Deep Archive Finds in the Vein of Vagabond Luck: Cult Guide

Dir: Scott R. Dunlap

Harris Levi (Fred Warren) brings up Meg (Shirley Mason), who was left in his father's pawnshop by her mother. Anxious that she have a good environment, Harris takes her to live with his friend Robert. When her mother returns to claim Meg, Robert is revealed to be both Meg's father and the man with whom Harris' wife eloped. Meg is happily reunited with her parents and her sweetheart, Chick Saxe.

Dir: Scott R. Dunlap

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

Samuel Blevins, Jr.'s farm work suffers while he pursues a correspondence course on newspaper reporting. After he leaves the family farm and goes to the city, editors all turn him down until Ethel Williams, the author of the "Advice to the Lovelorn" column, who helps him with his style, recommends him to her managing editor. The Sunday Magazine editor, who loves Elinor, tries to ruin Sam's career by giving him the difficult task of writing a feature article. When Sam fails to think of a good story, Ethel, who now loves him, tells of the lost Princess Marie of Burvania, who is hiding in the United States. Sam's story causes the Archduke of Burvania to search for Marie, who is really Ethel, and after she is persuaded to return, Sam rescues her from a trap. He awakens to discovers that the story is a dream, writes another which is a success, and finds happiness with Ethel.

Dir: Scott R. Dunlap

Ben Lorimer and his daughter, Dot, are received with suspicion in a western town; when "Red" Kane rescues Dot, however, he wins her confidence and learns that Lorimer has adopted a new name and is wanted for a crime in Colorado for which he is not guilty. Trying to protect them from the sheriff and his posse, Red is wounded, but Dot nurses him. "Spunk" Lemm circulates rumors that Red is hiding behind a woman's skirts; Red engages in a fight with Spunk and, thinking he has killed him, returns to the hills; there he discovers the men who robbed the express office and gets a confession that clears Lorimer of the crime in Colorado. After resolving his difficulties, Red claims Dot as his future wife.

Dir: Scott R. Dunlap

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

Weak willed Gerry Sands, who wants to become an editor, is forced by his employer, locksmith Nick Barket, to crack safes, until, during a robbery, he reads some words from a dropped copy of Hamlet , and stops. Overjoyed, his sweetheart Polly Ann Kerry, gets him work at the hotel where she works, but Red Devlin, the brains behind the burglaries, frames Gerry for theft. Devlin bails him out, hoping he will return to safe-cracking, but Gerry leaves town and becomes a typesetter for a Western newspaper. After Polly exposes the crooks, she becomes ill from grief at not hearing from Gerry. Gerry returns and, risking arrest, goes to the police station to locate Polly. The police captain, who loves Polly, but realizes that she loves Gerry, gives him twenty-four hours probation to find and marry her. After he finds her, she thinks that he wants to marry her to escape jail, but the police captain vouches for Gerry's integrity, and they marry.

Dir: Scott R. Dunlap

Thomas Edinburgh, financial dictator of Marysville, is secretly in love with Carol, wife of the Reverend Luther McCall, and produces evidence that her husband was once an embezzler. Leaving for Cleveland, the minister meets his twin brother, Lefty, the real embezzler, who is evading the law. Luther is killed in a train wreck, and Lefty, assuming Luther's identity and carrying on the latter's ministerial work, brings about his own conversion and that of his former pal, Buster. He thwarts Edinburgh's plans by stealing the prison record, and after learning Lefty's story Carol comes to love him.

Dir: Scott R. Dunlap

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

Betty and Bob, guests at the brilliant De Courcey-Varnay wedding, suddenly decide to elope. Bob slips away to make accommodations at a nearby Inn, where they plan to spend a honeymoon. Betty prepares to join him, but is halted by a detective who demands to know the contents of her bag. She refuses, but is told by the sleuth that a necklace belonging to the bride had been stolen. She opens the bag, but Billy Trevor, standing nearby, stoops to help the young woman, dropping a handkerchief into the bag. He offers to accompany Betty to the station. The detective allows Betty to go, but holds Billy, who escapes and arrives at the Inn before the girl and Bob, who had figured in an automobile accident and [had been] taken to the hospital. Developments show that Billy had dropped the necklace in the bag and tries in vain to regain it, these efforts resulting in a series of complications. Finally Bob arrives and the bride is saved from further humiliation and embarrassment, while Billy makes a confession that exonerates everybody.

Dir: Scott R. Dunlap

Champion race car driver Jack Darwin is invited to participate in a transcontinental race, which he loses when a competitor shoots him from an airplane. Jack later becomes a motion picture star and falls in love with an actress named Nadine, whom he saves from marrying a scoundrel. Jack enters another race, winning both the first prize and Nadine.

Dir: Scott R. Dunlap

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

"Satan" Humphrey is the captain of the tramp steamer Glory Ann, is killed during a mutiny. His daughter Paula, brandishing a pistol, holds the mutineers at bay. Not long afterwards the ship picks up John Hadlock, an injured shipwreck survivor. Paula nurses him back to health and falls in love with him. John, recovering, helps her control the mutinous crew. The ship stops at San Francisco to pick up Glory, Paula's sister whom she hasn't seen since birth. As the ship sets sail for the South Seas, however, the crew mutinies again. Complications ensue.

Dir: Scott R. Dunlap

Gerald Faulkner, a young tin-can salesman, has fallen for sexy chorus girl Carlotta La Mere One day Gerald's wealthy uncle Dunley makes him an offer: if he gets married by the following Saturday, Dunley will give him $100,000. Gerald rushes to propose to Carlotta, who agrees. However, the day before the wedding she asks for a postponement. Complications ensue.

Dir: Scott R. Dunlap

After discovering that his bride has married him only for his money, Philip Dorset journeys to Africa in hopes of putting the past behind him. In the jungle, he teams up with a party of American circus men on an elephant hunt. Their expeditions take them to a native village where they discover Joan, an orphaned white girl whose missionary father has recently died. The group, now enhanced by Dorset's addition as the elephant trainer, takes the waif back to America with them. Years pass and Joan becomes an accomplished bareback rider in the circus, while her affection for Dorset deepens into love. Recalling his earlier unhappy experience, Dorset tries to discourage the girl, and upon failing decides to leave the circus. Soon after his departure, he discovers that his wife has divorced him and rushes back to Joan. That night, a terrific storm strikes the circus tent and out of the cataclysm the lovers are reunited.