
Warren Schuyler, a wealthy widower in a small Eastern town, is highly-respected until the citizens are financially ruined by devaluation of the oil stock he sold them. His daughter Ellen's New York socialite fiance' Roy Phelps deserts her after her father dies, but fellow townsman John Barrett comes to her aid, and she marries him out of gratitude.

A cathedral hush falls as the first intertitle of Know Your Men flickers—white letters on obsidian—and already Paul Sloane’s pen is scalpel-sharp: “In the shadow of prosperity lurks the counterfeit of honor.” What follows is no quaint morality vignette but a slow-motion autopsy of American entitlement, performed in 19...
Comparing the cinematic DNA and archive impact of two defining moments in cult history.

Charles Giblyn

Charles Giblyn
Community
Log in to comment.
" A cathedral hush falls as the first intertitle of Know Your Men flickers—white letters on obsidian—and already Paul Sloane’s pen is scalpel-sharp: “In the shadow of prosperity lurks the counterfeit of honor.” What follows is no quaint morality vignette but a slow-motion autopsy of American entitlement, performed in 1917 yet surgical still. Pearl White, serial-queen turned tragedienne, incarnates Ellen Schuyler with the brittle poise of a porcelain figurine forced to confront the hairline crack..."
Pearl White
Paul Sloane
United States


Deep dive into the cult classic
Discover similar cinematic experiences
A Directorial Spotlight on Charles Giblyn