becomes infatuated with Clayton, a civil engineer from the city, her father Pap Hicks vows to kill Clayton. Sherd Raines, a young mountaineer who loves Easter, prevails upon Pap to reconsider, but Sherd is finally overcome by jealousy and begins to mold a bullet to kill his rival. As he prepares the mold, Sherd hears a preacher's voice denounce him for his evil intentions and he spills the hot metal.

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

Dir: Charles Maigne

Jimmy Ordway is amazed by his wife Charlotte's unending energy, he is an exhausted wreck after a honeymoon filled with golfing, riding, boating, swimming, polo, mountain climbing, and dancing in the evenings. At the house party Charlotte throws the evening they return, Jimmy plots with his male friends to have them entertain Charlotte non-stop in shifts until she drops. After he convinces his old friend Brandy, a professional athlete, to participate, Brandy, on finding the only woman he has met who could keep up with him, tries to steal Charlotte away. When Brandy tells her of Jimmy's infatuation with Julia Cleves, whose consolatory attentions have taken his mind off his troubles, Charlotte sees them blowing smoke kisses and upbraids Jimmy. To win her back, Jimmy, taking the cue from Petruchio, a character in The Taming of the Shrew by Shakespeare, sets out to tame Charlotte by abducting her and binding her in a boathouse. Charlotte secretly enjoys it, and when Brandy arrives to rescue her and attempts an undesired intimacy, she throws him into the water. Jimmy happily embraces Charlotte, who then prepares dinner for their thirty friends.

Dir: Charles Maigne

Milt Shanks lives a shamed life, hated by his neighbors for having been a traitor to the North in the American Civil War. But Shanks carries with him a secret, one he promised Abraham Lincoln to tell no one.