Film vs Film
Select two cult films to compare side by side.
The Trail of the Shadow Synopsis
Sylvia Mason, a mysterious girl, lives in a cabin by herself and sells her bead work to the visitors at a large hotel nearby. At the hotel, Sylvia meets Easterner Henry Hilliard, who falls in love with her, but she refuses to marry him and will not explain her reasons. Thus Henry returns East without learning that Sylvia's father had been murdered by his private secretary Jack Leslie in revenge for her refusal to marry him. One night after Henry's departure, Leslie, now known as the outlaw "The Shadow", breaks into Sylvia's cabin. There is a struggle that leaves Sylvia unconscious, and when she awakens she finds a note claiming that because Leslie has violated her, she must marry him. Meanwhile Henry's mother, horrified that her son wants to marry this strange girl, informs Sylvia that their marriage would destroy him. Sylvia agrees to give up Henry, but he learns her story from Padre Constantine and goes to search for her. Sylvia has gone to Leslie and Henry follows. In the ensuing fight, Henry forces Leslie to admit with his dying breath that he has lied to Sylvia.
Cora Synopsis
When her mother, the operatic idol of Paris, takes her to the United States and dies, Cora goes to live with Marie, a model for artist George Garnier. Although George is engaged to wealthy Helen Van Brooks, who is in love with Carl Wilson, a club-man, George and Cora fall in love. When Cora discovers the engagement, however, she leaves and becomes an opera star. Years later, after breaking his engagement, George visits Cora again, causing Mrs. Van Brooks to entreat Cora to give up George. At a wild party, Cora allows Jose, her long-time admirer, to make love to her, which provokes George's disgust until Marie explains Cora's behavior. When Jose, alone with Cora, attacks her, George and Marie burst in to see Jose, hit by a wine cooler hurled by Cora, fall backward through a window, fall to the street and die. After they learn that Helen and Wilson have eloped, Cora and George are able to marry.
"The Trail of the Shadow" holds a slight edge in general audience appreciation, but "Cora" offers its own unique cult appeal.
Suggested Watch:
The Trail of the Shadow