Film vs Film
Select two cult films to compare side by side.
The Straight Way Synopsis
Deserted by her husband, John Madison, because he incorrectly accuses her of having an affair, Mary Madison goes to her aunt's house to have her baby, and then loses her memory in a train wreck. John, however, hears that she has died, so he takes possession of their infant daughter. Years later, John has remarried and Mary has regained her memory, but she does not know that her daughter is still alive. When she learns how John prizes his daughter, she decides to gain revenge on him by disgracing her, so she plots to have the daughter seduced by an ex-convict who served time on a trumped-up charge. The ex-convict and the daughter fall in love, however, and after their marriage, Mary finds out that the woman she tried to ruin is her own daughter. A less vengeful Mary then goes to John and is reconciled with him.
Dr. Rameau Synopsis
Pierre Rameau, the son of a poor gate-keeper, becomes the foremost physician and surgeon in Paris. Conchita, his wife who he loves above everything else in the world, dies leaving an infant daughter, Pamela. Rameau is inconsolable and keeps the room that Conchita died in inviolate, visiting it only on the anniversary of his wife's death. Twenty years later on one of these visits he discovers, among one of Conhita's letters, proof that she had been unfaithful to him and that Pamela, the girl he had raised from an infant to womanhood, was not his child. The shock drives him out of his mind, and he drives Pamela from his home, refusing to ever see her again. Dr. Talavanne, his best friend, informs him that Pamela is dying and only Rameau's skills as a physician can save her.
"The Straight Way" holds a slight edge in general audience appreciation, but "Dr. Rameau" offers its own unique cult appeal.
Suggested Watch:
The Straight Way