Re: WHAT SILENTS & PRE-CODES HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?
Posted: January 30th, 2010, 2:45 pm
I've been working through the Silentera.com list of great silents. I finished the top 100 recently, and now working my way through the rest. Here's what I've watched in the past couple days:
Street Angel (1928) - I just received the Borzage BFI DVDs, and they are a nice alternative to the Borzage/Murnau box. This one is a lovely late era silent that reminded me very much of Murnau and Sunrise, with the sweeping camera movements and the faux-realistic set design. Janet Gaynor gives a great performance, and is quite sexy too...I'd never really thought of her as babe before, but there were some really alluring moments for her in this. The story is a bit flimsy, as a lot of the the grief that is caused for Charles Farrell's character could have been avoided if Gaynor would have just been honest. But then you wouldn't have the marvellous ending sequence. Really strong stuff, and pending a re-watching of Seventh Heaven, I must say this is the best Borzage I've seen.
La Boheme (1926) - Finally got around to this one. I'm a big King Vidor fan, but for whatever reason I haven't yet caught up on all of his silent work. I'm not familiar with the source material, so perhaps someone can comment on how big a creep Rodolphe is. I generally like John Gilbert, but found him to be really unsympathetic in this one. Is Rodolphe supposed to be unlikable? Anyway the film is quite good thanks to King Vidor's strong direction and a wonderful performance by Lillian Gish. Is there any actress of the era who used her body better than Gish. She is astonishing at conveying emotion with those saucer like eyes and her frail little body. It seems as though she is putting everything she has into every moment she is on screen. Just wonderful stuff, particularly her escape sequence where she is hanging for dear life of the back of carriages and wagons. It's a shame that Renee Adoree didn't get more to do though.
Lady of the Night (1925) - I'm indifferent to Norma Shearer for the most part, but I enjoyed this one well enough. Shearer plays a dual role as a well-off daughter of a judge, and the poor daughter of a convict (who was imprisoned by the judge). One is the picture of virtue, and the other well not so much. I thought Shearer did a find job, although the poorer version is infinitely more interesting as she struggles to make something of herself and win the man she loves. Of course complications ensue when it turns out the man she loves is in love the other Norma Shearer. Not an especially great picture, but well made, and the print is in lovely shape.
Don't Change Your Husband (1918) - I find early De Mille films to be wildly inconsistent ranging from astonishing (The Cheat) to terrible (The Squaw Man). I wasn't expecting much, but ending up really enjoying this one. I hadn't seen any early Gloria Swanson silents, so it was interesting to see her in the picture that really made her. It's easy to see the appeal even if she doesn't get much to do, De Mille just loads her up in fancy clothes and films her. Fortunately she has the charisma to make her stand out. Here she plays Leila Porter, the wife of successful but disinterested banker and onion-eater James Denby Porter (Elliott Dexter). Feeling neglected by her husband, Leila leaves him for the charming Schuyler Van Sutphen(!) (Lew Cody), only to discover that her former husband's onion breath is far less of a problem than havng an unfaithful and incompetent roustabout for a husband. James undergoes a transformation, including giving up his beloved onions, and determines to win Leila back. It all makes for a fun and occasionally astute exploration of marital woes. Its strength is that it maintains its light touch rather than endeavoring towards heavy-handedness, and at 80 minutes it breezes by.
Male and Female (1919) - After the high of Don't Change Your Husband I was looking forward to this one. Boy was I disappointed. It's mostly silly garbage masquerading as a serious message picture. Gloria Swanson and her rich family plus servants take off on a voyage of the southern seas only to end up shipwrecked. Thomas Meighan is the butler for the family and he ends up taking charge and becoming head of the household. It's remarkable that such a wealthy family could be comprised entirely of useless people. Even the father, Theodore Roberts is little more than a buffoon. The film aspires to be message picture about equality of class, but all that gets lost in patronizing silliness...but it never ridiculous enough to be fun (ala Samson & Delilah) Plus the film just takes forever. Give me small De Mille any day of the weak.
The Extraordinary Adventures of Mr. West in the Land of the Bolsheviks (1924) - Weird, Weird, Weird. Directed by Lev Kuleshov (one of the early montage theorists, heavly influenced Eisenstein), this is a bizarre parody of Americans and their perception of the Soviet Union. Mr. West (Porfiri Pordobed) an American and his cowboy pal, Djeddy (director Boris Barnet) arrive in the U.S.S.R. filled with images of barbaric bolsheviks, and so a gang of crooks decides to give it to 'em. All sorts of craziness ensues, with lots of brawls, kidnapping, extortion, and propaganda. Fascinating stuff, although the print I watched was in French (I'm rudimentary), so I think I missed out on some things. I'm not sure I'd describe as good so much as interesting.
