Film vs Film
Select two cult films to compare side by side.
The Prince and Betty Synopsis
Young American John Maude is forced to find a job when he falls in love with society girl Betty Keith. He accepts a sudden offer to go to Mervo, a tiny island country, where he is hired by Benjamin Scobell to pose as the lost prince of Mervo as an attraction to bolster the Mervo casino as a rival of Monte Carlo. Scobell also wants John to marry his stepdaughter, who turns out to be Betty. When Betty accuses John of being simply a shill for a gambling house, John closes the casino and tries to stage a revolution to make Mervo a republic. The natives resist, but the President of Mervo returns to run the casino himself, and Betty and John escape to America together.
Little Miss Optimist Synopsis
Mazie-Rosie Carden, a waif who pays her board by selling papers on the street, saves the life of starving musician Deal Hendrie by giving him her cherished "lucky dime." Meanwhile, her brother Ben, employed as a weigh-master by the West Coal Company, has been discharged on a trumped-up accusation by the company's manager, Samuel Winter, of falsifying weights. Later, West finds proof of Winter's false records, summons him to the house and, after a fight, is killed by his employee. Ben, induced by Mazie to go to West and say that he has been falsely accused, arrives in time to see Winter robbing the body of his employer and taking Mazie's dime, which Hendrie had lost. Winter attacks Ben, knocks him unconscious and escapes, but is seen by Mazie. The next Sunday, while at the church where Hendrie is employed as an organist, Mazie sees Winter contributing the lucky dime and accuses him of murder before the whole congregation. Mazie's accusation is corroborated by her brother Ben, who has regained consciousness to testify against Winter, and all ends happily when Hendrie proposes to Mazie.
"The Prince and Betty" holds a slight edge in general audience appreciation, but "Little Miss Optimist" offers its own unique cult appeal.
Suggested Watch:
The Prince and Betty