WHAT SILENTS & PRE-CODES HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

[Jezebel38]

Just watched a very interesting pre-Code Western yesterday, "To the Last Man" (1933) directed by Henry Hathaway. Randolph Scott is the star, and I guess this marked Shirley Temple's first appearance. (She is in two long scenes.)

Badboy Jack La Rue is the villian in this, isn't he? I've heard before that this is a pretty good film, but I've avoided seeing it as I'm not really into Westerns, and I find it kinda had imagining JLR in a western (as well as Cagney & Bogart).

[MikeBSG]

Yes, Jack LaRue is one of the bad guys (probably the baddest bad guy) in "To the Last Man." If you have a chance to see the movie, I recommend it. I was very pleasantly surprised.

In some ways, it is almost more "Americana" than "Western," if you get my drift. It reminded me a bit of Hathaway's "Trail of the Lonesome Pine."

[charliechaplinfan]

Just watched Silent Fragments a programme that TCM ran a while back. My favorites, Clara Bow in Red Hair, Douglas Fairbanks, Lon Chaney and Follies of 1929. A brilliant programme, let's hope they find more footage to share.

[MichiganJ]

Watched a couple of early Maurice Tourneur films.

The Wishing Ring (1914) is a minor masterpiece. The plot features a college student, Giles, the son of the Earl, who is expelled for his drunken revelry. On the outs with his father, Giles falls for the Parson's daughter, and she sets out to make things right between father and son.
When compared to other films from 1914, this is considerably more advanced in cinematic language, including composition, editing, cinematography, and most readily apparent, the natural performances by the cast. Way ahead of its time, and when considering Tourneur's groundbreaking Alias Jimmy Valentine, not to mention so many amazing and innovative early films from France and Sweden (particularly those of Sjörström), I'm more than re-thinking Griffith's Father of Film moniker.

A Girl's Folly (1917) One of the best early backstage films, this gives a great opportunity to see the actual sets and stages used when films were produced in New Jersey (exit 1A, if I'm not mistaken). There is a sped-up sequence where a three-sided set is actually constructed, and you get to see how the platforms revolved to keep up with the sun. The film happens to be pretty funny, too. Tourneur himself plays the "director", and he is the kind of director who shows his actors exactly how to play each scene. They over-emote as instructed, which is doubly funny because Tourneur, as a "real" director, got such restraint from his actors.

The plot takes off when the troupe go on-location, and there is some comedy that isn't exploited to its fullest (a woman doesn't know a film is being shot and sees an Indian in full headdress), but the behind-the-scenes sequences just keep showing up and are as amusing as they are fascinating.

[Ann Harding]

Way ahead of its time, and when considering Tourneur's groundbreaking Alias Jimmy Valentine, not to mention so many amazing and innovative early films from France and Sweden (particularly those of Sjörström), I'm more than re-thinking Griffith's Father of Film moniker.

Absolutely right. And wait until you see a Capellani picture such as Germinal (1913). You'll amazed by the narrative, composition and performances. Both Capellani and Tourneur learned their trade with a great man of French theatre: André Antoine. He was certainly the one who influenced the subtle acting you experience in both Tourneur and Capellani pictures. Antoine became a film director himself later one with great results.

[charliechaplinfan]

Double Harness is the best of Ann's films that I've seen so far, a precode, thank goodness. Ann's character Joan does not want to marry for love but as a busines proposition but she picks on the wrong man, William Powell who is rich and a playboy but she falls in love with him after tricking him into marrying her. She has a sister who needs a good slap and a husband who after being forced to marry her after being caught in an uncompromising position plans to divorce her after 6 months. I like the way ann's character is written, she plays William Powell's character so well and is prepared to resig from the game when all the cards are on the table, thankfully he comes through for her. This script does justice to Ann's loveliness and intelligence, some actresses just strike one as intelligent and she is one of them. William Powell is believable as the slightly long in the tooth, been round the block a few times but not completely jaded lover, he's quite romantic, he's just forgotten how to enjoy romance and is more routed in his love of being free, one can see why Ann would fall for him so completely, he's such a urbane man about town.

[Gary J.]

Those two actors made a good, believable couple in that film.

[Ann Harding]

I too love Double Harness. One of Ann's best films IMHO.

Yesterday I saw an interesting pre-code, Quick Millions (1931, Rowland Brown) with a very young Spencer Tracy, Sally Eilers and George Raft. This gangster picture show the widespread corruption engulfing a city during the prohibition. But, the quick buck mentioned in the title is not made by bootleggers, but racketeers. Bugs (S. Tracy) is a truck driver who wants to climb quickly the social ladder. He organises a 'protection racket' among truck drivers. He becomes rapidly a millionaire. Then he moves on to racket construction companies. The head of one of them has a daughter he falls in love with. He doesn't realise she finds him uneducated. In the end, Bugs is killed by his former gangster friends. It's interesting to see Tracy playing a gangster. In 1931, Cagney and Robinson were also top-billed as gangsters. But unlike them, Tracy is a really a social climber. He tries desperately to be 'educated' well-dressed (top hat and tail), but he cannot hide his humble origin. The man is buying off everybody and he considers that corruption is a way of life as everybody is doing it. The film's tone is reminiscent of other films of the period which are trying to warn the American people that their republic is in danger. The film has a fast-paced tone, without music, with short scenes. Some are cleverly shot like one murder when we only see the shadow of the killer. the camera is under a table and we see the corpse falling down. The director Rowland Brown was a screenwriter. He directed only three pictures. He then punched a producer and was blacklisted. This film shows certainly an interesting personality.

