The Silver Screen Oasis

I was thinking the same about George Raft myself, it is a heart rending section, he reminds me of Valentino in looks, I think it's in the eyes.

I was guessing Lubitsch might have directed the Ruggles section, that had the most comedy along with Alison Skipworth and WC Fields.

Raft is really excellent in it, personally, it's the best I've ever seen him. I should start looking for more GR features to watch. I think he was kind of under rated in his day, except, of course, by the ladies who dated him, who had very kind things to say about his.... skills.

If anyone deserved to be the successor to Valentino, it was George Raft. We've been discussing Valentino over at the TCM site, and we all agreed that only Raft had similar machismo and style.

I seem to remember something about the Alison Skipworth - W.C. Fields section having been cut from the movie, and only later restored...I don't know why. I really liked it. It's so ridiculous!

I never heard of that. You may be thinking of the Field's segment from TALES OF MANHATTAN (1942) which was cut from the original release and eventually restored on video.

This is what I get for reading the comments on IMDB or youtube.

I think someone must have gotten confused, and posted that, thinking it was If I Had a Million. Thanks for clearing that up Gary!

No problem....
(You read comments on YouTube??)

It was probably the top one. I don't usually.

George Raft is often dismissed in comparison to Bogart, so I've found it pleasantly surprising to see him in the films They Drive By Night, Manpower and Scarface. The second fact I managed to pick up from reading about him was his skills with women. I've been reading a bit about Norma Shearer, it seems she fell for his charms too after being introduced by her friends the Boyers. The third 'fact' I know about him is about his gangster connections, how true these are I don't know but they've affected his legacy. Yet his acting speaks more than a man placed in films by well heeled connections. He looks quite hard in stills but on screen is far more vulnerable, like Valentino.

That's a great point, Alison. Raft definitely has a vulnerable streak that makes him much more interesting than I initially thought. I really like him.

Lady Of The Night (1925)

Norma Shearer has dual roles, Molly, a reform school graduate and Florence, the judges daughter, both of whom are in love with David, a young inventor(Malcolm McGregor)

The title is a bit confusing. One wonders throughout the show which one will end up with David, and which one will end up soliciting on the street corner. Both try to give David to the other. The matter is eventually resolved, and neither ends up on the street corner.

Norma Shearer is absolutely magnificent in this movie.

Fossy wrote:Norma Shearer is absolutely magnificent in this movie.

You are right, she is magnificent. In both roles, too! (Although she looked like she was having more fun playing Molly.)
If you haven't already, check Shearer out in The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg. She's terrific in a great movie.

Fossy wrote:The title is a bit confusing.

The title Lady of the Night makes no sense at all.

JackFavell wrote:That's a great point, Alison. Raft definitely has a vulnerable streak that makes him much more interesting than I initially thought. I really like him.

Me too

Here's a bit of 'useless' trivia about Lady of the Night. In the scenes when both of the characters are in the same shot, guess who's playing the double? [Drumroll...] It's Joan Crawford! Learned that in a documentary. Gad, I love being part of this community. Where else can you score points for knowing that?

I love being a part of a community where other people know that stuff, and don't think it's boring or worthless.

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.)

What really struck me was the film's heroine, Esther Ralston. She was blonde, beautiful and very much at home in the outdoors. (She even had a nude swimming scene.) In some ways, she carried the movie more than Randolph Scott. I was utterly smitten with her. (I think her hair reminded me of a former girlfriend.)

This was a very interesting film, very gritty. (The head of Shirley Temple's doll is shot off by the badguys.) The DVD was apparently struck from the '40s re-release print, and the "host" of the DVD (film critic for the NY Post I think) suggested that Scott died in the 1933 version of the film, a point the '40s version glides around.

You'd Be Surprised (1926) is an okay comedy/murder mystery starring Raymond Griffith. The film gets better as it moves along but the entire film takes place on one set and it really feels like one is watching a play. Also, the mystery component is uninteresting and worse, when revealed, makes little sense. Still, Griffith, who here reminded me a lot of Groucho, is always fun to see.

Down to Earth (1917) Doug Fairbanks stages a shipwreck so that his unfit passengers (including his love interest), can be stranded on a desert island and be required to exercise to survive. Fun vehicle, which clearly fit in well with the fitness/advice books Doug was writing (or having ghost written for him). Wish it were better, but it's always great to see Doug, and the script, by Anita Loos , includes some very funny titles in which the characters are very much aware they are in a movie. I always love things like that.