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Select two cult films to compare side by side.
A Woman Alone Synopsis
Nellie Waldron, a light-hearted young girl, living on a prosperous farm with a kindly uncle and aunt, becomes engaged to Tom Blaine, a telegraph operator. Blaine is transferred to a little wayside station, far removed from all other habitation, and before going persuades Nellie to marry him. At first, love for her husband absorbs Nellie's whole thought, but gradually the intense loneliness at the deserted post begins to pall on her and she longs for companionship and her old home. She meets Stephen Carter, Jr., a wealthy idler, traveling about with his father. During his enforced stop at the little station, Carter amuses himself by flirting with Nellie and finds her an eager listener to his stories of life in the big city. However, when he tries to persuade her to go with him she refuses. After his departure, Nellie is more lonely and dissatisfied than ever. Tom, who is perfectly contented, cannot understand her attitude, and resents her longing for other companionship. He upbraids her for complaining and hot words are spoken. Tom arrogantly tells her if she does not like the life, she may return home and remain there. Heartbroken, Nellie goes back to her uncle's house, Stephen again meets her and tries to induce her to go to the city with him. While he is pleading with her, John, who has somewhat repented his hasty action, enters, his suspicions, previously aroused by a note Stephen had written to Nellie, are confirmed when he sees the two together. Denouncing Nellie, he tells her he is through with her and she may go with Stephen. Cast out by her aunt, Nellie leaves for the city to strive to forget her unhappiness. She struggles, but without success. One day she is knocked over by an auto driven by Flynn, who she had known at the Wayside station. Through Flynn, Stephen is informed of her whereabouts and, unknown to her, he secures a position for her and gradually gets her into his debt. Unhappy among her uncongenial associates, Nellie realizes that life surrounded by gayety and people can be equally as lonely as life at a deserted wayside station. Longing for John, she writes, begging forgiveness, and hinting at a great secret. Stephen, feeling that he has waited long enough, reveals the truth of her position to Nellie and demands payment for his favors. While she struggles against his advances, the door is opened and John rushes in. Stephen is thrown out, and husband and wife realize that love is the only thing in the world.
The Supreme Temptation Synopsis
Herbert DuBois, a young medical student in Paris, falls in love with and marries Annette, a grisette. They do not get along well, however, and he later secures a separation from her. He returns to America to find his father greatly worried over impending financial ruin. The blow falls and DuBois Senior kills himself, leaving Herbert to care for his mother and sister Lydia. Some time later he falls in love with Florence, the daughter of the family lawyer, and his friend Milton is fascinated by Lydia. M. Picard, a French milliner, pays Herbert a visit and informs him of Annette's death; he and Florence are then married. A year later, Herbert has been promoted to the head of the medical college and he learns that he is soon to become a father. Annette has moved to America. While DuBois is preparing to perform an autopsy on a young woman who died suddenly, he discovers, to his horror, that it is Annette and she is not dead, but in a cataleptic trance, a disease to which her family was subject. Then the supreme temptation comes to him to kill her with a slight movement of his scalpel and thus remove forever the dark past, but his better nature conquers, and after calling the others' attention to the body, he goes out. Restoratives are quickly applied and Annette comes back to life. Then follows an agony of suspense for Herbert. Will she live and spoil his present happiness, or will she die? After what seems eternity, one of the doctors informs him that Annette has died, and rushing up to his wife's room, he is stopped by the nurse who tells him that a son has been born to them.
"A Woman Alone" holds a slight edge in general audience appreciation, but "The Supreme Temptation" offers its own unique cult appeal.
Suggested Watch:
A Woman Alone