The Global Archive For Devotees of Who Is to Blame?: Cult Guide

Dir: Frank Borzage

American sailor Allan Carroll, an American sailor, is shipwrecked of the coast of Japan in the 19th century. He makes it to shore and is rescued by kind Yori. The local ruler, Prince Iku, has ordered that all foreigners who are "trespassing" on Japanese soil should be killed. He hears about a foreign sailor who washed ashore and has been hidden by villagers, so he sends his sister Omi San to investigate. She finds Alan, and instead of turning him in to be executed, she falls in love with him. Prince Iku captures both Allan and Yori and intends to execute both of them. Complications ensue.

Dir: Frank Borzage

Lambert, a young man out to make his fortune, is out west trying to sell a gadget that can peel potatoes, open cans, pull out nails and perform other handy tasks. He comes to a cattle ranch and runs into a group of cowboys eating supper. He impresses the cowboys so much that they make him their leader, and it's not long before he's hired by pretty young ranch manager Vesta Philbrook as her aide and bodyguard. "The Duke", as he's now called, falls in love with her and sets out to help her get rid of a gang of vicious cattle rustlers that are constantly raiding her ranch.

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

Dir: Frank Borzage

Ward Curtis, president of a development company, comes to the western town of Los Huesos with his daughter, Wynne, to investigate a report made by one of his field scouts that there is a gold stream on the land occupied by the Bar C outfit. The Bar C people have no legal title to the land, but they have terrorized the neighborhood, and intimidated the government officials. The land is used for grazing purposes, and the Bar C people know nothing about the gold stream. There has also come to Los Huesos a cowpuncher known only as "The Stranger," the only man who refuses to be intimidated by Bar C crowd. Curtis meets the Stranger, who consents to assist Curtis in his undertaking, hoping to win favor with Wynne. She is mildly interested in him, but is disappointed and bored by the town and its people, and after a week or so packs her bags and leaves for home, saying that the Stranger is the only picturesque thing she has seen in this land of lizards. Near the Bar C holdings is a small sheep ranch operated by Dave Moore and his daughter, Bobbie, as a blind to cover more important operations, by moonlight Moore secretly pans the gold stream on the Bar C ranch. Bobbie maintains a disguise as a boy for her own protection from the lawless cowpunchers, and to keep them from becoming interested in her father's affairs. The Stranger sets out to investigate the placer site, and stops at the Moore cabin to make inquiries about the Bar C crowd. He meets Bobbie without suspecting her disguise, and she manifests considerable interest in him. The Stranger locates the placer stream, but is observed by Moore, who hastens to the land office and files on the creek bed. By moonlight Moore builds on his claim, but is discovered by one of the Bar C outlaws and killed. The Stranger, who has set up his camp in a blind canyon known as the "Cow's Mouth" near the creek, hears the exchange of shots, gets into the scrap and drives away the outlaw, then brings Moore's body to Bobbie. The Bar C crowd, led by Moran, set out to "get" the Stranger. They come to Bobbie's cabin, but she directs them to town. They search the town, then decide that Bobbie has lied to them, and start again for her cabin. The Stranger discovers that Bobbie is a girl, and falls in love with her. He leaves the cabin and goes to the Cow's Mouth to "hide out" from the Bar C crowd. The Bar C boys come to Bobbie's cabin, and she is handled brutally by Moran to get her to tell what has become of the Stranger. Her hat falls off, and her secret is discovered. Moran claims her as his personal prize, and they set off to pursue the Stranger. They see him enter the narrow passage into the Cow's Mouth. Inside he starts a grass fire, then slips out with his horse through a secret passage which is unknown to the Bar C fellows. Leaving one of their number to guard Bobbie, the others go in after the Stranger, but are soon driven out by the fire. As they come single file through the passage the Stranger picks off the first two or three with his gun; the rest surrender. Moran is one of the men who was killed. Bobbie is taken to the Bar C ranch house by the outlaws. The Stranger rides into town and turns his captives over to the authorities, and enlists the men there to go to Bobbie's rescue. Later, as Bobbie and the Stranger are about to board a train for their honeymoon, Curtis rushes up to them and announces that, by the death of her father, Bobbie is now the owner of the gold stream claim.

