The Essential Watchlist that Capture the Essence of Two Tough Tenderfeet: Cult Guide

Dir: Hampton Del Ruth

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Just a Good Guy perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Dir: Hampton Del Ruth

A pawn-shop employee who looks like a robot must substitute for it after it becomes damaged.

Dir: Hampton Del Ruth

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

Ambassador Alfalfa Doolittle returns to his small town, fielding questions about Washington politics and his adventures. He regales them with stories that may be slightly exaggerated.

Dir: Hampton Del Ruth

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Blondes by Choice perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Dir: Hampton Del Ruth

Clyde is a handyman around a circus. His mother is the bearded lady in the side-show; his father is a millionaire separated from his family. Clyde is endeavoring to get the old man's fortune, with the strong man of the circus scheming to beat him to it.

Dir: Hampton Del Ruth

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

A bumbling grocery-store employee must deal with such job-related problems as a conniving boss, unruly customers, a baby alligator and an escaped lunatic, all of which culminates in a wild melee involving hurled cakes, pies, buckets of jam and bags of flour.

Dir: Hampton Del Ruth

The film begins in a comic vein--bordering on farce--and continues so up to the point where Eleanor Douglas is about to marry young district attorney William Bradley. She drinks the glass of water offered to her by Dr. Paul Graydon and loses consciousness. Pronounced dead by Dr. Graydon, Eleanor is buried; but a cat, which also drinks from the glass, apparently dies, is about to be buried, but suddenly regains consciousness. Bradley hastens to exhume Eleanor's body, finds the coffin empty, and finally discovers Eleanor at Dr. Graydon's--lying on an operating table, still in her wedding dress, the doctor on the floor dead. Eleanor is suspected of shooting Graydon, but her sister confesses. The scene then fades back to the wedding, where Eleanor awakens from a fainting spell and realizes she has been dreaming.