Must-Watch List Comparable to the Style of Two-Gun Betty: 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 Josselyn's Wife perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

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

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

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

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.

Dir: Howard Hickman

In the small town of Sycamore Ridge live youthful sweethearts Bob Hendricks and Molly Culpepper; Bob's banker father, General Hendricks; and John Barclay, head of the Golden Belt Wheat Co. When Adrian Brownwell comes to town to publish a newspaper, his cash deposits in Hendricks' bank relieve the banker's worry that an expected bank examiner will discover the shortage in bank funds resulting from Hendricks' support of Barclay. Adrian falls in love with Molly and decides to leave Sycamore Ridge when she refuses to marry him. Barclay threatens Molly with the financial ruin of many whom she holds dear unless she marries Adrian, and Bob returns from the East to find Molly the new Mrs. Brownwell. Twenty years later, Barclay has become a financial power, Adrian has fallen into drunkenness, and Molly supports herself by working on the newspaper, which Bob now controls. In a rage Adrian shoots Bob and flees, and happiness comes to Bob and Molly when word comes of Adrian's death in a railroad accident. Barclay's wife's death leads the financier to believe that he is being punished for ruthlessly crushing his rivals, and he distributes his fortune to those whose businesses he has ruined.

Dir: Howard Hickman

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

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

Rachael marries Clarence Breckenridge, whose daughter Billy is only a few years younger than she. Clarence, an alcoholic, is devoted to Billy, but because both father and daughter are indifferent to Rachael, she finally divorces Clarence to wed her old friend, Dr. Warren Gregory. Soon afterward, Rachael learns to her distress that Warren is no longer the home-loving man she had befriended but a social "high-stepper," much like her first husband. Several years pass, during which Billy elopes with worthless pleasure-seeker Joe Pickering, which leads Clarence to kill himself. Meanwhile, Warren develops an attachment to actress Magsie Clay. Magsie admits to Rachael that she loves Warren, and the young wife agrees to a divorce, but Warren, unwilling to leave Rachael and his children permanently, departs for Europe. When their little son Jim is severely injured, Rachael begs Warren to save him, and through this ordeal the couple's love is renewed.

Dir: Howard Hickman

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of A Certain Rich Man 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

Richard Emerson and Mary Ashby undertake a marriage of convenience: she marries him for his wealth, and he marries her both for her social standing and to quash rumors of an affair with his brilliant secretary, Eleanor Lathrop. After the ceremony, the couple separates. Mary returns to their elegant country home, while Emerson, accompanied by Eleanor, travels West to work in his railroad construction camp. Time passes and Mary, despite her luxuries, discovers that only her husband can make her happy, while Emerson realizes that his opportunism has only brought him loneliness. Successful beyond his wildest expectations, Emerson returns to New York with Eleanor on the eve of his third anniversary. Visiting Mary, he discovers an anniversary dinner awaiting him, and a reconciliation seems possible. However, later that evening, Eleanor arrives and confesses her love for Emerson. The two women duel for his possession, with Mary emerging victorious.

Dir: Howard Hickman

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.