Essential Cult Cinema Mirroring the Impact of Zaza: Cult Guide

Dir: Hugh Ford

Although she loves humble Ralph Benham, Lydia marries the wealthy Dr. Gilmore at the request of her guardian aunt. After a few years, Gilmore becomes involved with Mrs. Stracey, a family friend, but is discovered and confronted by Mr. Stracey, who is killed by Gilmore during an ensuing fight. To protect her son Ned, Lydia agrees to lie to the authorities about Gilmore's whereabouts and is counseled on her trial testimony by a sympathetic Ralph, who, by coincidence, is the prosecutor in the case. In court, Lydia repeats her protective lies, but her story is thrown into question when her servant testifies that Ralph visited Lydia on the night of the murder. Suspicious, the judge demands that Ned be called to the witness stand, but unable to allow her son to lie under oath, Lydia finally confesses. Faced with a severe sentence, Gilmore commits suicide, and Lydia suffers a nervous breakdown but is cared for tenderly by Ralph and his sister.

Dir: Hugh Ford

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

A poor boy named Tom Canty and Edward, the Prince of Wales exchange identities but events force the pair to experience each other's lives as well.

Dir: Hugh Ford

Ramona is the daughter of the governor of Port Royal. She is a school girl living in Spain. John Barton, a soldier of fortune, is cast ashore in Spain penniless and scrapes an acquaintance with Ramona by rescuing one of her pets. He is putting up at a rather questionable tavern where he learns of a huge treasure buried by Firebrand, a pirate, and secures plans of the spot in which it is concealed. Ramona sails for Port Royal and Barton is on the same ship. Firebrand attacks the ship and captures as part of his booty Ramona, whom he appropriates for himself after Barton has been knocked overboard in her defense. Until the acquisition of Ramona, Firebrand's favorite has been Anna, who now becomes jealous of the Spanish beauty. After attempting to make Ramona accept his attentions peacefully, Firebrand vents his wrath upon her and orders her confined in one of his cabins. Barton, recovering from his injuries sufficiently to make his way ashore, stumbles upon the cabin in which Ramona is a prisoner but the jealous Anna discovers him and informs Firebrand of the supposed duplicity of his new favorite. The pirate chief rushes to the cabin and when he attempts to force his attentions upon Ramona she kills him. Anna denounces Ramona as the culprit and, in a fit of vengeance, suggests that Ramona be sold as a slave in the public market. Her rare beauty causes lively bidding among the men who attend the sale. Meanwhile Barton has gone in search of the buried treasure and has found it. He has bought a horse on which he comes in search of Ramona, only to find her on the slave block, with a horde of men frantically bidding for her. Plunging into the crowd, he fights his way to the front and forces the bidding until, after a soul-stirring scene, he succeeds in vanquishing his rivals, and rides off triumphant in search of a minister.

Dir: Hugh Ford

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

A writer bets a friend that he can write a 10,000-word novel in 24 hours. The friends takes the bet, and gives him the keys to his Baldpate Inn, which has been closed for the winter, so he can write in complete seclusion. Things start heating up, though, when a succession of people who also have keys to the inn begin showing up.

Dir: Hugh Ford

Daniel MacNeill seeks to avenge his childhood humiliation by the dissolute Lord Raa by forcing his daughter Mary to marry him with the stipulation that Raa would lose his claim to MacNeill's recently acquired fortune if he did not remain faithful. On her honeymoon in Egypt, Mary lives in name only with Lord Raa, who introduces his former mistress Alma Lier as Lady Raa. Mary meets explorer Martin Conrad, a former lover and makes love with him the night before he leaves on an Antarctic voyage. Mary then secludes herself in France where she gives birth to a child. When her father insists that she return to Lord Raa in India, Mary announces that the child's father is Conrad, divorces Raa and is disinherited. After learning that Conrad has been lost and her money is gone, Mary returns to London. In order to support her child, she turns to prostitution, and the first man she approaches turns out to be Conrad who has been searching for her. They marry and raise their child together. After Lord Raa's money is gone and he is deserted by Alma, he kills himself.

Dir: Hugh Ford

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

Robert Trainor, an American, aids in the romance of the Queen of Herzegovina and the King of Bosnia.

Dir: Hugh Ford

When her husband is accused of murder, a woman pretends to be a "vamp" in order to seek out the real killer.

Dir: Hugh Ford

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

A woman is betrayed by her cruel husband, who uses their child to further torment her.

Dir: Hugh Ford

Sapho, whose real name is Fanny Legrand, is the daughter of poor people, her father being a coachman, and her early home is little more than a hovel in the slums of Paris. She is one of the quaint girl flower-sellers on the streets of Paris, earning a few sous daily, which she is compelled to give toward the support of the family. It was while selling her wares in one of the big restaurants that she is first seen by Caoudal, the famous sculptor, who recognizes her wonderful beauty and persuades her to pose for him. The luxury of his studio awakens in her an unsuspected love for the beautiful things of life. One step leads to another, and it is not long before she becomes the most talked of and sought after model of Paris. She is content to live in this way, reveling in beauty and the admiration of her friends and Caoudal himself, until Dejoie, the poet, moved by her beauty, writes verses to her which make both himself and her still more famous, winning her away from Caoudal. The poet is too old to hold the attention of the young girl, who craves young society and admiration, so when she meets handsome young Flamant, she lightly tells Dejoie that he is "too old" and gains the friendship of the younger man. Flamant is an engraver and finds himself hard put to it to gratify the expensive whims of Sapho, but as he is really very fond of the handsome model, he manages to forge a name and obtain money under false pretenses. His ruse is discovered, and as the gendarmes come to lead him away to prison, Sapho receives an invitation to a ball to take place that very evening. At the ball she appears as "Sapho" and there meets for the first time the student, Jean Gaussin, with whom she falls in love. It is a case of love at first sight on both sides and the two are very happy, and Sapho is learning to express the better side of her nature when Jean is shocked by accidentally learning of her past life. It is the "beginning of the end." Jean finally weds a little country girl, and Sapho, rather than return to her old life, turns Red Cross nurse and consecrates the rest of her life to that noble work.

Dir: Hugh Ford

Felicia Hindemarsh is not made to pay the price of her early indiscretions. She pays for supposing that these indiscretions could be hidden, and it is the hiding of her identity behind that of her cousin, Mrs. Dane, which is condemned.