I think one of the worst done goat gland films I've seen was West of the Rockies, starring Ben Lyon.

I watched Smiling Through (1922). This first film version of the hit play (which starred Jane Cowl) was a big hit starring Norma Talmadge in the dual role of Kathleen/Moonyeen. The story is partly told in flashback to explain John's (Wyndham Standing) hatred of the Wayne family, which includes Kathl...

I watched Derelict (1930). George Bancroft stars as a seaman who fights his rival (William "Stage" Boyd) over a Havana saloon singer (Jessie Royce Landis) who is trying to get to Rio. But when Bancroft gets promoted to captain, sparks fly when the ship grounds in a dense fog. Bancroft is a...

I watched the 1926 Ladies of Leisure starring Elaine Hammerstein. Elaine Hammerstein and Gertrude Short play the ladies in two meandering story lines here. Hammerstein plays Mamie, a paid companion to Short in a wealthy household where she is being romanced by the handsome son (Robert Ellis). He pre...

I watched the restored Tillie's Punctured Romance (1914). What a terrific comedy, with about 15 minutes of new material restored to the old print. The print is excellent and the film boasts three comic marvels: Marie Dressler, Charlie Chaplin, and Mabel Normand.

It can be argued that Ricardo Cortez is closer in this film to the Hammett character than Bogart is. I like them both.

I watched Laughter , a 1930 film starring Nancy Carroll and Fredric March. Many comments and reviews state this film as a forerunner of the 30s screwball comedy. Yes there were some screwball elements, such as the silly sequence when the stars, caught in the rain, break into a house and on bear rugs...

I also watched Hitchcock's Downhill (1927) starring Ivor Novello. I thought this was a fascinating film although it's not very well regarded. Novello plays a wealthy Oxford student who stupidly takes the blame after a vindictive waitress points him out (his father is rich) as her seducer. The real s...

I watched Baroud (1932). Apparently this Rex Ingram talkie was released in English as Love in Morocco in 1933. The English version stars Ingram as a Frenchman who falls for Zinah (Rosita Garcia) but this mismatch (for religious reasons) is frowned upon by her brother (Pierre Batcheff) who has fallen...

I disagree about Ivor Novello. I think Hitchcock was right to cast a matinee idol as an evil man. Evil might not always be housed in a monster.

I watched the 1929 Paris Bound , based on a play be Philip Barry and starring Ann Harding in her film debut and Fredric March. They play a loving couple who claim their love will never be tainted by others. March's parents caused a scandal in their set when she divorced him after his affair. They ar...

My review of The The Circle : THE CIRLCE is a charming little film, full of humor and ironies. Based on a play by Somerset Maugham, THE CIRCLE is a handsome film directed by Frank Borzage. The film opens in the 1890s as Lady Catherine is about to leave her husband (and son) and run off with her love...

I'm not sure what exists of Marguerite Clark's films. She retired in 1921 (I think). She was very pretty and seemed to be a decent actress. She was 33 when she played Snow White (born in 1883).

I watched the 1916 Snow White , a fanciful version of the fairy tale starring Marguerite Clark. The costume and set decorations were surprisngly good. Dorothy Cumming played the old queen, Creighton Hale was the prince. Richard Barthelmess played the pie man. Clark, a rival of Mary Pickford's at the...