Film vs Film
Select two cult films to compare side by side.
The Flying Mail Synopsis
Following a party, Sherry Gillespie, a U.S. Mail flyer, awakens to find himself in a strange apartment and is shown evidence by Cleo Roberts that they were married the previous evening. Bart Sheldon, a crook, plots with an associate to pilot Sherry's plane and cautions Cleo not to let the pilot escape. When Sherry escapes and returns to the flying field, he is suspended, then estranged from Alice, his fiancée, by the appearance of Cleo, who is scheming with Sheldon to obtain part of an inheritance that Sherry is to receive if he earns $10,000 in a year. Following a series of fast complications, Sherry tracks down the gang: swinging from a motorcycle to a rope ladder, he mounts a plane, encounters the robber's plane, and fights with the villains. He and Sheldon parachute to the ground, and Sherry is finally vindicated in the eyes of his girl and his employer.
The Great Shadow Synopsis
Jim McDonald, the foreman of a shipbuilding plant and head of the labor union, strives to combat the anarchistic propaganda being put forth by Klimoff, the leader of a Bolshevik gang whose goal is to disrupt the country with strikes and anarchy. Despite McDonald's efforts, a strike is called, resulting in chaos. McDonald's child is knocked down by runaway horses abandoned by their striking driver, and dies. Mob scenes take place in America, as well as in Russia. Eventually, the unrest is quelled with an armistice called between Capital and Labor for a year, during which time wages are to be increased to reflect the cost of living, and leaders are to work out a common plan for their mutual advantage. The strikers now realize that they have been pawns of the Bolsheviks and call off the strike, agreeing to the plan.
"The Flying Mail" holds a slight edge in general audience appreciation, but "The Great Shadow" offers its own unique cult appeal.
Suggested Watch:
The Flying MailBoth films share