Deep Archive Finds in the Vein of You Find It Everywhere: Cult Guide

Dir: Robert N. Bradbury

A simple country girl, brutally mistreated by her stepfather, awakens first the sympathy, then the love, of The Boy. The Spider, who lusts after The Girl, makes a bargain with the stepfather and takes her to the city where, kept prisoner, she is soon broken in health and spirit. Cast out and near death, she is taken in by The Boy. Following the demise of The Spider, The Boy takes her to church, where he prays, and after many hours she is restored to health.

Dir: Edgar Jones

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

A mail-order bride arrives at a Maine lumber camp but doesn't like her prospective husband.

Dir: Maurice Elvey

A lady marries a horse trainer but withholds herself until her crippled brother is cured.

Dir: Charles Horan

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

The miners at Paradise Gulch are bored. In a session at the "Three Cheers" saloon, owned by Seth Moore, they decide that the trouble with their existence is the fact that there are no women in the place. The verdict is that one of them must marry, and they choose "Happy Jack" Lewis, because he is not present. They go to "Happy Jack" Lewis, make him write out an advertisement for a wife, and sent it to neighboring towns. They stipulate that she must be blonde and pretty. At Gold City, Glad Mason, who answers every requirement, is working in the office of Willet and Condon, mining promoters. Since her father's death she has been obliged to shift for herself. Willet's attentions have become so obnoxious that she is at her wits' end to know what to do, when Lewis' advertisement is pointed out to her. In desperation she answers it, enclosing a photograph. Lewis lines the boys up against the bar and holds them up. Since they have got him into the trouble of getting married, he makes them furnish his shack. He gives a whoop of joy when he sees Glad's photograph among all the ugly ones he receives in answer to his advertisement, but Ben, the bartender, discourages him by saying that probably some old hag sent the picture. "Happy Jack" leaves in haste, first making over his house and his mine to her in recompense for her disappointment. He goes to the junction as Glad is changing trains for Paradise Gulch, and sees for himself what a beauty she is. But one of the boys with whom he has been fighting sees her, too, and without a word the miner gives "Happy Jack" a knock-out blow, and then puts him on the train, bound in the opposite direction. Each of the boys tries to win Glad. They tell her that Lewis is a quitter. Jumping off at a small station, Lewis is arrested as a suspicious character and thrown into jail. His wire to the boys for identification results in the answer that he is a cardsharp and crook. He escapes, and meets Willet, who offers to buy his mine. He accepts, taking the money, forgetting that he has made over the property to Glad, but robbers soon relieve him of his cash and he reaches Paradise Gulch penniless. Willet goes to take charge of the property, which he is anxious to claim because "Sid," the assayer, has told him it is of immense value. He finds Glad in possession and has "Happy Jack" arrested for obtaining money under false pretenses. Glad turns over her claim to Willet and Condon on the condition that they will free Lewis, although he implores her not to do so. But "Sid," the assayer, has made a discovery. He whispers something to Glad, and the last cloud is dispelled. He has made a mistake. The sample ore he has thought Lewis' belonged to Glad's father, who had brought it in to be assayed the day before he died. Glad and "Happy Jack" have lost control of the worthless mine, but they begin life together as owners of the magnificent Mason property.

Dir: Reggie Morris

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Maurice Campbell

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

Carver Endicott, a young sophisticate, is rejected by his fiancée for being too foppish and dull. When she feigns an interest in his father, Carver attempts to disgrace his family name by working as a farmhand and later as a busboy in a hotel. However, the newspapers only praise him for his self-sacrificing principles; and finding that he cannot bring shame to the family through menial labor, he takes up with a notorious actress. But when this maneuver also fails, he returns to his former fiancée, who has no further complaint about his being an inexperienced dullard.

Dir: Unknown Director

The Judge needs a present for his wife's birthday, so Harry suggests a new corset. They go to the shop, but he's so embarrassed to ask the saleslady he hides in a phone booth.Harry goes in, but finds a GUY wearing one, and runs out.They both dress as women to get back in, but Mrs. Rummy gets there and chases him out.

Dir: Charles Horan

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

Four wealthy young men--Larry Van Cortlandt, Castleton, "Fatty" Harriman, and Payne--become intoxicated in a cabaret where munitions maker Stanhope Shelton is giving a party for his daughter Natalie. Larry is attracted to Natalie, but he is ejected with his friends before he can secure an introduction. Plainclothes detective Hogan vows to capture Larry, who seeks asylum on his yacht with his friends. After the crew quits, Larry and his friends handle the boat. The next morning Castleton and Payne place a "for hire" sign on the boat and the Sheltons engage it. Larry teaches Natalie to steer and runs into several boats in the process. Four people in the Shelton party turn out to be burglars and rob the other guests. Meanwhile, two other crooks rob the Shelton mansion. Larry manages to capture all the crooks at the Shelton home, and he wins over both Natalie and her father.

Dir: Bruno Ziener

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Edward LeSaint

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.