Dir: Frank Borzage

Prudence's ( Olive Thomas ) parents send her from their Pennsylvania Quaker colony to a fashionable girls seminary, hoping she can learn about the devil's tricks, instead she engages in girlish pranks, but uses her pure appearance to escape blame. Later, Prudence visits her New York aunt, a society matron, and soon attracts an array of male admirers. She falls in love with wealthy Grayson Mills, but John Melbourne, who lives off of his wife's wealth, plots to seduce her. After Melbourne loans Prudence $200 to pay a gambling debt, he forces her to go to a roadhouse by threatening to show her stern father her canceled check. At dinner, Prudence produces a love letter which Melbourne had earlier written to an actress, and says that if she is not back by midnight, her hotel clerk will show Melbourne's wife his nineteen other love letters. After Melbourne hurries her back, he discovers that she only had the one letter. Prudence now becomes engaged to Grayson.

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

Dir: Frank Borzage

The matriarch of a poor Jewish family nurtures her talented son's dream of being a great violinist, but as an adult, global events call for him to postpone his dream.

Dir: Frank Borzage

Shopgirl Rhoda Regan is in love with the Harmony Lad, the leader of a New York street gang called the Hudson Dusters. After two gang murders are committed in the Pepper Box, a local cabaret, the Harmony Lad promises his worried sweetheart that he will abandon the gang for a singing career, and true to his word, he soon accepts a job on the Pepper Box stage. When Stumpy Darcy, the new leader of the Dusters, kills rival gang leader Wedge Barker, who had flirted with Stumpy's girlfriend, Mamie Conlon, the Harmony Lad flees to New Jersey to escape police interrogation. In order to throw the police off the track while her lover escapes, Rhoda dances all night long with Stumpy, who has come to a masked ball dressed as Charlie Chaplin. Stumpy follows Rhoda home, where the police, imagining him to be the Harmony Lad, arrest him. His name cleared, the Harmony Lad marries Rhoda and embarks on a promising career in vaudeville.

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

Dir: Frank Borzage

Brent Brewster, formerly a Yale athlete known for his pole vaulting prowess, is unsuccessful in business. When his wealthy relatives send him out to fend for himself, Brent joins a detective agency. After Craig Lansing, a family friend, hires Brent to investigate the numerous jewel thefts in Poughkeepsie, Brent works undercover at Lansing's house party and recognizes Captain Drake, an English crook. Although Brent temporarily forgets detective work when he meets Ann, the beautiful sister of Lansing's wife Ruth, Ann's remark that $40,000 a year would be enough for her to live on brings Brent back to the job. Meanwhile, Drake is intent on compromising Ruth, who flirts with him while Lansing is away. When Lansing returns unexpectedly, Brent accepts the blame for the flirtation to protect Ruth's honor, because of his love for Ann. After Brent vaults with a clothes pole through a window to prevent Drake's escape, Drake is exposed. Brent then learns that he has inherited a legacy which will enable him to satisfy Ann's monetary needs.

Dir: Frank Borzage

After a young inventor discovers a powerful new explosive, agents from a German chemical firm induce him to study at a German university. While there, he is repelled by certain aspects of the people, and he leaves for Belgium. When the war begins, the inventor saves a Belgian burgomaster's daughter from Prussian invaders. The inventor and the girl endure horrible suffering because of the war, but they find happiness at its end, while the formerly fighting nations direct their effort towards world peace at the Paris conferences. The assassination of Kurt Eisner of Bavaria occurs at the end.

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

Dir: Frank Borzage

In the Latin Quarter of Paris, American artist David Lane (Norman Kerry) marries his model Yvonne (Olive Thomas), but just prior to the birth of their baby, David's mother dies, and he is forced to depart for the United States. In David's absence, his father hires a lawyer to convince Yvonne that David has abandoned her, and grief-stricken, she dies soon after her little girl is born. Yvonne's trusted friend Pierre rears the girl as a boy, whom he calls Toton, and trains her to become a skilled pickpocket. Meanwhile, David adopts a boy named Carew, and when he grows to manhood, the two move to Paris to establish an art studio. In robbing the studio, Pierre recognizes David, and to avenge Yvonne's death, he claims that Toton has been taught to hate her father. Later, Pierre becomes convinced of David's innocence, and before he dies, he reveals the truth to Toton. Finally, the girl is reunited with her father and marries Carew.

Dir: Frank Borzage

A saloon owner loans her lover the money to buy a house, which he has led her to believe they will live in after they're married. Instead, he takes the money and buys a saloon in another town.