Film vs Film
Select two cult films to compare side by side.
The Last Round-Up Synopsis
Jack Kells's bandit gang, the Border Legion, is run out of a mining town and regroups in Utah. News of a gold strike in Arizona City leads the gang there, and they execute stagecoach robberies to announce their arrival. Jim Cleve, meanwhile, loses all his money at an Arizona City bar. After he sees an old miner killed outside of town, a stagecoach finds Jim by the body and the passengers suspect him of the murder. One passenger, Joan Randall, who is headed to the bar as an entertainer, believes he is innocent, however. Later, Kells and his sidekick, Charles Bunko McGee, a disbarred lawyer, meet up with Joan, who happens to be Kells' former girl friend. Judge Savin is prepared to convict Jim on circumstantial evidence, but when Kells is recognized at the bar, he draws his guns and gives Jim a chance to escape. Jim later joins the Legion because Kells showed more common faith than the townspeople. Kells reproaches one of his gang members, mean Sam Gulden, for killing the old miner, but later has Sam kidnap Joan so he can rekindle their romance. While Kells moves the camp closer to town, Jim and Bunko guard the cabin where Joan is being held against her will. Incensed that Kells is keeping Joan captive, Jim escapes and tells the judge and sheriff where to find her. Kells hopes Jim's rash act will empty the town, so he can rob it, but the suspicious men instead prepare the town for the Legion's arrival. The townspeople explode dynamite and engage in a gunfight against the Legion. Kells and Bunko hide in a saloon where Jim is again being held captive. The three men escape, but Bunko is shot and dies. After Kells tells Jim he is not cut out to be an outlaw, Jim returns for Joan. Kells and Sam team up against Jim and vie for Joan, but when Kells says that she belongs with Jim, Sam shoots him in the back. Kells manages to survive long enough to kill Sam, saving Jim and Joan, and sends them on their way. As the couple rides off for their new life together, Kells slumps in his saddle and dies.
Into the Light Synopsis
A simple country girl, brutally mistreated by her stepfather, awakens first the sympathy, then the love, of The Boy. The Spider, who lusts after The Girl, makes a bargain with the stepfather and takes her to the city where, kept prisoner, she is soon broken in health and spirit. Cast out and near death, she is taken in by The Boy. Following the demise of The Spider, The Boy takes her to church, where he prays, and after many hours she is restored to health.
"The Last Round-Up" holds a slight edge in general audience appreciation, but "Into the Light" offers its own unique cult appeal.
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The Last Round-UpBoth films share