Film vs Film
Select two cult films to compare side by side.
The Cinema Murder Synopsis
Aspiring actress Elizabeth Dalston, after rehearsing a murder scene for a movie, is fired by her director at the request of the company's Wall Street backer, Sylvanus Power. Although married, Power plans to make Elizabeth his mistress and offers the unsuspecting girl a dramatic education in England, to be followed by his building a theater for her. Traveling across England after school, Elizabeth witnesses a fight between two brothers, Philip and Douglas Romilly, which ends in Douglas' supposed death. On the steamer to America, Philip, disguised as Douglas, confides in Elizabeth that he was fighting to persuade Douglas not to leave his pregnant lover. Elizabeth believes him and in New York they fall in love. After she convinces Power to produce Philip's play, both the play and her acting are hits. When Power propositions Elizabeth and discovers her passion for Philip, he summons Scotland Yard detectives, but Douglas reappears and clears Philip. Power then graciously admits his defeat.
A Regiment of Two Synopsis
Ira Wilton and his son-in-law Harry Bennett resort to the subterfuge of telling their wives that they are members of the Thirteenth Regiment, to be sure of having a night off each week, Friday night, for the regiment drills. They substantiate their deception by bringing into their little game Ira's daughter Laura and her fiancé Jack Brent, a genuine member of the Thirteenth. Their deception runs along nicely until one Friday night when the men have gone to the club, their wives find the invitation, and are just about to start out when they discover that the water pipe has burst. Laura informs the men by telephone what is discovered, and warns them to hurry home. They arrive and find that the kitchen and dining room are flooded, and, after all has been given a good soaking, Lord Dudley, an admirer of Laura, manages to stop the flow of water. Just as the trouble concerning the flood has subsided, Jack Brent arrives home and tells the men that the Thirteenth has been ordered to the front. The husbands, seeing a good chance to take a little vacation, purchase soldiers' clothing and fall in behind the Thirteenth Regiment as it passes their wives, but slip out as soon as it is out of sight. They then go to the barn, where they substitute their soldiers' habiliments for civilian clothes and then make all possible haste to the lake, where they intend to spend a little vacation. But their vacation is short-lived, for one day they see in the newspapers that the entire Thirteenth regiment has been wiped out. They hurry home to the old barn, where they get into their regimentals as quickly as possible--not forgetting to add a few rents here and there, to make it appear as if they have had a terrible struggle at the front and in escaping. When they arrive home they observe that Mrs. Wilton's brother has returned from the West and promised to take care of the "widows." In reply to Lena's (the fat cook), question concerning her lover Conrad, they were just about to tell her that he died with her name on his lips, when in come Harry and Conrad with the news that the newspaper report was all wrong. Ira and Harry fix it up with Conrad, and Jack, desiring to keep on the right side of the old man, tells the women that the men had a terrible fight, and brother Tom forgets about asking questions when a couple of good cigars are shoved into his mitt.
"The Cinema Murder" holds a slight edge in general audience appreciation, but "A Regiment of Two" offers its own unique cult appeal.
Suggested Watch:
The Cinema Murder