The Definitive Guide Inspired by the Vision of Wolf's Trail: Cult Guide

Dir: Francis Ford

Clay Norton and Duke Fuller are partners in a mining venture and have several claims, none of which have proved particularly successfully but do have promise. They are both in love with Agnes, and Clay wins her hand. While he is away in a nearby town to buy a wedding ring, Jim Butts, who has the territory's best mine, dies and Duke jumps his claim and sells it for $10,000, and the widow Butts is left penniless. When Clay, on his return, finds out what Duke has done, he demands his partnership share of $5,000 and tells Duke that they should see the widow and give her the money to go East so she will cause them no trouble. They visit her together and Clay tells her he will give her $5,000 and forces Duke to do the same. Overcome with the shock of the good fortune, the widow faints, and Duke, furious at being tricked, rushes from the cabin and meets Agnes, who is on her way to meet Clay. He takes her to the door of the cabin where she sees the widow Butts in the arms of her sweetheart. Misunderstanding the situation and being told by Duke that Clay is unfaithful to her, she breaks off their engagement.

Dir: Francis Ford

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

An Indian scholar seeks an American colleague who is working on a powerful explosive, trying to get to his formula by taking advantage of his drinking problem.

Dir: Wilfred Lucas

Brian O'Farrell (Snowy Baker), is an English 'new chum' who takes a job at an Australian cattle station. He is teased by station hands because of his appearance (including spats and a monocle) but he soon impresses them with his skills at riding and boxing. The station manager, John MacDonald (Wilfred Lucas), takes O'Farrell to Sydney to meet his daughter Edith (Kathleen Key) who is working in the slums. Edith is kidnapped by criminals after witnessing a crime but O'Farrell rescues her. It is later revealed he is the owner of the station.

Dir: Edward LeSaint

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

When famous opera singer Elinore Duane undergoes an operation on her throat, she has a series of ether-induced visions. In one, she is transported to ancient Rome where she appears as a much-admired woman in love with Paul, a young heretic, and at odds with Lutor, the high priest. To save her love, she poisons Lutor with her ring. After several other visions which involve variations on this love triangle, Elinore awakens to discover that Lutor is actually her doctor, Sascha Jaccard, and that Paul is the son of a friend who has come to visit the recovering prima donna.

Dir: Francis Ford

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Francis Ford

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

While visiting Egypt, Mrs. Graham steals a famous jewel called "The Eye of the World" from a mummy's sarcophagus and returns to the United States, planning to use the gem as collateral for a loan. Kah, the priestess in charge of protecting the tombs of Egyptian nobility, is soon on her trail , determined to retrieve the gem. Mrs. Graham's lovely daughter, Betty, agrees to marry a suitor for money to prop up her father's failing business. When the bridegroom is murdered on the couple's wedding night, and the body disappears, Phil Kelly decides to lend a hand in solving the crimes.

Dir: Alexander Butler

In Alberta, Canada, a Cornish emigrant unmasks a rustler posing as the girl's "blind" father.

Dir: Francis Ford

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

As a baby, John Ermine is stolen from a wagon train by the Crow Indians and is adopted by Chief Fire Bear. John grows to manhood, ignorant that he is a white man until his parentage is disclosed to him by Crooked Bear,.

Dir: Francis Ford

Episode 1: "The Broken Coin" Kitty Grey, a reporter, leaves her office for lunch. On her way to the restaurant she sees in an old curiosity shop half of a broken coin, inscribed in Latin. The name "Gretzhoffen" attracts her attention, and she buys the coin. On her way out of the shop she drops the papers she is carrying, which are picked up and handed to her by a foreign-looking man, who had been watching the coin before Kitty came along. Kitty goes on her way and the man enters the shop to buy the coin. He is told by the proprietor that the young lady who just left the shop bought it. Kitty, thinking she has material for a good story, forgets about lunch and goes to her room for an old article she has written regarding the poverty-stricken Kingdom of Gretzhoffen, and with the aid of a Latin grammar, translates the inscription on the coin, which reads: "Underneath flagstone of north corner torture cham he found treasures valuable s the kingd Gretzhoffen Mi." Tis arouses her imagination to such an extent that she hurries back to her office and asks the editor to give her three months to go to Gretzhoffen and locate the other half of the coin. In the meantime the mysterious looking foreigner has followed Kitty to her home, entered her room while she was at the office and ransacked everything in general, looking for the coin which Kitty, at that moment, had in a chamois bag around her neck. He leaves, disgusted. Everything ready for her departure, Kitty goes aboard the boat, where she comes face to face with the foreigner. After dinner Kitty falls asleep in her stateroom, after making sure that the half coin is safe. She awakens suddenly to glimpse the profile of a man at the porthole of her compartment. He disappears as she sits up. Realizing something is wrong, Kitty, after making sure no one is watching her, takes the coin, her passport and other valuables from the bag and hides them in her stocking. After another cautious survey she returns to bed. Sometime later she is awakened to find a hand holding her chamois bag disappear through the porthole. She runs to the porthole just in time to see the form of a man disappear around the bow of the boat. Realizing the bag contained only her handkerchief and an American half-dollar, and that the coin is safe in her stocking, Kitty locks the porthole and retires for the night. She sees no more of the strange foreigner, and arrives safe in Gretzhoffen. On investigating, with the help of the American Consul, Kitty finds that the Kingdom of Gretzhoffen is a very poor little principality, ruled by a puppet king, Michael the Second, who is under the power of a supposed friend, Count Frederick. Frederick, in reality, is the pretender to the throne occupied by the puppet, and uses Michael, under the guise of friendship, to further his own plans and to ascend to the throne of Gretzhoffen. The financial straits of the little kingdom are due to the fact that gold scripts and jewels belonging to Michael's father, the old King Michael the First, have been missing since the death of the old king, and the only clue to the missing valuables is half of a broken coin, inscribed in Latin, and given to the present king by an old servant of Michael the First's on his, the servant's, deathbed. Michael, the puppet, has, after a fashion, tried to locate the other half of the coin. Count Frederick, knowing of the coin and its value, procures it, through the aid of his valet and accomplice, Grahame, and determines to find the other half, dethrone Michael, and ascend the throne, a rich ruler of Gretzhoffen. Thanking the consul for the information, Kitty bids him good-day and strikes out for the hotel. In the meantime, Roleau, the foreigner who followed Kitty on her trip and is, in reality, a hireling of the unscrupulous Frederick, reports to his employer with the bag he has obtained from Kitty on board the liner. Frederick is greatly angered at finding the bag minus the precious half coin and beats the cringing Roleau. Frederick, quickly forgetting Roleau, sets about to find another way to get the coin. Kitty, in a taxi on her way home, sees a man stagger from the back door of a fashionable house, trying to cover his blood-stained face with his coat sleeve, and stopping her car near the man, she gets out and tries to help him.

Dir: Bruno Ziener

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.