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Select two cult films to compare side by side.
Hearts of Men Synopsis
Nicolo Rosetti leads a simple, happy life growing and selling flowers. When his ailing mother needs to move to a dryer climate, Nicolo purchases a plot of land in Arizona, which he later discovers to be an arid wasteland. A railroad construction gang attempts to drive Nicolo out of town, believing he is the forerunner to an influx of cheap Italian labor. However, the men are soon won over by the widowed Nicolo and his son, Beppo, and assist them in building a shack. After Nicolo's mother dies, his friends encourage him to remarry so that Beppo can have a mother. Nicolo writes to a cousin in Italy, who sends a bride named Tina Ferronni. The disillusioned Tina takes Beppo to Italy, ostensibly to visit his dying maternal grandmother, but in reality she is eloping with a clerk. Following her arrival, Tina writes to Nicolo claiming that Beppo has died. The laborers secretly pay for an investigation and arrange Beppo's return. Meanwhile, the grieving Nicolo discovers an oil well on his land. He is reunited with Beppo and shares his good fortune with his friends.
The Greatest Love of All Synopsis
Joe, a poor Italian iceman, saves enough money both to furnish a basement apartment in New York and to arrange passage to America from the old country for his mother. Joe is soon engaged to Trina, and Joe's mother secretly finds work doing laundry in the home of District Attorney Kelland, in order to help them save enough to be married. When a diamond bracelet belonging to Mrs. Kelland disappears, Joe's mother finds it in the dirty linen, but, before she can return it, she is seen with it and arrested as a thief. She is tried, convicted, and sentenced to three years in jail. Joe is driven wild with anxiety and joins in a plot to kill the D. A. by putting high explosives in his golf ball. Joe relents and saves the D. A. when Trina proves that the Kellands' daughter was responsible for putting the bracelet in the wash. Joe's mother is released from jail, and she and the young lovers find happiness in a little home in the country.
"Hearts of Men" holds a slight edge in general audience appreciation, but "The Greatest Love of All" offers its own unique cult appeal.
Suggested Watch:
Hearts of Men