Film vs Film
Select two cult films to compare side by side.
Counsel for the Defense Synopsis
Typhus specialist Dr. David West has fought long and hard for the construction of the new municipal waterworks. Harrison Blake, the town's leading lawyer and banker, conspires to have the waterworks put into private hands and frames David for accepting a bribe. As none of the town's lawyers will take the case, Katherine, David's daughter and a recent law school graduate, accepts her first client in her father. However, the circumstantial evidence is too great and David is convicted. Harrison bribes a worker to sabotage the waterworks, causing a public clamor for their takeover by private interests. Katherine, with the aid of newspaper editor Arnold Bruce, uncovers the conspiracy after the outbreak of a typhus epidemic. David is freed, and Katherine weds Arnold.
The Soul of a Magdalen Synopsis
The sole support of her invalid mother and young crippled brother, Heloise Broulette is forced to become the mistress of Leland Norton in order to secure the money for an operation to save her mother's life. Mrs. Broulette recovers, but when she discovers the real source of her daughter's income, the news kills her. After her mother's death, Heloise leaves her career behind and goes to the country where she takes a job as a secretary to author Carter Vail, who falls in love with her. Ruth finds herself in a dilemma when Vail's sister Alice visits friends in the city and falls in love with Norton. Honor bound, Ruth sacrifices her own happiness to save Alice from Norton. In revenge, Norton informs Vail of Heloise's past, but Vail responds that she has the soul of a Magdalene despite the life that she had been forced to endure.
"Counsel for the Defense" holds a slight edge in general audience appreciation, but "The Soul of a Magdalen" offers its own unique cult appeal.
Suggested Watch:
Counsel for the Defense