Essential Cult Cinema Drawn from the Same DNA as Vanity and Vengeance: Cult Guide

Dir: Gregory La Cava

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Gregory La Cava

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Pat's Patents perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Pat (Raymond McKee) is an inventive nut, but lacks the necessary capital to put his inventions over. He is anxious to interest Murray in the enterprises and also win for himself the hand of Murray's daughter. One of his greatest inventions is the boomerang bullet which will reach its mark without any aim. How this gun and boomerang bullet mixes things up in general, both for Murray and Pat's matrimonial prospects, forms one of the amusing situations.

Dir: Gregory La Cava

As Prohibition takes effect, an irate wife throws away all of the Judge's liquor and sends him to a temperance lecture. While waiting for it to start, he tries the liquor substitute from the establishment across the street.

Dir: Gregory La Cava

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

An inquiring reporter, attempting to solve a series of mysterious hotel robberies, finds that the robber is a bogus baron who is being lavishly entertained by the new-rich parents of his sweetheart.

Dir: Gregory La Cava

Charlie is a small town druggist trying to wait on trade and play a social game of poker in the back room.

Dir: Gregory La Cava

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

A young man gains possession of a letter of introduction intended for someone else and on the strength of it proceeds to get a job. He manages to cause any number of complications through his well-meant efforts, which provide the basis for a number of ingenious gags. Raymond McKee appears as "the nuisance" in question, with Mary Anderson opposite as the boss's daughter. Charles Murray appears as the father, and is good for a number of laughs with his characteristic business.

Dir: Gregory La Cava

At the Slippery Elm Picture Palace, an old-fashioned movie house, various comical rural types are seen: theater owner "Theo Bender" (also known as "His Nibs"); his son, "Elmer Bender;" newspaper editor "Mr. Percifer;" "Wally Craw," who predicts the weather; organist "Miss Dessie Teed;" youthful tenor Peelee Gear, Jr.; and on the screen, a protagonist known as "The Boy." Standing at his projection machine, Theo informs the audience that he has removed the titles from the film he is about to show, but will explain the action as it unfolds in the story, He Fooled 'Em All. The Boy leaves a small town to get rich in the city, but he is swindled out of his money by a city chap, after which his clothes are stolen, and he is forced to become a dishwasher to pay his rent. The city chap persuades The Girl and The Girl's Father to visit the city, hoping to swindle them as well, but they stay at the hotel where The Boy is working, and the young hero foils the swindler's plot. Although the customary happy ending has been removed, "His Nibs" tells the audience that The Boy and The Girl get married just the same.

Dir: Gregory La Cava

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

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Gregory La Cava

Murray appears as a man trying to fathom the income tax, while his daughter is in love with a young musician known as the "fiddling fool."

Dir: Gregory La Cava

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.