WHAT SILENTS & PRE-CODES HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

[phil noir]

I also watched Norma Talmadge's Within the Law, and all I can say is, if this was representative of the kinds of films Norma was known for, it's curious that she was known at all. The plot is nonsensical, the direction is abysmal, and the performances are one-note at best. For her part Norma had two expressions: dour and more dour--and each one she over-emoted.

I've only watched Within the Law of the four films on the Talmadge discs so far, and I have to agree with the general disappointment over Norma. I had heard such a lot about her being the great emotional actress of the silent screen; and yet her performance in this was so uninflected. I couldn't believe in her as a working class shopgirl, a jailbird, or a conwoman. The title cards didn't help either, since although the other criminals were allowed to talk in a colourful way (e.g.: Aggie), Norma was stuck with the most excrutiatingly correct and unlifelike English.

It almost seemed as though NT - as an actress - was more concerned in projecting a ladylike image (perhaps one beloved by her fans) than in suggesting the character she was supposed to be playing. Joan Crawford was much more convincing in the sound remake, Paid (1930). With her, you really got the sense she'd been through the mill.

However, I still have high hopes for Constance - and also for Kiki.

[MichiganJ]

I've only watched Within the Law of the four films on the Talmadge discs so far, and I have to agree with the general disappointment over Norma.

It also didn't help that the director had the camera planted in cement and all of the "action" happens off screen. Basically the movie is a bunch of people in rooms talking to each other.

Kiki is much better as are the Contance films. My big problem with the Contance films was simply that I was expecting something on the order of Lubitsch or Clair.

[pvitari]

I get the impression that neither Within the Law nor Kiki are good examples of Norma at her best. Hopefully Kino will release additional films.

Jeanine Basinger's chapter on Norma Talmadge in her book Silent Stars is a great explanation of her art, though I personally need more to judge.

[phil noir]

... all of the "action" happens off screen. Basically the movie is a bunch of people in rooms talking to each other.

Yes, it was very much a filmed play, silent style, which is even duller than a filmed play from the sound era. The source material needed to be much more radically adapted, I think, to make a successful film.

(And what about the scene in the prison where Norma was tenderly nursing that little flower in the yard only to have it trodden on? Surely that would have elicited audience groans for being unforgivably corny by 1923?)

I get the impression that neither Within the Law nor Kiki are good examples of Norma at her best. Hopefully Kino will release additional films.

I hope they will. Perhaps her films with Gilbert Roland have a bit more oomph to them (for obvious reasons).

[feaito]

Thanks to Alison (& Christine) I saw yesterday the very amusing King Vidor Swashbuckler "Bardelys the Magnificent" (1926). Like the restored version of Capra's "Lost Horizon" (1937) in the middle of the movie, missing footage is replaced by production stills. Highly entertaining, very well set and excellent chemistry between the two leads, dashing John Gilbert, in the kind of role which made him the matinée idol par-excellence and lovely Eleanor Boardman. Roy D'Arcy's archetypical villain put me off a little a bit and more even so, George K. Arthur's annoyingly stupid character. Unlike Fairbanks' swashbucklers I could realize that Gilbert was doubled in the fencing scenes (that's an added bonus of a Fairbanks film, because he appears in all the action scenes). Very enjoyable indeed; Beautiful score. The first DVD which I have played in my newly bought Sony Blu-Ray player and the upscaling works very well.

[drednm]

I my opinion Norma Talmadge's best performance was in The Lady, but with a missing scene, it's unlikely to get a DVD release.... She was also very good in Secrets.

[pvitari]

Now Secrets I would LOVE to see, because a) it's directed by Frank Borzage and b) I enjoyed the remake with Mary Pickford (also directed by Borzage).

Feaito, this one is for you.;) How about that marvelous scene where the camera glides through the overhanging willow trees as Gilbert and Boardman take their little boat excursion?

