WHAT SILENTS & PRE-CODES HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

[charliechaplinfan]

There are some advantages to having torn ligaments, watching movies is one of them, today I've been indulgent and watched two of them. The first City Girl was shown on French TV on Sunday night (thanks Christine) the print was so crisp and clear. The story is split between Chicago and a farm in Minnesota. As the film has it's very own thread I won't bore you all again with the plot. Charles Farrell plays unworldly very well, in contrast to Mary Duncan who knows what life in the city is really like. I particularly liked the scenes in the 'cafe' where she worked. (I don't know whether this establishment has a name, customers sat at the counter, got served quickly, ate quickly and other customers were practically pushing them out of their chair, perhaps it's only intended to show how fast life is in the city). Once they get to the farm, an easy ride is not what is in store for them. It is a great silent of it's time, the score accompanying this film fits very well too.

Then I decided to try Norma Shearer out again. This time it was Smiling Through. I thought shewas more natural in this, not acting out some great playwrights words, she has two very good leading men Leslie Howard who plays her uncle and Frederick March (sigh) who plays her lover. It's a well acted melodrama with a touch of Blithe Spirit and An Affair to Remember thrown in. If I had any criticism it's that the scene were Norma goes to Frederick at the railway station, after she has discovered he's injured is not in the film, I think it would be an interesting addition. Now I'm even more of a Norma fan, and certainly more of a Frederick March fan

[Gagman 66]

Alison,

Really looking forward to seeing the new version of CITY GIRL. This appears to be the only Silent in the set, where the original negative still survies. I wonder how the other titles will match up? With any luck, they re-instated the missing 15 minutes from 7TH HEAVEN.

Kevin,

I have never seen KISMET (1920). As I said before, Allan Dwan's TIDE OF THE EMPIRE is one of the beter Silents almost know one has seen or probably even heard of? TCM has aired the film before, but probably not in the past 6 or 7 years! Oh, how I love this movie, and it grieves me that the final reel-to reel and half, is lost. It would be wonderful to know how the film once ended. Superb vintage score, and maybe one of the best looking prints of a Silent film (other than the missing reel), around anywhere. Renee Adoree is awesome in this picture, Tom Keene is great as her leading man too. Wonderful supporting cast. The haunting "Josephita" tune. Sad that we will probably never see this picture on commercial DVD.

I guess I love allot of the vintage Movie-tone/Metro-tone tracks. With SHOW PEOPLE for instance the Axt-Mendoza scored version was the first I saw of the film, and I'm kind of Partial to it, even over the Davis scored versdion, despite my passion for Mr. Davis music. Other vintage scores that are among my favorites are WHAT PRICE GLORY?, SEVENTH HEAVEN, STREET ANGEL, FOUR SONS, A WOMAN OF AFFAIRS, and tHE SINGLE STANDARD among others.

[feaito]

Then I decided to try Norma Shearer out again. This time it was Smiling Through. I thought shewas more natural in this, not acting out some great playwrights words, she has two very good leading men Leslie Howard who plays her uncle and Frederick March (sigh) who plays her lover. It's a well acted melodrama with a touch of Blithe Spirit and An Affair to Remember thrown in. If I had any criticism it's that the scene were Norma goes to Frederick at the railway station, after she has discovered he's injured is not in the film, I think it would be an interesting addition. Now I'm even more of a Norma fan, and certainly more of a Frederick March fan

Definitely, "Smilin' Through" is one of Norma's very best pictures. She's very natural in it. It's better than the Jeanette MacDonald 1941 version.

[charliechaplinfan]

Jeanette Macdonald is soneome I can take when Lubitsch directs her. I found her grating in San Francisco, she had no chemistry with Gable. I can see why they would cast Jeanette in a Norma role, but for me there is no comparison.

[drednm]

just watched WHITE TIGER (1923).... so ok explain the ending... it seems like a lot of material is mssing here. IMDb lists running time at 87 minutes but this Grapevine copy runs like 77 minutes.

[moviemagz]

I watched a trio of Claudette Colbert pre-code rarities, the best being MANSLAUGHTER (1930) with Fredric March. YOUNG MAN OF MANHATTANA(193) with her then husband Norman Foster and Ginger Rogers was pretty good. I didn't care for THE HOLE IN THE WALL (1929) with Edward G. Robinson which was had a very thin script.

[moviemagz]

if Billie Burke hadn't been available Norma Shearer could have played Glinda in The Wizard of Oz.

