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Select two cult films to compare side by side.
Rosemary Synopsis
Dorothy Cruickshank is secretly in love with Captain Westwood, whom her parents have never seen, and they plan to elope. Her father, an old sea captain, has quarreled with a Professor Jogram, following a public denunciation of a book Jogram has written on navigation. Professor Jogram lives with Sir Jasper Thorndyke, who sympathizes with him about the criticism but secretly considers the matter lightly. Dorothy and Captain Westwood elope during a storm, but their chaise is overturned near the home of Sir Jasper, where they apply for shelter and are taken in. Dorothy's parents pursue her, but they, too, meet with an accident and bring up at Sir Jasper's home. Dorothy and Captain Westwood are in their rooms when the girl's parents arrive. Sir Jasper and Cruickshank sit up late, Cruickshank drinking heavily, and his host, learning who he is, as a joke, puts him to bed with Professor Jogram. The next morning Dorothy arises early, and while gathering flowers in the garden, encounters Sir Jasper. Sir Jasper falls in love with her, and gives her a bunch of rosemary which she pins to her gown. At breakfast all are present, save Dorothy, and Sir Jasper takes this opportunity to gain her parents' consent to her marriage with Captain Westwood. A journey to London with a happy wedding is planned. At an inn in London Dorothy goes to the stable to give some sugar to Sir Jasper's favorite mare. The stable catches fire and Dorothy is trapped in the loft. Sir Jasper, who has been showing her much attention, rushes through the flames and rescues her. He is badly burned, and during the days that follow Dorothy insists on attending him. One day Westwood demands to see a page Dorothy has just written in her diary. She refuses, tears out the page and gives it to Sir Jasper. It is an artless confession of her high regard for Sir Jasper and he is elated. He is on the point of confessing his love for her when Professor Jogram stops him. Jogram tells him he is about to ruin the lives of two people he had never seen until a few days before. Realizing the truth of this Sir Jasper places the diary page in a broken panel in the wall, buys the inn and goes away to leave the lovers in happiness. Many years later, while Dorothy and Westwood are happy with their family, Sir Jasper makes a pilgrimage to the inn. He finds the page, together with the rosemary, and muses over them as he remembers Dorothy's little speech when she gave it to him. "Rosemary, that's for remembrance."
Pidgin Island Synopsis
John Cranford, a secret agent of the United States Customs service, has succeeded in unearthing a gigantic smuggling plot. The operations of the smugglers range from contraband opium to diamonds. Opium is found and confiscated, and burned in the street as a warning against future law-breaking. The men who have been handling it are apprehended, but the "man higher up" remains shrouded in mystery, free to pursue his schemes, and it becomes the purpose of Cranford's life to bring him to justice. To recuperate before entering upon his pursuit, John goes to the St. Lawrence River for a fishing trip. Expecting to hire his old friend and guide, "Uncle Billy," he is greatly disappointed at finding that worthy man's time engaged by a charming, mysterious young woman, who insists on fishing in the neighborhood of Pidgin Island. Diana Wynne, the girl in question, comes to Billy's boathouse while John is there, and Billy introduces them. They meet often, and John finds himself falling in love with Diana, but his curiosity is aroused by the air of mystery surrounding her, and he cannot understand her strange interest in the launches plying around the island. To this region comes "the man higher up," Michael Smead, his son Donald and two accomplices, to operate a great smuggling deal on the Canadian border. John recognizes Smead, having previously blocked him in an attempt to smuggle many thousands of dollars' worth of diamonds. Donald is a stranger to him, for he is new to the game. John, finding that his "vacation" has furnished him with the biggest job of his life, watches Smead closely. Complications arise from the fact that Diana also is a secret service agent, and she too is watching Smead's hand. In so doing her actions arouse John's suspicion that she is in league with the band, and the two agents suspect each other. One stormy evening Diana intercepts a telegram to Smead which reads: "Pidgin tonight at 8 without fail." She hastens to Uncle Billy, asking him to take her over to the island at once. They set out in the storm, much against the wishes of "Mr. Billy." John, coming directly afterwards, is told of their destination, and fearing for Diana's safety in the gathering storm forces young Lester, a guide, to take him in pursuit. The storm rages in fury about both boats, and the waves run high. Smead's Canadian agents are in an aeroplane coming toward Pidgin. They are smuggling the gems, which are concealed in the hollow butts of two fishing poles, but the aeroplane is lost in the storm near Pidgin Lighthouse. Billy's boat is dashed to pieces on the reef and Billy and Diana are thrown into the water. They manage to reach an isolated rock, wreckage-washed, to which they cling in momentary fear of being washed shorewards, where the waves are smashing against the reef. Finally Diana is swept from the rock, and Cranford swims to her assistance. Lester, after a struggle, rescues Uncle Billy, and the keeper of the light on Pidgin Reef gives them all a shelter. Next morning Cranford finds the Smead telegram in Diana's coat pocket, and with it a letter from the customs department establishing her identity. Diana surprises him going through her effects, but he convinces her that he too is a government agent. Uncle Billy finds the fishing rods on the island and brings them to the lighthouse, where Cranford discovers their contents to be a fortune in pearls. He hastens to the village and arrests Smead, Donald and their accomplices almost before they know they are suspected. When John proposes to Diana she refuses him, telling him she is the daughter of a criminal and the sister of a criminal. Smead is her father, and she has engaged in the service and come to Pidgin to try to prevent her brother from engaging in his father's scheme. But John Cranford refuses to take "No" as an answer, and the sincerity of his wooing wins him Diana's consent to become his wife.
"Rosemary" holds a slight edge in general audience appreciation, but "Pidgin Island" offers its own unique cult appeal.
Suggested Watch:
Rosemary