Film vs Film
Select two cult films to compare side by side.
Joan of the Woods Synopsis
When lawyer Philip Wentworth goes hunting in the woods to escape a broken heart, he meets and later marries Joan Travers. Philip brings Joan to the city, but soon deserts her to resume an affair with his old flame, who is now married. Some months later, Joan dies of grief, leaving her baby daughter, also named Joan, to be raised by a pawnbroker and his wife. Eventually Philip helps his mistress to obtain a divorce and then marries her. Her son, Norman Dicks, flunks out of college, prompting Philip to send him into the Navy. Before he ships out, however, he meets and secretly marries Joan, who has grown to womanhood. Some time later, Joan is accused of murder after their baby dies because she was unable to care for it. She is taken before Judge Wentworth, who recognizes her as his daughter by the cross she wears around her neck. Norman returns home and the family is reunited.
A Self-Made Widow Synopsis
On the promise of marriage, Sylvia Smith, a simple girl from Lone Meadows, follows her lover to the city only to discover that he already has a wife. While wandering along the docks, Sylvia stumbles onto a suicide note written by Fitzhugh Castleton, a wealthy gentleman who has planted the note to avoid a loveless marriage. Rather than go back to Lone Meadows humiliated, Sylvia pays Crosby, a convicted forger, to impersonate Castleton, forge his name in a marriage ceremony, then disappear. Once Sylvia installs herself in the Castleton mansion, Castleton returns from a sea voyage and, disguised by a long beard, hires on as the gardener. Castleton soon becomes enamored of the impostor widow and she falls in love with him, but neither one will admit his deception to the other. When Crosby shows up and demands blackmail money, Sylvia slips away to the country. Through the jealous interference of Crosby's wife, Castleton discovers the truth about Sylvia and goes to Lone Meadows to marry her.
"Joan of the Woods" holds a slight edge in general audience appreciation, but "A Self-Made Widow" offers its own unique cult appeal.
Suggested Watch:
Joan of the Woods