Ha, yes I definitely can see her in the part! Maybe they asked her and she turned it down.

And I can see the Queen of MGM having a stroke if anyone would have suggested she play a small part in any movie in 1939 LOL.

[bdp]

if Billie Burke hadn't been available Norma Shearer could have played Glinda in The Wizard of Oz.

Ha, yes I definitely can see her in the part! Maybe they asked her and she turned it down.

And I can see the Queen of MGM having a stroke if anyone would have suggested she play a small part in any movie in 1939 LOL.

Excellent point.

[feaito]

On the weekend I watched "Animal Crackers" (1930) and it's been the Marx Brothers' film I've least enjoyed. I did not laugh a bit. I am realizing that, in general, their kind of humor does not appeal to me, although I must admit that I found "Duck Soup" (1933) when I watched it, very, very interesting and very well done. The same has happened to me with a couple of W.C. Fields Paramount movies from the early '30s.

The kind of comedy that amuses me is the romantic, witty, sophisticated comedy of the 1930s & 1940s, with stars like Myrna Loy, Bill Powell, Claudette, Cary et al.

The other day I watched "Midnight" (1939) for the nth time and it was a riot all over again. What a gem it is!!

[charliechaplinfan]

A couple of days ago I watched Midnight Mary a precode starring Loretta Young, Franchot Tone and Ricardo Cortez. A delightful depression era gangster movie. Ricardo Cortez, I haven't seen him in a talkie before, he acquits himself really well, I wonder what happened to his career? This was also the best role I've ever seen Franchot Tone in, romantic instead of the usual second fiddle. Loretta Young has never looked so beautiful as she does in this film.

Loretta as Mary is a young starving girl who witnesses first hand what a cruel world it is out there and joins in with the local gangster, Ricardo Cortez and very soon is acting as lookout for his crimes. She comes across Franchot Tone and he helps her go straight but she goes to prison when a cop recognises her from her last job. She ditches Franchot rather than have him find out the truth and goes to jail. Once out of jail she goes back to the gangster instead of starve, he tells her he's going straight. Only he finds out about the love she had for Tone and plots to kill him, Mary finds out and finishes him off first.

This is one precode worth seeing.

[movieman1957]

On the weekend I watched "Animal Crackers" (1930) and it's been the Marx Brothers' film I've least enjoyed. I did not laugh a bit. I am realizing that, in general, their kind of humor does not appeal to me, although I must admit that I found "Duck Soup" (1933) when I watched it, very, very interesting and very well done. The same has happened to me with a couple of W.C. Fields Paramount movies from the early '30s.

The kind of comedy that amuses me is the romantic, witty, sophisticated comedy of the 1930s & 1940s, with stars like Myrna Loy, Bill Powell, Claudette, Cary et al.

The other day I watched "Midnight" (1939) for the nth time and it was a riot all over again. What a gem it is!!

"Animal Crackers" is kind of an oddball. It is better than their first film. It suffers from being too stagy and a bad sound recording through a lot of it. It mostly is a collection of routines. One part that always bothered me is the scene in which is shot in the dark (after the painting is stolen) was shot, I am convinced, with doubles and the dialogue dubbed later.

I like it more than you but I enjoy them overall. "Midnight" is a riot. Barrymore is unlike anything else I've seen him in.

[feaito]

On the weekend I watched "Animal Crackers" (1930) and it's been the Marx Brothers' film I've least enjoyed. I did not laugh a bit. I am realizing that, in general, their kind of humor does not appeal to me, although I must admit that I found "Duck Soup" (1933) when I watched it, very, very interesting and very well done. The same has happened to me with a couple of W.C. Fields Paramount movies from the early '30s.

The kind of comedy that amuses me is the romantic, witty, sophisticated comedy of the 1930s & 1940s, with stars like Myrna Loy, Bill Powell, Claudette, Cary et al.

The other day I watched "Midnight" (1939) for the nth time and it was a riot all over again. What a gem it is!!

"Animal Crackers" is kind of an oddball. It is better than their first film. It suffers from being too stagy and a bad sound recording through a lot of it. It mostly is a collection of routines. One part that always bothered me is the scene in which is shot in the dark (after the painting is stolen) was shot, I am convinced, with doubles and the dialogue dubbed later.

I like it more than you but I enjoy them overall. "Midnight" is a riot. Barrymore is unlike anything else I've seen him in.

You nailed it Chris, it is mostly a collection of routines and, sadly, routines that did not appeal to me.

And yes, Barrymore is priceless in "Midnight".

