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Select two cult films to compare side by side.
Penny of Top Hill Trail Synopsis
Penny arrives by airplane in the neighborhood of the Kingdon ranch. Her behavior is thought suspicious, and she is put in jail, where Kurt Walters, foreman of the ranch and deputy sheriff, recognizes her as a girl his friend Jo met in Chicago who confessed to being a thief. When he enters the cell to talk with Penny, he finds a visitor and orders her to leave, taking Penny, who has promised to go straight, to Mrs. Kingdon. Penny begins to tantalize him and complicates his life with her pranks. But he continues to fall more and more in love with her. A crisis develops when a mysterious stranger and the other girl who was in Penny's cell arrive. It is then revealed that Penny is not a thief but a motion picture star hiding from a manager who wants her to renew her contract. She prefers the golden sand to the silver screen and remains on the ranch with Kurt.
Young Mother Hubbard Synopsis
Forced by the death of her mother to care for her three brothers and sisters, little Mona Fairfax is known to farmers of her district as Young Mother Hubbard. The children's step-father, heavily in debt and tired of the burden imposed by the little family, abandons his farm, leaving the children, penniless, to shift for themselves. The following day Daniel Banning, a wealthy "country gentleman" and owner of the Fairfax farm, calls to collect back rent. He finds Mona and her children panic-stricken over a note left by their step-father, telling of his decision to leave. Banning turns a deaf ear to Mona's pleas that she be allowed to remain on the farm with her wards. He notifies the Children's Welfare Society. Directors of the society go to the farm, load them into an automobile, and take them to the society's headquarters. At headquarters the chairman calls for volunteers to take the children into their homes. A square-jawed woman, a miserly old man, a brutal fellow, with bull-dog features, and a ponderous, harsh, mannish looking women, each agree to take a child. When it dawns upon Mona and her brothers and sisters that they are to be separated they break into tears and beg piteously to be allowed to remain together. Their pleas are ignored. Finally Mona begs that they be allowed to spend a last night together on the Fairfax farm. The request finally is granted. That night Mona hitches the family horse to a rickety old wagon and the children set out to escape. They fall asleep and the horse stops near Banning's house. The housekeeper takes them in during the master's absence. When Banning returns he is furious. Mona offers him a wisp of flowers, which he scorns. Finally, however, the child's smile wins his heart and he cuddles her. Later when agents of the welfare society try to take the children, Banning drives them from his place, declaring he will adopt Young Mother Hubbard and her entire family.
"Young Mother Hubbard" is currently leading in ratings, making it a stronger choice for newcomers to the genre.
Suggested Watch:
Penny of Top Hill Trail