[Rita Hayworth]

I just saw the Mark of Zorro for the 2nd time this year on TCM. There is no need for me to do another review of this magnificent movie that Douglas Fairbanks Sr. did back in 1920. Marguerite de la Motte as Lolita Pulido was sensational too.

Noah Berry Sr. Was Sergeant Gonzales ... something that I miss (did not know) in the 1st time I saw this movie not to long ago this year. This movie also had his son, Noah Berry Jr. as Boy in this movie and I find that interesting when I read wikipedia article that I provided to you take a gander at. I had fun watching it for the 2nd time this year.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mark_o ... 1920_film)

I'm a big Douglas Fairbanks Sr. fan ... and I have seen Mark of Zorro, Robin Hood, Ben Hur, The Black Pirate, The Gaucho, and The Private Life of Don Juan in my lifetime. I saw Robin Hood at least 3 times - mainly when I visit Victoria B.C. because there were a theater up in the outskirts of Victoria that likes to play old movies and unfortunately this theater went out of business in 1993 or 94 due to money issues.

[charliechaplinfan]

I watched Dancing Lady yesterday, one of the best Gable/Crawford parings and one of the best Crawford roles, taking the supporting role is her real life husband Franchot Tone, playing, according to her biography a role not dissimilar to how he was in life, lets hope he was less slimey. One of the first outings of the Gable moustache and a film meant to rival Warners Busby Berkeley offerings, Joan can dance, quite well but not quite enough due to a bad injury she sustained in filming, it's in the film, when she hurts her ankle in real life they added it into the film. The plot isn't too much dissimilar to the Warner offerings in that girl from nowhere saves show and it has the added attraction of featuring Fred Astaire in his first role. The scene in the gym with Clark is one of my favorites. The deco style is stunning.

[charliechaplinfan]

I watched Our Dancing Daughters a fun silent starring Joan C.rawford along with Anita Page, Johnny Mack Brown, Nils Asther and Dorothy Sebastien. It's a fun role for Joan based on her charleston dancing self, her character Diana likes having a good time but is truth to herself, when she falls for Johnny Mack Brown's character she tells and shows him honestly how she feels but Anita Page's Ann also has her sights set on him, he's loaded. Anita gets him after being out walking with him alone her mother insists on an engagement. Diana is heartbroken. Ann changes from being virtuous to being wild and free with her feelings but ultimately takes things too far. It's interesting to see Anita playing a bad girl, she's usually always the sweet one. Joan looks so young and carefree and so full of life, no wonder she became a star.

Tiger Shark starring Edward G Robinson and Richard Arlen is quite an odd film. It's a film with two senses, it wakes up with the action shots of the fishing but quietens when the men return to land. Robinson plays a fisherman with a hook, a kind, larger than life character with a heart fo gold who falls for a girl, Zita Johann who tries to make him happy but ultimately ends up loving his friend. I think Howard Hawks probably had more fun directing the action sequences, which are really good and wasn't as interesting in the love story. Edward G Robinson in Hawks's hands has a tendency to overact slightly.

[Gary J.]

I like to watch Hawks' films of the early 30's to chart his development as a director. He always had a flair for action (as was noted above) but was still learning how to make the more plot-laden portions of his movies of interest. THE CROWD ROARS (32) is a good example. The movie zips along while on the race track but Cagney's over-protective zeal towards his younger brother hits pathological heights, to the point that he alienates every character in the film and most of the audience. A fast redemption and a goofy fade out of Cagney and his bro cackling wildly in the back of an ambulance helps revive the film from the level of despair it had fallen to, but as Hawks matured and gained more control over his projects he learned to make those plot scenes as entertaining as the rest of his film.

[charliechaplinfan]

I like Today We Live, flawed but enjoyable. Howard Hawks made some of my favourite movies but he's finding his feet in these movies, they're still good by the standards of the day, there's a touch of something special in Tiger Shark, it just doesn't flow through to the love story and EGR's fisherman was a bit overdone for me.

[Gary J.]

I'm with you. All of his early 30's movies are interesting and fun but still seem to come to a standstill at some point. In TIGER SHARK it's when Robinson's character marries and the triangle develops. By the mid-30's Hawks was turning out fine movies like CEILING ZERO and COME AND GET IT, but they were still being hampered by front office interference - not to mention a series of aborted projects that historians are still arguing over just how much he actually worked on them. And so, in what is to me one of the great transitions in a directors career, he took two years off and then came roaring back with BRINGING UP BABY for RKO and rarely looked back.