The Cult Collection Inspired by the Vision of Vive la France!: Cult...

Dir: Roy William Neill

In a Western mining town, millionaire Gordon Appleby meets Maida Madison, a civil engineer, and proposes. The two marry and return to Philadelphia, where they are coldly received by Gordon's snobbish family. Gordon's elder brother Mortimer's highbrow sensibilities are particularly offended by Maida's breezy manner, and he determines to break up the marriage. Meanwhile, Maida learns that Gordon's sister Eunice, whose husband is a lieutenant overseas, has formed an attachment to playboy Rupert Fenton. Maida decides to save Eunice when, at a party, she overhears her planning to elope with Rupert to Egypt. Late that evening, Maida follows Eunice to Rupert's apartment, where she is seen by Mortimer, who almost succeeds in convincing Gordon of her unfaithfulness. Maida refuses to explain her presence at Rupert's in order to shield Eunice, who, ashamed, confesses her guilt. Filled with gratitude, the Applebys accept their Western daughter-in-law into the family.

Dir: Roy William Neill

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

French scientists are developing a secret weapon, a gun that uses the mysterious powers of X-ray and ultra violet rays, called a "Ray Rifle." Miss Dalton played the girl that would protect it from German spies.

Dir: Roy William Neill

Rita Hackett's father has unscrupulously gained possession of an old southern mansion. The owner, Randolph Manners, is evicted and takes up residence in the training quarters on the estate. It is there when Rita meets Randolph and learns of her father's deeds. Rita disguises herself as a jockey and enters a a race, determined to help Randolph reclaim what is his.

Dir: Roy William Neill

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of They're Off perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Catherine Bush, a lowly office worker, uses her attractive personality and her perseverance to lift herself to a high place in society, eventually becoming Lady Catherine.

Dir: Roy William Neill

When Mark Reid, a young man seeking his fortune in the gold fields of California, discovers Mike O'Hara attempting to jump his claim, he becomes violent. However, the Good Samaritan intervenes and prevents him from injuring O'Hara, Reid, ashamed of his behavior, offers his adversary a share in the mine. Hearing of their good fortune, Morrison, a promoter from San Francisco, makes the partners an offer they cannot refuse. Reid goes to San Francisco to conclude the deal; while there he meets Morrison's niece Barbara and the two fall in love. Morrison learns of their engagement just as he is about to strip Reid of his profits in a bogus stock deal. The news fails to deter him and Reid loses all his possessions, believing that Barbara was an accomplice in her uncle's scheme. Returning to the gold fields, Reid discovers that O'Hara has staked another successful claim and the two men renew their partnership. Reid rises in the financial world and is about to crush Morrison, when the Good Samaritan intervenes once again, bringing Barbara to Reid's house where his better instincts prevail.

Dir: Roy William Neill

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

Two wives, one rich, one poor, each find themselves tempted by romantic seducers, and each faces the dilemma of remaining true to the husband who neglects her or of falling into the arms of another.

Dir: Roy William Neill

Eileen Rodney believes herself in love with Raymond Moreland, who poses as the leader of an oriental cult, but discovers his duplicity in time to avoid the serious consequences of an elopement. She marries her guardian, John Harland, and is happy until Moreland returns and seeks to reopen the affair under threat of exposure. Moreland is killed, and her husband, as District Attorney, takes charge of the case. Her efforts to recover the love letters she wrote Moreland are nearly her undoing, precipitating an unusually thrilling chain of action.

Dir: Roy William Neill

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

On an ocean liner returning to America, Alison Landis, an actress, avoids paying duty on a valuable pearl necklace by hiding it in the lining of a hat which she sends to Benjamin Staff, a playwright. The necklace is being trailed by a crook who is related to another passenger, Eleanor Searle, who also has a striped hatbox similar to the one recovered by the unsuspecting playwright. The crook bears an uncanny resemblance to Eleanor's father. The two bandboxes are inadvertently switched at the dock. The crook discovers the switch, and pursues Eleanor to a cabin on a deserted island where she fights for her life, but is saved by her father and Benjamin. The crook is killed, the jewels are destroyed, and plans for marriage between Eleanor and Benjamin ensue.

Dir: Roy William Neill

Trixie Darling, a leading chorus girl in the musical comedy number "Chicken, Chicken, You're Some Pickin'," refuses Broadway Benham's seductive wine parties and luxuries. Instead, she marries John Collins, an awkward Westerner, who, she is surprised to learn, is a multi-millionaire with a huge orange grove in California. John, overhearing jealous dancers say Trixie married for money, decides to test her. He takes her in a rickety Ford to their "home," a shack, where he throws things, raves, and makes her fix his breakfast at five. When Benham brings the troupe to town, he easily convinces the disillusioned Trixie to appear, but John carries her off the stage. Gertie Brown, John's jealous former sweetheart, starts the Committee on Public Morals to get rid of Trixie. When Trixie interrupts their meeting and has a hair-pulling fight with Gertie, a dislodged kerosene lamp starts a fire. After nearly losing her life saving Gertie, Trixie awakens from unconsciousness to find herself in John's mansion, now accepted by all.

Dir: Roy William Neill

Pearson Hunter, a jealous Southern plantation owner, returns home with his new wife Shirley, a Northerner. Shirley's socializing enrages Pearson when he finds her in the company of Alexander Chapman, a drunken wastrel, but after a bitter quarrel, they reconcile. Pearson's younger brother Morgan soon arrives accompanied by his fiancée, Margery Gibson. Shirley befriends Morgan, creating jealousy in Margery, who goes to Pearson for consolation and advice, but instead rekindles Pearson's own jealousy. Later, at a dance in the Hunter home, Chapman reappears uninvited. Morgan, aware of the situation, removes Chapman to the garden where the latter says insulting things about Shirley. Morgan knocks Chapman out, then returns to the house just as Jim Webb, a poor man with consumption enters the garden. Upon seeing Chapman, Webb kills him in revenge of a past conflict, but when a servant discovers the body, Morgan assumes that he is guilty and seeks council from Shirley. Pearson breaks in on them and, assuming a romance between them, despondently goes to the garden where he overhears Webb's confession, which results in a reconciliation among all the parties.