Underground Favorites Parallel to the Artistry of Who Is Number One?: Cult Guide

Dir: William Bertram

A rancher stands up for an employee unjustly accused of cattle rustling.

Dir: William Bertram

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

When Charles Lind is stricken blind, his brother John takes charge of his business affairs, while his little niece Marie reads his mail to him each day so that he may recite his replies into a Dictaphone. After John confesses that he has lost a great deal of Charles' money on the stock market, the two quarrel, and John nearly strangles his brother. Later, a shot rings out, and John is seen crouching by Charles' lifeless body. Following John's arrest, the detectives guarding Marie's house recognize Briggs, the butler, as a wanted criminal, and when he attempts to escape, they shoot him. Marie, in playing with her uncle's Dictaphone, discovers that his murderer's voice was captured on the recording. Played at the dying butler's bedside, the recording leads to Briggs's confession and John's release from prison.

Dir: William Bertram

Secret service man, posing as crook in order to capture counterfeiter, rescues girl from death in stream, but grandfather, recognizing the man as one whom he believes a crook, orders him not to try to see girl again. Crooks steal gold from mine of grandfather and are aided, apparently, by secret service man who desires to learn their secrets. Secret service man finally brings about capture of crooks, making a thrilling jump from cliff into automobile, driven by girl he loves, who is threatened by crook in car with her, in capturing the last of the crooks and recovering the grand- father's gold.

Dir: William Bertram

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

A former Annapolis cadet is thrown out of the Naval Academy for cheating on an exam. Of course he was framed, but he must enlist in the Navy to clear himself. Meanwhile he and his sweetheart search for a buried treasure on Lost Island, which everyone is after.

Dir: William Bertram

Dora Tompkins divorces her alcoholic husband and moves to the city to look for a job. Her little daughter Marie dreams one evening of the "Jack and the Beanstalk" tale, which prompts her to climb up the fire escape to the apartment above. There she meets prizefighter "Giant" Jim Walton, her mother's former suitor, and soon he finds Dora a job in a florist's shop. They resume their love affair, and upon his promise to quit the ring, she agrees to become his wife. When Marie, however, in trying once again to scramble up the "beanstalk," falls and is seriously injured, Jim breaks his promise and wins a fight in order to pay for the child's operation. Unaware of Jim's motives for entering the ring, Dora spurns him, but when she learns the truth, she gratefully returns to him.

Dir: William Bertram

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

Sally Lou, the small daughter of village blacksmith Jim Davis, uses her sawdust doll to take the place of a real mother. Her father proposes to Rose Budd, a beauty expert who has been stranded in the town. Rose marries Jim in order to have a home, and shows no love to her new stepdaughter. Jim enlists in the army, thinking Rose will care for Sally Lou, but instead Rose plans to elope with the local druggist Raynor. Sally Lou learns Raynor is really a German spy who plans to wreck the troop train carrying Jim. Sally Lou tells Rose and the two rush to the rescue. Sally Lou sets fire to her sawdust doll and uses it as a torchlight to warn the oncoming train. The train is saved, and Rose resolves to be a good mother to their stepchild.

Dir: William Bertram

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: William Bertram

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Milady o' the Beanstalk perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Dolly lives with her aunt, who is a seamstress. The child is sent home from school because she has been naughty, and finds her aunt in the act of making a Red Cross costume for a huge mechanical doll. The doll can walk and talk and excites Dolly's interest intensely. Some of her playmates come and run away with the doll, which is later smashed by a runaway horse. Dolly then dresses in the Red Cross costume, hides in the big box, and is taken to the rich woman's home. She reveals her secret to the daughter, a little girl who is sick. The fairy story touches thrown in here are very fine and will appeal to the imagination of small observers. Dolly carries out her deception successfully at the Red Cross bazaar, but later is kidnapped by a gang who have been raiding the house of the wealthy woman. Dolly assists in rounding up the gang.

Dir: William Bertram

Blossom Ruggles, the fiercely independent daughter of Arizona cattleman Hank Ruggles, loves neighboring rancher Asa Harris. To pique Asa, however, she flirts with mining engineer Frank Stimpson, who unknown to her, has deceived pretty half-wit Amelia Young. While riding the range, Blossom is attacked by a Mexican bandit, but manages to overpower him, and deliver him to Asa and the cowboys, who throw him from a cliff. Later, the bandit is found unconscious by the sheriff and taken to jail. Learning of the half-wit's plight, Blossom mounts a posse, apprehends Frank, and forces him at gunpoint to marry Amelia. After the ceremony, Asa and Blossom are also wed.

Dir: William Bertram

After he finds his wife Stella in the arms of ne'er-do-well Allan Standish, Ralph Gordon takes his daughter June out West, where he has extensive mining interests. The inhabitants of Hell's Gulch, who lately have been terrorized by "Rawhide" Pete and his gang of outlaws, elect Ralph sheriff. Standish, whose desertion of Stella has caused her death, arrives in Hell's Gulch and allies himself with Rawhide Pete, while competing with Ralph for the affections of June's governess, Sarah Malcomb. June assists in capturing Rawhide Pete, but Standish escapes and Sarah, moved by pity, agrees to conceal him. Assuming that Standish has again beaten him in love, Ralph catches a train East, but Sarah follows him and becomes June's new mother.