Film vs Film
Select two cult films to compare side by side.
The Ransom Synopsis
Young Janet Osborne is stuck in a loveless marriage; her only source of pleasure is her daughter. Janet always dreamed of a career on the stage but never had the chance. One day she meets theatrical agent Geoffrey Allen and decides to try her luck at becoming an actress. But when her husband Mark finds out, he orders her out of the house and keeps their daughter Marcia. Her acting career sputters to a halt also, and Geoffrey takes advantage of her situation to make her his mistress. Years later she finds out that Marcia has become an actress--and has also become involved with Geoffrey.
The Merry-Go-Round Synopsis
Crump's Colossal Combined Carnival Show barely survives financially by hiring thieves and pickpockets to rob customers. One day, clubman Jack Hamilton buys the circus when his car breaks down on his way to meet a deadline to avoid bankruptcy and he needs the circus tractor to haul his auto out of a ditch. Hamilton leads the circus to financial success and falls in love with Gypsy, the ticket-taker. To convince Jack to marry Gypsy, her supposed mother, fortune-teller Carlotta, says that she was kidnapped as a baby and shows Jack a photo in which he recognizes Gypsy's mother as the wife of Andrew Pomeroy, the financier who ruined him. Gypsy's subsequent life with her real parents is miserable since they find her lack of manners offensive and try to get her to marry a cousin, but Jack rescues her, and the minute she turns 18 he marries her with the Pomeroys' belated consent.
"The Ransom" holds a slight edge in general audience appreciation, but "The Merry-Go-Round" offers its own unique cult appeal.
Suggested Watch:
The Ransom