The Auteur's Selection In the Shadow of When the Door Opened: Cult Guide

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Mark Horn, once a lowly shoeshine boy, grows up to become a millionaire on Wall Street, but because of his experiences as a youth, still harbors a grudge against the rich. His money and position gain him entrance to high society, and he decides to drive wealthy Wayne Madison to ruin, agreeing to save Madison only if he lets Mark marry his daughter Viva. However, things don't turn out quite the way Mark intended.

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

An Italian immigrant and his sweetheart search for a better life in America, but the harsh realities of life in the slums of New York City lay waste to their hopes and dreams.

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A young Italian immigrant girl, uneducated and superstitious, finds an abandoned baby on the stairs of her tenement, with a note attached explaining the baby is illegitimate. A young newspaper reporter, whom the girl knows from waiting on him at the restaurant where she works, reads the note for her. But the police arrest her, at no evidence whatsoever other than possession of the baby, for kidnapping. She refuses to tell them the baby was abandoned and fatherless, because she was herself, and confesses, in order to save the baby from being branded a bastard, that she stole it. The reporter goes to the jail and elicits the truth from her. And then proposes to her and adopts the baby.

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

Confederate soldier Frank Winslow is terrified of the war and eventually runs away from battle. But when he finds himself behind enemy lines with vital information, he must decide between his fear and his conscience.

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When San Francisco social butterfly Octavia Van Ness falls into decline, on a physician's advice her grandfather, mining king Ezra Whitney, takes her to Alaska, hoping that she will regain health and find a mate more suitable than the gilded youths of the California city. In the far north they meet "Chuck" Hemingway, whom the girl supposes to be a "sourdough," but whom the grandfather recognizes as a young collegian from the east. When she rejects Hemingway's advances, the caveman instinct wakens within him. The day before she is to return to civilization, Hemingway kidnaps her, enters into a forced marriage with her, and installs her in his cabin--where she suffers no more harm than if she were with her mother. Six months later, Octavia is now well and strong and rejoices in housework, but is still antagonist to Chuck. When Kitty Malloy, the queen of the Arctic Cabaret, suddenly arrives in the city, Octavia's jealousy is excited. She realizes his true worth and for the first time loves her husband. They return to California, where they are united with Octavia's family.

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

The bandit Jim Stokes, wanting to go straight and settle down with his new bride, strikes a bargain with the sheriff for his freedom.

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"Honest Jim" Martin is elected by popular vote to the U.S. Senate in the fight against the Railway Land-Grab Bill. When Jim goes to Washington his mother accompanies him. At the first reception of the season, Jim is introduced to Harriet Lane, the most dangerous woman in the Capital, by Wm. Landers, chief of the secret railway lobby. Harriet is a lobbyist and is supposed to win the votes of the senators for the Land-Grab Bill. Jim becomes fascinated by Harriet's wit and beauty and she and Landers set a snare for him. Harriet writes him that she is in great trouble and asks him to call at her hotel. In his sympathy for her he places his arm about her and she leans against him, burying her face against his shoulders. As she does this she manages to loosen her hair, which falls in a tangled mass over her shoulders. She also disarranged her waist, giving evidence of a struggle having taken place between herself and Jim. While they are in this position Landers snaps their picture from a curtained doorway where he is concealed. He then confronts Jim and tells him that the negative will be given the newspapers if Jim doesn't give them his vote. Jim leaves the hotel in no pleasant frame of mind, first telling Harriet of his scorn for her. Harriet, who has become friendly with Jim's mother, is very unhappy because of the part she has been obliged to play and when Mother Martin calls on her that afternoon, bringing her a pie which she has baked herself for Harriet's birthday, Harriet determines to get the negatives from Landers and destroy them. To do this, she goes to Lander's office that night and unable to open the safe, because Landers has anticipated some such move on her part and changed the combination, she telephones to police headquarters and asks them to send up an expert to open the safe. This is done and while Harriet and the expert are still in the office (Harriet with the negatives in her hand) Landers enters and snatches the negatives from her. He has drawn his pistol and as he stands there talking with the safe expert, Harriet snatches the pistol from his hand and shoots the negatives to pieces as they lay on Lander's desk. The next day she sends them to Jim with a note telling him that all the evidence the lobby had against him is enclosed and asking him in future to try to live up to his mother's belief in him.

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

Mercedes Murphy and her partner, Slick Barney, run a saloon and dance hall in the tough town of Paradise, Nevada. While Mercedes is a hard-nosed businesswoman, she has a soft spot for her sister Olive, with whom she lives. One day a preacher, Rev. McGregor, who is determined to "reform" Paradise, sets up his church right next to the saloon. Mercedes is at first opposed to the reverend, but is eventually won over by his sermons and closes the dance hall. However, she soon discovers that Olive's "virtue" may no longer be so virtuous--and she suspects that the minister might be responsible for this.

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Billy, who is the little son of Captain Andrews, commandant of a western army post, has one ambition in life, and that is to become a good soldier. This he has confided to his friend, Sergeant Hogan, and the sergeant takes pains to foster the idea. He really needs all his courage to face a new situation that has come up in his life. His father is going to marry again. While he knows absolutely nothing about his prospective stepmother, he can conceive of no one worthy of taking the place of his beloved mother, who lies in the little cemetery outside the fort. In spite of Billy, however, the wedding takes place. The newcomer tries in every way to win over the little fellow, but beyond politeness his friendship stops. Soon after the wedding his father is called at the head of his regiment to quell an uprising of the Sioux Indians, forty miles away. He leaves his bride in little Billy's care. The distant trouble is but a ruse on the part of Lame Bear, the Indian chief, and now, with his picked braves, he swoops down on the weakened garrison at the fort. The defenders of the fort are so few in number that it is but a question of time before they must surrender. Billy, bearing in mind the admonition of his father to take care of his stepmother, takes her away from the fort by a secret passage and hides her in a cave in the hills. Suddenly he observes the wavering men at the stockade. Bethinking himself of his bugle and hoping to lead the Indians to believe that his father and the regiment are returning, he blows the signal to charge from a distant knoll outside the fort. The outcome of that bugle call saves the garrison and draws Billy and his stepmother together.

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A poor ditch-digger, Pietro Massena, lovingly raises his motherless daughter Rosina. Phil Griswold, in order to throw a party to celebrate his expected inheritance, induces his friend Robbins to rob the flower shop where he works. After the inheritance goes to Phil's brother William, who refuses Phil money to return to the flower shop, Phil abducts William's daughter Dorothy and sends a "Black Hand" ransom demand to throw suspicion onto Pietro, who earlier frightened Dorothy when he delivered a Christmas tree to William's house. William drives into the slums looking for Pietro and accidentally runs down Rosina. The grieving Pietro goes to the flower shop on Christmas morning to buy a rose for Rosina's coffin and is accused of the kidnapping, because Phil arranged to have a man known by "the sign of the rose" pick up the ransom money there. Pietro threatens to kill the arresting detective so that he can return to his "bambino," when William arrives with news that Dorothy has been found. William offers Pietro compensation, but he refuses and sorrowfully returns home.