Film vs Film
Select two cult films to compare side by side.
His Enemy, the Law Synopsis
Captain Jack Rogers returns home from the Civil War to find that his fiancée's father has broken his engagement to Sarah Catherwood because Jack's income is so low. Jack goes West to earn his fortune but soon hears that Pamela has wed her former suitor, Randolph. Heartbroken, Jack proposes to a widow, but their marriage is so unhappy that he leaves, taking his son John with him. In the town of Ten Strike, Jack robs a stage and is shot by a posse. The sheriff adopts little John, who grows to manhood nurturing such an intense hatred for the law that in his renowned law practice, he intentionally helps notorious criminals escape justice. Sarah's daughter, Sally Randolph, begs John to defend her lover who has been charged with murder, and John succeeds in winning his freedom, but upon the young criminal's release from prison, he is shot and killed. When John and Sally discover that their parents were in love, they marry and begin a new life together.
The Man Above the Law Synopsis
Having been unlucky in love, Duke Chalmers renounces civilization and moves to New Mexico, where he establishes himself as an illicit whiskey trader. Although he does not really love her, Duke marries Natchah, a Navaho Indian, who bears him a daughter, Tonah. When Esther Brown arrives from the East and opens a school in the small New Mexican settlement, Duke denies Tonah permission to attend, but Esther refuses to abandon her interest in the child and soon grows to love her. Duke rescues Esther from a pair of drunken Mexicans, after which he falls in love with her. Esther, however, reminds him of his duty toward his wife and daughter, whereupon Duke closes his shop and takes his family to a new life in the Far West.
"His Enemy, the Law" holds a slight edge in general audience appreciation, but "The Man Above the Law" offers its own unique cult appeal.
Suggested Watch:
The Man Above the Law