Film vs Film
Select two cult films to compare side by side.
The Venturers Synopsis
The one was a venturer; the other an adventurer--the one a man who wanted to see adventure, but who had never been beyond the city limits; the other a man who had seen adventure in all parts of the world, and who assured the venturer that things were just as monotonous every place in the world as in the city. So they met, each seeking for the unconventional on a New York street, and dined together as men out of luck, with two cents between them--and still nothing happened. They both had credit at the hotel. Then into their lives came the feminine influence: a sweet girl who lived in a house which was irrevocably a household. The adventurer hesitated--he had yet to satisfy his longing for the incalculable. Suddenly, love changed the venturer into an adventurer, and settled the adventurer into a venturer.
A Night in New Arabia Synopsis
Jacob Spraggins, veteran general of a breaker-boy-to-multi-millionaire campaign, is driven by a troublesome conscience into the ranks of the amateur Haroun al Raschids, who infest Bagdad-on-the-Subway. Donations to hospitals, charities and universities fail to bring him happiness. At last he traces his uneasiness to a piece of legitimate business whereby he swindled one McLeod out of property worth ten thousand dollars. Detectives find the grandson of McLeod, a delivery youth for a large provision store. To him old man Spraggins hands ten thousand dollars in bills. Impressed by the young man's insouciant independence, the money monarch makes further advances, even hints at the possibility of matrimony between McLeod and his daughter, Celia. But Thomas McLeod is already engaged to a parlor maid at a house on his round. Neither he nor Spraggins has any idea that the parlor maid is Celia, who has fallen in love with Thomas's whistling. She whistles, and the accomplishment has helped her from the social life of her father's financial class. Aided and abetted by Annette McCorkle, the romantic housemaid, Celia has donned cap and apron and set out to be loved for herself alone. She has succeeded. So the ten thousand dollar benefaction, having brought peace to the soul of the Caliph, proceeds to bring happiness to McLeod and Celia as well, for their financial way to elopement is now clear, and they go. Mr. Spraggins gives chase, but, recognizing the prospective bridegroom, adds his blessing. It would seem so far that this one benefaction had failed to harm the Caliph-ridden populace of New Arabia. However, a year later old Jacob Spraggins orders all his donations to charities canceled. The working girls can continue to work for all he cares. The sun must shine on the Sunshine Fund without the aid of his money. Celia has a child. The child, Jakey, must have an unprecedented fortune by the time he attains twenty-one. So Mr. Spraggins raises the price of all vinegar three cents. Moving Picture World, November 3, 1917
"The Venturers" holds a slight edge in general audience appreciation, but "A Night in New Arabia" offers its own unique cult appeal.
Suggested Watch:
The Venturers