Film vs Film
Select two cult films to compare side by side.
The Strange Boarder Synopsis
Honest Arizona rancher Sam Gardner, goes with his motherless son Billy to the city, where he is cheated out of ten thousand dollars by a band of crooks. Taking up residence in a boardinghouse where he meets Jane Ingraham, Sam decides that the only way to regain his losses is by gambling. To achieve this, he makes friends with gambler Kittie Hinch who takes him to Jack Bloom's gambling house. When Bloom begins flirting with Hinch's wife Florry, the injured husband kills his rival and the evidence points to Sam as the killer. Jane tries to provide him with an alibi, but fails. Just as things look grim for the rancher, a wire arrives from Hinch, now in Mexico, confessing to the crime. His faith in mankind thus rewarded, Sam is free to marry Jane.
Almost a Husband Synopsis
Homely schoolteacher Sam Lyman arrives from New England to settle in the Mississippi Valley town of Old Ebenezer, Arkansas while he studies law. During a game of forfeits given at the annual town social by Banker McElwyn, the richest man in town, Sam marries the banker's daughter Eva, the prettiest girl in town, in a fake ceremony. The couple later discovers that the marriage is legal and Sam offers to bow out, but Eva, who does not want to marry her father's choice, rich mule dealer Zeb Sawyer, persuades Sam to continue the marriage in name only. After Sam withstands slander from Zeb and McElwyn, they send night riders to horsewhip Sam and run him out of town, but he stays. When Zeb launches a run on McElwyn's bank, Sam saves it by depositing money he receives from writing a novel and bags marked $20,000, which are filled with horse shoes. Afterward, Eva refuses to have the marriage annulled.
"The Strange Boarder" holds a slight edge in general audience appreciation, but "Almost a Husband" offers its own unique cult appeal.
Suggested Watch:
The Strange Boarder