Film vs Film
Select two cult films to compare side by side.
Our Better Selves Synopsis
The marriage of a wealthy and frivolous member of French nobility, Loyette Merval, to an American aristocratic idler named Willard Standish, is a loving one, except for their mutual dissatisfaction with Willard's idleness. After Willard becomes a chauffeur, Loyette's subsequent disgust causes him to quit. When the war begins, Willard joins the French Secret Service, while Loyette continues her social life, upset about their separation. After Willard, wounded, hides in a convent, Loyette leaves to find him. As the Germans approach, the nuns escape. Finding Willard alone, Loyette, disguised as a nun, hides him in the altar. Although ordered to be shot, Loyette's air of innocence saves her. When she overhears a plot to have the Allies chase the Germans over a mined hill, Loyette kills the soldier on watch. Although she and Willard are captured and killed, they meet crossing the River Styx and embrace as they sail to eternity.
The On-the-Square Girl Synopsis
In order to send her invalid mother to a sanitarium in the North, Anne Blair, a dressmaker's model, accepts money from the wealthy, lascivious Thomas Brockton. With the aid of the dressmaker, Brockton attempts to seduce Anne, but she resists him with force. During the struggle, Anne stabs Brockton and flees to the North to avoid arrest. Upon her arrival, Anne discovers that her mother has died. Overcome with grief, she wanders blindly into the icy wilderness, but Richard Steel, a portrait painter, rescues her and soon falls in love with her. Through a series of letters, Anne discovers that Brockton is her father, but remains silent to protect her mother's name. After learning of her liaisons with a certain actor, Steel terminates his engagement to Inez Brockton, Brockton's other daughter. When Brockton visits Steel to demand an explanation, he runs into Anne, who tells him that she is his daughter. Ashamed and repentant, Brockton bestows his blessings on the new couple.
"Our Better Selves" holds a slight edge in general audience appreciation, but "The On-the-Square Girl" offers its own unique cult appeal.
Suggested Watch:
Our Better Selves