Essential Cult Cinema Drawn from the Same DNA as Who Goes There?: C...

Dir: William P.S. Earle

Bradley, who is happily married and loves his family, is called to London on business. There he meets Mercedes, wife of the Spanish Ambassador. The marriage has been forced upon her, and her husband is cruel. Unaware that Bradley is married, she falls in love with him, and he is also infatuated. His better nature finally prevails, and he returns home and is happy until he receives a photograph from Mercedes. On pretext of business, he again goes back to Mercedes, finds there has been a quarrel, and that the ambassador has struck her. She and Bradley go away together, and while crossing the channel, he inadvertently discloses the fact that he is married. Mercedes unwilling to come between husband and wife, flees to a convent, and Bradley, unable to find her, joins an expedition to the forests of South America. Bradley has written his wife that he is a coward. Her health fails and her father takes her and the children for a trip abroad. The children are attacked by an epidemic of fever, and Mercedes, now a nurse, is summoned. She learns the identity of the family, and, when the boy calls for his father, she starts a search for him. After the crisis, Mercedes who has concealed her identity by use of a veil, wins her fight against a renewal of their relations, and warns Bradley, who has recognized her, to keep his wife in ignorance. Recovering from the fever which has now claimed her, she sees the reunited family depart for America, and knows her heart is empty and closed forever to love.

Dir: William P.S. Earle

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Little Miss No-Account perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Patty Baring will lose the fine old Washington Square house she is to inherit if her scheming stepfather Josiah Wheeler's plan to acquire it for himself is successful. Cruelly abused by Wheeler, a gambling hall owner, Patty runs away to live with a newsboy named Bobby and his grandfather Herman. There, in spite of her shabby dress and humble companions, she arouses the admiration of Edwin Sayer, the district attorney. Ned, a soft-spoken gambler, desires to possess Patty, and at the instigation of her stepfather, lures her into a gambling den that Edwin has been planning to raid. Patty is arrested, but Edwin secures her release and places her in the charge of his mother. Ned and Josiah are imprisoned, leaving Patty free to claim her inheritance and wed Edwin.

Dir: William P.S. Earle

Bill Matthews, foreman for Bethel Steel, works hard to perfect a means for the elimination of waste in steel manufacture. Philip Colt, inheritor of the steel mill, is in love with Daphne Van Steer, whose father is in financial straits. One day, visiting the mill with Philip, Daphne witnesses Bill thrash an insolent workman, and is impressed with his strength though she then snubs him. Bill soon perfects his invention, and coming into great wealth, resolves to become Daphne's social equal by employing socialite May Larrabee to coach him. May schemes to win Bill and his money for herself; however, Bill still wants to marry Daphne and help out her father, a plan to which Daphne finally agrees. Philip's continued pursuit of Daphne ends in a struggle from which Bill rescues her, after which Daphne finally realizes that she has come to really love Bill.

Dir: William P.S. Earle

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

Whispers are heard in the social circle of Daphne Morton because of her constant association with married man Dyke Summers. One night while Daphne is attending the opera with Summers, his wife spots the illicit couple, a clash erupts, and the account of the affair appears in the scandal sheet the next morning. After a quarrel with her aunt, the humiliated Daphne decides to go to Washington to seek out her father, whom she has not seen since she was a child. There she meets Pat Darrick, a young reporter assigned to the Summers scandal. Unaware that Daphne is the girl in the case, Darrick falls in love with her. Summers also follows Daphne to Washington, and when Darrick sees her with her alleged lover, he is hurt and disillusioned. Daphne finally locates her father in a nearby town, to which Darrick and Summers follow her. Learning the truth, Darrick abandons his job on the scandal sheet for the love of Daphne.

Dir: William P.S. Earle

To avoid marrying the elderly suitor her aunt has chosen for her, young socialite Ivis Van Astor decides to hire Horatio Worthington to pose as her husband. She hopes that as a "married woman" she will pique the romantic interest of Norman Kent, who perceives her as a sweet young thing. Ivis and her hired husband go to Newport, where she begins to flirt with Norman, who discovers her ruse and decides to teach her a lesson. He stages a duel over Ivis with Horatio and pretends to die. Once Ivis is properly chagrined, Norman "recovers," Ivis' aunt falls in love with Horatio, and all ends happily.

Dir: William P.S. Earle

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

To please her once-wealthy mother, Amy Terrell fraternizes with members of high society who find her entertaining because of her beauty and charm. At one of Mrs. Van Trant's house parties, Amy is requested by her hostess to amuse Andrew Masters, an influential businessman who has an aversion to society women. Impersonating an old-fashioned girl, Amy wins Masters--until he learns of her deception and denounces her. However, when Mrs. Van Trant attempts to shield herself by involving Amy in a scandal with a young captain, Masters realizes that Amy really is the innocent girl he loves.

Dir: William P.S. Earle

Quiet, unassuming dreamer Poque wanders over the country propagating various grades of graft so he can spend his first vacation in the great metropolis, New York. During his ramble he encounters millionaire businessman Vancross, who longs for fame (notoriety). After talking with Poque he decides that he is just the right sort to act as publicity man for him. Poque balks at the idea of making such an unpretentious figure famous, but finally accepts his proposition. He arranges with a girlfriend to strike up an acquaintance with his employer, leading him on for a time, then suing him for jilting her. But things pan out quite differently from the way Poque intended. Instead of trying to get away from his employer, the girlfriend decides to marry him. But Poque gets a good sum of money, so he should worry.

Dir: William P.S. Earle

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

When Keene McComb, a young explorer on an expedition to the North Pole, is given up for lost, his fiancée, Hester Thorpe, is coerced by an ambitious aunt into marrying Martin Ward, a man of reputed wealth. McComb survives, however, and returns to New York a few hours after the marriage. Later, Hester seeks his protection when Ward strikes her because of her refusal to ask McComb for money, and when it appears that Ward has committed suicide she and McComb are married. Ward is still alive, however, but he meets his death on a rocky precipice.

Dir: William P.S. Earle

To stave off war with a neighboring kingdom, Princess Pat of Paxitania agrees to marry Warburg's King Eric. Still very young and rebellious, the new queen finds it difficult to adjust to court life, and when she accepts an invitation to take a ride with the villainous Count Ladislaus, King Eric's patience gives out and he rebukes her severely. The banished count informs Pat's father, the Grand Duke of Paxitania, that she is cruelly abused, whereupon Pat's three brothers set out to bring her back home. In the end, however, King Eric and Princess Pat come to love each other dearly, and she sends her brothers home reassured of their sister's happiness.

Dir: William P.S. Earle

Margaret Kirby refuses her husband's request to help him obtain a loan from her guest, Gordon Pell. The husband, John, in financial difficulties, then attempts suicide and becomes seriously ill. Margaret takes in boarders and is compelled to mix with people outside her social set. Lucille, John's former admirer, creates a misunderstanding by means of forged telegrams, but the discernment of Gordon Pell clarifies the situation and Margaret and John are reunited.