[myrnaloyisdope]

Agreed on both Midnight and Midnight Mary. Leisen gets a bad rap, but I have a hard time believing Midnight or Easy Living could be any better under Wilder and Sturges. Midnight especially is sublime.

As for Midnight Mary, well it falls under William Wellman's remarkable pre-code work, and is among his very best. Loretta Young gives her absolutely sexiest performance, the seduction scene with her and Ricardo Cortez is incredible stuff.

As for me I rewatched The Last Flight, and was even more impressed upon second viewing. It's not quite a masterpiece but damn close, and certainly the greatest film about the lost generation. It reminded me of Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises, which surely was an inspiration. I have incredible respect for William Dieterle's direction, and John Monk Saunders screenplay, for 1931 the picture is absolutely daring from a plot perspective. I have a feeling I'll be revisiting this one again and again. It deserves much more recognition than it has gotten.

I also checked out a cute Myrna Loy vehicle: The Prizefighter and the Lady. Loy is a gangster's girl who falls for a prizefighter played by future champ Max Baer. Baer is surprisingly decent as a cocky fighter, and Loy shows some cute flashes, particularly during a scene where she mimics Walter Huston. The film is primarily a historical document for boxing fans as the film features footage of Baer, then champ Primo Carnera, and former champs Jess Willard, James Jeffries, and Jack Dempsey. There's a couple of neat jokes for old-time boxing fans like myself, that added to my enjoyment of the film. Another highlight(or lowlight) is an elaborate musical sequence with Max Baer, which appears to be MGM's attempt to cash in on the Busby Berkeley craze. It comes off pretty well, with Baer at least having some screen presence, but otherwise is a bit out of place. It's interesting that Baer was the top challenger to Carnera's title at the time of filming, and yet Baer was shown as dominating the champ almost at will. I can't imagine a picture like this being made today with the champ being demolished by the challenger...although if you know Carnera's history it makes some sense.

Either way it was a pretty solid picture, though you surely know my bias towards Myrna.

[charliechaplinfan]

Thankfully I'll be back at work next week but to while away the time I've watched Les Miserables with Harry Baur, directed by Raymond Bernard. This is my first introduction to the story, the film runs an impressive 5 hours and is split between 3 discs. It never sagged in pace, I was completely caught up in the film from start to finish. Harry Baur carries off a quadruple role so well. I don't think I ever want to see anothr version of this fabulous story. Adapting films from classic literature is never an easy task, and I can't pretend to have read Les Miserables but the film does have a respctful literary feel to it. I'm glad I was able to see it.

[Ann Harding]

So glad you enjoyed Les Misérables, Alison! Harry Baur was a fabulous actor. I have seen about a dozen of his films. He is always superb.

I have been watching a lot of Pickford pictures recently.
Heart o'the Hills (1919) by Sidney Franklin impressed me a lot. Mary plays a wild child in the Kentucky hills. She is a real tomboy, walking barefeet, firing a gun and riding wildly the hills. The depiction of the life of these poor people in a remote region was extremely well done. It was funny to recognise a very young looking Jack Gilbert -as he was credited- among the cast. The music by Maria Newman was a bit of a nuisance.
M'Liss (1918) by Marshall Neilan had a lot in common with Mary again being a very wild and naughty child scaring people with her sling. She lives with her drunken father, sharing the house with a hen. The cast was very good with Tully Marshall, a real hoot as the local drunken judge and Thomas Meighan as the school teacher.
Amarilly of Clothes-Line Alley (1918) again by Mickey Neilan (and also scripted by Frances Marion) showed Mary in another environment. She lives in a working-class city area with a large family of brothers and sisters. She falls -briefly- for upper-class Norman Kerry before realising her mistake. Again the film was full of charm and didn't shy away from the 'social' and historical context.
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1917) by M. Neilan (and script by F. Marion) was not quite as good as the previous ones. Mary plays here the poor daughter of a widowed lady who ends up living her two nasty aunts. The film had plenty of laughs but wasn't as compelling as the previous Neilan/Marion I described above.

Apart from these, I saw Mary in various shorts: The Lonely Villa (1908, Griffith); The Narrow Road (1912, Griffith); The Dream (1911, Ince). They all display Mary's talents as a comedian or as a tragic actress while she was still young.
I have now seen about 11 feature-length pictures with Mary and she has now shoot up in my appreciation immensely. She is never coy or saccharine. Quite the countrary, she comes through as a fighter full of spirit and humour in the most cliché situation!