Curated Recommendations Seeking the Same Brilliance as Who Loved Him Best?: Cult Guide

Dir: Dell Henderson

After Miriam Gibson is seduced and abandoned by a handsome adventurer, who marries an old woman with money, she becomes a prostitute to get money for her new-born child. When the baby dies, Miriam, now without hopes, goes to London and becomes the mistress and housekeeper of barrister Geoffrey Sherwood, who has become a drunkard after having been jilted by his fiancée Valentine, when she married a wealthy baronet. Miriam hopes to marry Geoffrey, but when Valentine, who is unhappy with her baronet, begins to trifle with Geoffrey, he responds and discards Miriam. Geoffrey soon realizes the shallowness of his affair with Valentine, who has not divorced the baronet, and his sense of shame is awakened by Miriam's kindness and consideration for others. They marry in a little Scottish kirk, and sail for Buenos Aires to begin a new life.

Dir: Dell Henderson

Kid Kelly, a gangster in New York's Lower East Side, attempts to rob Goldberg's millinery store. When the police arrive, Flo Haines, who had come to the building to look at an apartment, hides. When the police find her, they charge her with the crime, but the Kid turns himself over to the law instead. After his release, he again meets Flo, who works in an artificial-flower factory by day and at Reverend Roberts' relief mission by night. The Kid soon falls in love with Flo, and his jealous sweetheart Mamie tricks her into coming to her apartment, where she drugs her and turns her over to Joe Carelli, the flower factory's lustful owner. The Kid saves Flo, but when Carelli is found murdered the next day, he is arrested for the crime. The confession of Annie, who had stabbed Carelli in a jealous rage, frees The Kid, who reforms himself and marries Flo.

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

Dir: Dell Henderson

Press agent J. Butterfield Conroy, known affectionately as "Butts," is left only $500 when his wealthy father dies--until he can show that he has been "of service to humanity" in a scientific capacity. In a New York restaurant, Butts meets Mary Bruce MacDowell when her uncle Angus, an entomologist, chases a butterfly around his table. Smitten with love, Butts follows Mary to Bug Hollow, a resort where the professor is searching for a rare insect. After losing all his money playing poker, Butts starts to walk to Manhattan, when he meets Frank Morrison, an acquaintance, who hires Butts to invent a reputation for him as a scientist so that the professor will allow him to court Mary. Although Butts is successful, Mary, loving Butts, refuses Morrison. After Butts rescues the professor from his burning laboratory, set on fire by Brazilian swindler Ybor Cavallo, the professor consents to Butts' and Mary's marriage and Butts is awarded the rest of his father's estate.

Dir: Dell Henderson

A young man doubles as a butler and an amateur detective.

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

Dir: Dell Henderson

To prevent her niece from becoming an old maid, Beatrice Hammond's aunt stipulates in her will that the girl must be married by the age of eighteen or sacrifice a million dollar inheritance. Beatrice is in love with Ronald Farwell, but he has been called to fight against the Germans in France, so Beatrice approaches her guardian, Gerald Eversleigh, with a plan: Gerald will marry her, thus insuring that she will inherit the fortune, but divorce her as soon as Ronald returns. The wedding is staged, and all goes well until Gerald falls in love with his wife. Meanwhile, Ronald falls in love with a French nurse and, upon his return home, offers to pay Gerald to remain married to Beatrice. Gerald happily accepts the offer but refuses the money, and Beatrice discovers that she has loved her husband all along.

Dir: Dell Henderson

Engrossed in his business affairs, John Kirby fails to assess the seriousness of his wife Helen's objections to the constant parade of business chums and their mistresses who come to dinner. When Kirby gives Helen the ultimatum of accepting the status quo or filing for divorce, she divorces him and obtains a position as a stenographer in the office of one of her husband's friends, but leaves after he makes advances toward her. Finding employment as a model in a dress shop, Helen is invited by one of the girls to attend a masquerade ball with two gentlemen friends. Helen agrees and discovers that her escort is her ex-husband. Although he cannot identify Helen because they are masked, Kirby suspects that his date is his ex-wife and arranges for another meeting in which he asks Helen to remarry him, and she agrees to make him her second husband.

