Film vs Film
Select two cult films to compare side by side.
Sweet Lavender Synopsis
Ruth Holt, owner of a boardinghouse in a small college town, lives with her pretty niece "Sweet Lavender," who believes that Ruth is her mother. When boarder Clem Hale, president of the freshman class, is the victim of a prank played by several of his classmates, Lavender rescues him and the two fall in love. Clem's guardian, Horace Weatherburn, becomes concerned about his ward's adoration for a "commoner" and arrives to break up their romance. Ruth, who recognizes Washburn as Lavender's real father and the man who brought her sister grief, strongly opposes the match and sends Lavender off to boarding school. Upon learning that Clem is seriously ill, Lavender runs away to comfort her sweetheart and, in her plight, faints by the side of the road. Weatherburn finds her and is so touched by her concern, that he relents his previous disapproval. Ruth then reveals Lavender's parentage to her father who offers his blessing to the couple.
A Wild Girl of the Sierras Synopsis
A teenage girl lives with two grizzly bears in a cave in the California Sierras and plays with rabbits and birds. When gambler Jim Hamilton and his mistress try to interest wealthy Bob Jordan in purchasing an abandoned mine in the Sierras, Jordan, mistakes the girl clothed in leaves and feathers for an animal, shoots her in the arm. He nurses the girl, who cannot speak, and she repays him with a slave-like devotion. At the mine, Hamilton remembers that fifteen years earlier, Indians attacked his home while he was away and killed his family. The wild girl, really Hamilton's daughter, remembers fleeing from the raid into the woods. Although Hamilton's mistress tries to seduce Jordan, he refuses to buy the mine. Hamilton then tries to rob Jordan at gunpoint, but the girl has buried Jordan's money belt as a prank. Jordan's anger causes her to return to her cave, but later they reconcile, and she returns the belt. After Hamilton's mistress leaves with another man, Hamilton returns to the city, and Jordan starts back with the girl following at his heels.
"Sweet Lavender" holds a slight edge in general audience appreciation, but "A Wild Girl of the Sierras" offers its own unique cult appeal.
Suggested Watch:
Sweet Lavender