Film vs Film
Select two cult films to compare side by side.
The Woman Beneath Synopsis
Betty Fairchild decides to follow the advice of her mother and marry for money. Thus, when Tom Connolly arrives from the West with his fortune, she accepts his proposal even though she does not love him. The idealistic Tom is completely disillusioned when he learns why his wife married him and promptly leaves her. Rupert Brantley, a wealthy cad, seizes this opportunity to win Betty, but she gradually realizes that she has been wrong and repulses him. One day a letter from Tom's mother arrives and Betty innocently opens it. It contains letters and a photograph of a man who betrayed Tom's sister, with a plea to Tom to avenge the family. Recognizing the man as Brantley, Betty rushes to his apartment to warn him and thus prevent her husband from becoming a murderer, but Tom follows her and accuses her of infidelity. To prevent a fight, Betty remains silent. When she returns home, however, she shows Tom his mother's letter, which leads to a reconciliation between them.
A Self-Made Widow Synopsis
On the promise of marriage, Sylvia Smith, a simple girl from Lone Meadows, follows her lover to the city only to discover that he already has a wife. While wandering along the docks, Sylvia stumbles onto a suicide note written by Fitzhugh Castleton, a wealthy gentleman who has planted the note to avoid a loveless marriage. Rather than go back to Lone Meadows humiliated, Sylvia pays Crosby, a convicted forger, to impersonate Castleton, forge his name in a marriage ceremony, then disappear. Once Sylvia installs herself in the Castleton mansion, Castleton returns from a sea voyage and, disguised by a long beard, hires on as the gardener. Castleton soon becomes enamored of the impostor widow and she falls in love with him, but neither one will admit his deception to the other. When Crosby shows up and demands blackmail money, Sylvia slips away to the country. Through the jealous interference of Crosby's wife, Castleton discovers the truth about Sylvia and goes to Lone Meadows to marry her.
"The Woman Beneath" holds a slight edge in general audience appreciation, but "A Self-Made Widow" offers its own unique cult appeal.
Suggested Watch:
The Woman Beneath