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

Dir: Dell Henderson

Among the younger members of the select families of the "Avenue," are Pete Milholland, a "good fellow" and sportsman, and his fiancée, Alice Gardner. Only once have they quarreled, that was when Pete disgraced himself by coming upon the polo fields intoxicated. This was good cause, and we now find Peter staring blankly ahead of him with the returned ring in his hand. Still in a stupor from drink, Pete instructs his butler that he is leaving for Europe and staggers out of the house. He finds himself on the shores at Coney Island, in a garb not his own. During his wanderings in the amusement park, Pete comes before the entrance of the "Turkish Dream." Partially attracted by the pretty dancer and chiefly in need of sleep, he smuggles himself into the place. He has come at the psychological moment, for the proprietor, Mooney, and his daughter, Tessie, the dancer, are in a quandary. Their orchestra, the pianist, has left them. Pete steps into the breach, much to the jealousy of Jan, the boatman, Tessie's ardent lover. As time passes Pete decides to return home, taking with him Tessie and her father. The jovial Irishman and his daughter dislike the idea of leaving their "kind," but with the arrival of the automobile they agree to go. Tessie is taken care of by Pete's aunt, who would rather do most anything than come in contact with the belle of Coney Island. Her arrival causes consternation in society circles and it is realized by Pete that she is not suitable for him, but he is determined to marry her, as Alice, according to the papers, is going to become the wife of his friend, Tony Graves. During her stay at the Milholland mansion Tessie notices how Pete controls his feelings when Alice approaches, and how Alice's heart nearly breaks when the two girls meet. Alice and Pete finally come face to face, and Pete learns that the newspaper report of Alice's marriage to Tony was false. He takes her in his arms, and thus they are discovered by Tessie. Summoning all her strength and forcing a smile upon her face, Tessie tells them that she lied and does not love Pete at all, and returns her ring. Pete is overcome to think that he was on the verge of falling into the trap set by this young "vampire," while Alice is overjoyed at the unexpected turn of events, though secretly feeling that Tessie is making a great sacrifice. After Tessie's return to her kingdom on the beach, "The Turkish Dream," true love steals its way into her heart as it had done to Alice and Pete, and soon Jan proves to be her ideal of a husband.

Dir: Dell Henderson

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

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

Dir: Dell Henderson

Nell Gordon is unfortunate in her ancestry; her father is a crook, but she possesses qualities of resourcefulness and loyalty. Though she loves her father, she detests his associates, particularly one, Bill Whipple, who is her constant suitor, Joe Dunham, who does the scouting for the trio, finds a likely bank in the town of Wheaton, the fact that a new bookkeeper is needed there opening a way for the gang to get into the bank, as Nell is an expert. Working on her love for her father, who is a very sick man, Whipple and Dunham persuade Nell to go to Wheaton and take the position. Boarding with the Rev. Dr. Singleton, Nell wins the confidence of Jim Brooks, the cashier of the bank, and of Tom Hoadley, his best friend and sheriff of the county. What the girl is working for, of course, is the combination of the safe, but before she has a chance to get it, she begins to realize that she is in love with the cashier. On the very day that she learns the combination and copies it. Jim proposes to her, and, after a mental struggle, she decides that her love for him is greater than her loyalty to the gang, and she surrenders, concealing her identity, she had come to the town under an assumed name. Becoming suspicious of Nell's delay in forwarding word to them, Whipple and Dunham attempt to force her father to write a note ordering her to act quickly, but the old man refuses and is shot. The crooks go to Wheaton and try to force Nell to rob the bank. She has undergone complete reformation and has even confessed her identity to Jim's friend and is planning to leave Wheaton rather than bring disgrace upon the man she loves. She discovers that her father has been murdered by the crooks and decides to be revenged. Apparently consenting to their demands, she gets them into the bank, but not until she has warned the sheriff. Nell is wounded in the fight which follows, and when she awakens finds herself in the arms of the man from whom she attempted to escape because she loved him.

Dir: Dell Henderson

Shark Rawley is a sailor aboard the tramp steamer Aurora , presided over by a brutal captain named Sanchez. While ashore one night, Shark and Sanchez encounter society girl Doris Selby and her friends on a slumming expedition at a dockside bar called the Wine Room. Entrapped by some of the predatory characters that infest the place, Doris escapes through a cellar only to abducted by Sanchez who then takes her to the Aurora . Arriving at the pier just as the ship is leaving, the Shark catches the vessel and, once aboard, battles the captain and crew for possession of Doris. In the ensuing fight, the Aurora catches fire and all hands are forced to abandon ship. The Shark saves Doris, and when the rescue ship finally reaches them, the pair have fallen in love.