Film vs Film
Select two cult films to compare side by side.
The Red, Red Heart Synopsis
Concerned about the failing health of Rhoda Tuttle, his fiancee, John DeWitt takes her to the lavish Arizona home of his friends, Jack and Katherine Newman. Although the Newmans try to cheer Rhoda, who has lost her parents in a train wreck, she remains listless and melancholy. While walking in the desert, Rhoda is bitten by a tarantula but is saved by Kut-Le, a Yale-educated Indian employed as a superintendent on Newman's irrigation project. Because of his strong belief in the curative effects of life in the desert, Kut-Le kidnaps Rhoda and forces her to live in a manner far removed from the comforts and confinements of civilization. Outraged, John and Kut-Le's enemy, Billy Porter, search for Rhoda, but after they finally defeat the Indian in a fierce fight, she decides that she prefers to remain with the man who helped her regain happiness.
The Spanish Jade Synopsis
In a provincial Spanish town, during the mid-nineteenth century, Manuela is sold as a dancing girl to a strolling musician. In their wanderings, she meets Don Bartolome, who left his poor father Don Luis to become a highwayman. Bartolome falls in love with Manuela and takes her with him after killing the musician. When they meet Osmund Manvers, an English squire, Bartolome wants to use Manuela to rob him, but Manvers rescues Manuela from a gang of drifters and carries her into the country. Later, Manuela stabs and kills Bartolome after he threatens her. Manuela flees and Manvers searches for her. When Don Luis learns about Bartolome's death, he challenges Manvers to a duel. After Manvers refuses, Tormillo, Don Luis' servant, stabs Manvers in the arm. When Manuela offers her life to Don Luis to save Manvers, Don Luis relents, but Tormillo remains frantic. Manvers' valet and friend, Gil Perez, prepares poison for Tormillo, but Tormillo demands that Gil Perez drink first. To save Manvers and Manuela, first Gil Perez drinks the poison, then Tormillo drinks it, after which they both die. Manvers and Manuela are now reunited.
"The Red, Red Heart" holds a slight edge in general audience appreciation, but "The Spanish Jade" offers its own unique cult appeal.
Suggested Watch:
The Red, Red Heart