Street Angel (1928) - I just received the Borzage BFI DVDs, and they are a nice alternative to the Borzage/Murnau box. This one is a lovely late era silent that reminded me very much of Murnau and Sunrise, with the sweeping camera movements and the faux-realistic set design. Janet Gaynor gives a great performance, and is quite sexy too...I'd never really thought of her as babe before, but there were some really alluring moments for her in this. The story is a bit flimsy, as a lot of the the grief that is caused for Charles Farrell's character could have been avoided if Gaynor would have just been honest. But then you wouldn't have the marvellous ending sequence. Really strong stuff, and pending a re-watching of Seventh Heaven, I must say this is the best Borzage I've seen.
La Boheme (1926) - Finally got around to this one. I'm a big King Vidor fan, but for whatever reason I haven't yet caught up on all of his silent work. I'm not familiar with the source material, so perhaps someone can comment on how big a creep Rodolphe is. I generally like John Gilbert, but found him to be really unsympathetic in this one. Is Rodolphe supposed to be unlikable? Anyway the film is quite good thanks to King Vidor's strong direction and a wonderful performance by Lillian Gish. Is there any actress of the era who used her body better than Gish. She is astonishing at conveying emotion with those saucer like eyes and her frail little body. It seems as though she is putting everything she has into every moment she is on screen. Just wonderful stuff, particularly her escape sequence where she is hanging for dear life of the back of carriages and wagons. It's a shame that Renee Adoree didn't get more to do though.
Lady of the Night (1925) - I'm indifferent to Norma Shearer for the most part, but I enjoyed this one well enough. Shearer plays a dual role as a well-off daughter of a judge, and the poor daughter of a convict (who was imprisoned by the judge). One is the picture of virtue, and the other well not so much. I thought Shearer did a find job, although the poorer version is infinitely more interesting as she struggles to make something of herself and win the man she loves. Of course complications ensue when it turns out the man she loves is in love the other Norma Shearer. Not an especially great picture, but well made, and the print is in lovely shape.
Don't Change Your Husband (1918) - I find early De Mille films to be wildly inconsistent ranging from astonishing (The Cheat) to terrible (The Squaw Man). I wasn't expecting much, but ending up really enjoying this one. I hadn't seen any early Gloria Swanson silents, so it was interesting to see her in the picture that really made her. It's easy to see the appeal even if she doesn't get much to do, De Mille just loads her up in fancy clothes and films her. Fortunately she has the charisma to make her stand out. Here she plays Leila Porter, the wife of successful but disinterested banker and onion-eater James Denby Porter (Elliott Dexter). Feeling neglected by her husband, Leila leaves him for the charming Schuyler Van Sutphen(!) (Lew Cody), only to discover that her former husband's onion breath is far less of a problem than havng an unfaithful and incompetent roustabout for a husband. James undergoes a transformation, including giving up his beloved onions, and determines to win Leila back. It all makes for a fun and occasionally astute exploration of marital woes. Its strength is that it maintains its light touch rather than endeavoring towards heavy-handedness, and at 80 minutes it breezes by.
Male and Female (1919) - After the high of Don't Change Your Husband I was looking forward to this one. Boy was I disappointed. It's mostly silly garbage masquerading as a serious message picture. Gloria Swanson and her rich family plus servants take off on a voyage of the southern seas only to end up shipwrecked. Thomas Meighan is the butler for the family and he ends up taking charge and becoming head of the household. It's remarkable that such a wealthy family could be comprised entirely of useless people. Even the father, Theodore Roberts is little more than a buffoon. The film aspires to be message picture about equality of class, but all that gets lost in patronizing silliness...but it never ridiculous enough to be fun (ala Samson & Delilah) Plus the film just takes forever. Give me small De Mille any day of the weak.
The Extraordinary Adventures of Mr. West in the Land of the Bolsheviks (1924) - Weird, Weird, Weird. Directed by Lev Kuleshov (one of the early montage theorists, heavly influenced Eisenstein), this is a bizarre parody of Americans and their perception of the Soviet Union. Mr. West (Porfiri Pordobed) an American and his cowboy pal, Djeddy (director Boris Barnet) arrive in the U.S.S.R. filled with images of barbaric bolsheviks, and so a gang of crooks decides to give it to 'em. All sorts of craziness ensues, with lots of brawls, kidnapping, extortion, and propaganda. Fascinating stuff, although the print I watched was in French (I'm rudimentary), so I think I missed out on some things. I'm not sure I'd describe as good so much as interesting.