Essential Cult Cinema Mirroring the Impact of Wives and Other Wives: Cult Guide

Dir: Lloyd Ingraham

A young man fights to overcome a piratical arms smuggler and to win the heart of a rich man's daughter.

Dir: Lloyd Ingraham

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

Charity and her young brother are taken in by Merlin Durand, the son of a penurious millionaire, when their mother, a poor cleaning woman, dies. Charity is a strong believer in the world of fairy tales, and calls Merlin "The Prince". Merlin's cheapskate father cuts off his allowance until he gets a job and earns a salary, then leaves home for a "water cure". His servants immediately take a vacation, leaving the house empty, so Charity and Merlin hide there until Merlin can find a job. Charity begins to call the mansion "Charity Castle". They soon wind up involved with a strange cast of characters, including a burglar and an unemployed Shakespearean actor.

Dir: Lloyd Ingraham

Hunchbacked Japanese artist Marashida, marries Jewel, the daughter of Yasakuj. Their happy married life is destroyed when the daughter of an American missionary, Alice Carroway, known as Ali-San, persuades Marashida to pose for her sculpture of the deformed god Ni-O. While Marashida's character gradually deforms, Yasakuji recognizes in Ali-San the traits of the legendary Fox Woman, who because she had no soul of her own, stole those of others, sometimes turning warriors into crazy beasts. After Jewel, to please Marashida, indulges Ali-San's demand that she be her "playmate," she suffers further humiliation when Ali-San makes her the servant in her father's mission. Finally, Jewel discards the American clothes she is made to wear and, dressed in her wedding robes, goes to her ancestors' tomb to commit harakiri. When Yasakuji climbs up Ali-San's balcony, and she sees his face in her mirror, she accidentally falls off the balcony to her death. Released from Ali-San's spell, Marashida takes Jewel's dagger from her, and they live happily again.

Dir: Lloyd Ingraham

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

When the son of a leader of a Paris underworld family known as The Apaches is arrested and tried in court, the boy's mother asks the judge for mercy, but he refuses. In retaliation, the family kidnaps the judge's young daughter and raises her to be one of their own, schooling her in the ways of crime. One day she steals a valuable pin from a young American artist; he catches her, but an attraction develops between them--and her "Apache" family is not happy about it.

Dir: Lloyd Ingraham

Alys Gilson leaves the complacency of her parents' home to move to the big city and partake in the lofty ideals espoused by the Culture Club. As a member of this Bohemian group, Alys succumbs to the influence of Peyton Le Moyne who preaches that marriages should be founded on absolute freedom. Consequently, when Thurston Bruce, a young lawyer not of the group, proposes to Alys, she accepts on the condition that the marriage be dissolved if either finds their love has ceased to exist. Bruce soon wearies of his wife's "serious thinkers" who occupy his apartment day and night, and their relationship becomes strained. Finally, Bruce informs Alys that they must terminate their marriage because he is in love with his secretary, Marion Hamilton, who will give him a real home. Brokenhearted, Alys returns to her parents' home to find Bruce waiting there for her and discovers that the whole story was a scheme to bring her to her senses.

Dir: Lloyd Ingraham

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

Rosemary van Voort lives in the countryside with her elderly Dutch parents. She carves beautiful wooden dolls, and her work catches the eye of a group of artists who are having a picnic in the area. Among them is Ricardo Fitzmaurice, an aspiring opera singer. The group convinces Rosemary to move to New York City in order to take full advantage of her talent. Soon she becomes wildly successful, but a problem arises--the temperamental Madame Fedoreska, who is in love with Ricardo, has been driven insane by his growing affection for Rosemary and threatens to kill her. When the Madame turns up shot to death, the police look at Rosemary as a suspect--and even worse, she has no alibi.

Dir: Lloyd Ingraham

An orphan girl, believing herself cursed with the hoodoo until she gets married, is adopted by a childless couple after the orphanage burns down. Boy-next-door meets girl-next-door, and all looks great until she finds a loaded gun.

Dir: Lloyd Ingraham

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

As part of a divorce settlement, Theodore Ainsley gets custody of his older daughter Millicent, and his wife Elinor gets their younger daughter Jean. The two girls, normally inseparable, can't bear to be away from each other and run away together, but are soon caught by the authorities. Another custody hearing ensues, during which the girls' attorney Horace Craig makes an unusual, and somewhat shocking, proposal.

Dir: Lloyd Ingraham

Young Jackie Kernwood, the daughter of the colonel commanding an army post, is bored with the routines of post life, and to break the monotony she organizes a girls' brigade, of which her father disapproves. When the colonel forces her to disband the group, she makes up her mind to run away and become a nurse in the Red Cross. Before she can do that, however, she stumbles across evidence of a spy ring headed by an officer on the post that is plotting to blow up a troop train--and it looks like the chief spy is her boyfriend, Lt. Adair.

Dir: Lloyd Ingraham

Young and wealthy Molly Allison can't be "presented" into society until her older sister Julia is married, but that doesn't stop Molly from pursuing her usual wild ways. She finds herself in turn pursued by Count Renaud, unaware that he is a criminal interested in swindling her out of her money. To discourage the Renaud's attentions--and because she already has a boyfriend, Billy Wilcox--she tells Renaud that she is actually an Indian squaw who is just living in the Allison household. That doesn't stop the Count, however, and he turns his attentions to Molly's sister Julia.