[feaito]

That picture is wonderful pvitari, thank you. That was indeed one of the most romantic scenes in the film and sadly, the footage of that portion of the movie was damaged in the print I saw, so I'm doubly grateful for the crisp and clean production still

Anyway, we are all glad that this film has been preserved and I bet that TCM aired the best extant print.

[MikeBSG]

I watched more Max Linder comedies.

I liked "Max and the Quinine," which had a rather complicated plot, with Max getting challenged to duels by three different guys and then being mistaken for each of them. My son also got a kick out of this one.

"Max and His Dog" seemed designed to set up the famous bit in which Max's dog uses the telephone to call him and tell him that his wife is seeing her lover. (I had seen that footage before, but I'm not sure where.)

"Max Plays at Drama" was also fun, although I think I like the more spontaneous feel of the earlier shorts, such as going ice skating or getting in trouble with flypaper.

[MikeBSG]

Today I watched "The Eagle," the Valentino film based on a Pushkin short story.

In some ways, I liked everything in the film except Valentino. The actress who played Catherine the Great was superb, being comic with just the right touch of pathos (since she realizes she is too old to win Valentino's heart.) I thought the actress who played the heroine was spellbinding. When she was on screen, my eyes were on her.

As for Valentino, he struck me as rather stiff, until he slipped into disguise as the French tutor. (As several have noted, "The Eagle" has something of a "Zorro" plot. Valentino plays a swordsman who disguises himself as a tutor.) Here he seemed witty and touching, perhaps even comfortable, in a way he didn't seem in the rest of the film.

"The Eagle" also seemed to spoof Valentino's persona, in that the women who fell madly and instantly in love with him were older women.

It was okay.

[charliechaplinfan]

Perhaps I see it from the female point of view . Although not one of my favorite actors, I do like Valentino in this film, I think he's very tongue in cheek. It makes me think what kind of films he could have gone on to make.

[MichiganJ]

I really enjoy The Eagle. For me, it's one of Valentino's best performances (along with The Son of the Sheik.) Great popcorn movie.

[Gagman 66]

Fernando, Mike BS G,

The Flicker Alley release of BARDELYS THE MAGNIFICENT has two musical scores. Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra, and an Antonio Coppolla Piano score. Which one to you see? Both are very good, but the first half of the Mont Alto score is not nearly as strong as in the second half of the movie. BARDELYS was indeed a major find, but it puzzles me why this was restored right away, which HIS HOUR has been sitting around for years. Still with Czech title-cards. And who would have thought that BARDELYS a film lost for 70 years between 1936 and 2006, would be released on DVD ahead of THE BIG PARADE?








With THE EAGLE, the Kino DVD does not do this Clarence Brown film justice. The print is Mediocre and the Lee Erwin organ score isn't all that good. It makes a big difference to see the Thames Silents/Photoplay Productions version with the Carl Davis score. The print is sharp and clear, and Davis score is outstanding too. This version was on Laser-disc, but have never been released on official DVD. sad, because it is the edition that should be available.

[feaito]

Beautiful colorized pictures Jeffrey. I saw a print with the Coppola score and it was very good.

[charliechaplinfan]

I really enjoy The Eagle. For me, it's one of Valentino's best performances (along with The Son of the Sheik.) Great popcorn movie.

They're my favorite Valentino pictures, I prefer him when he's tongue in cheek.

The other night I watched So Funny it Hurt a documentary of Buster Keaton by Kevin Brownlow that deals with his career at MGM. When the clips of his later MGM films are shown in juxtaposition with his early independent work, it makes me feel like throwing my hands up in depair. What were MGM thinking, you get Buster Keaton as a star for your studio and then confine him to the role of comic you want him to be. Buster was a genius but noone at MGM could see that. Some of Buster's MGM films are good, The Cameraman is as good as anything he did as an independent but then slowly it started going downhill and then was gathered momentum as Buster's life unravelled. The peverse thing is that Buster's MGM films made more than his independents and therefore gave MGM no reason to change the formula.

I also watched The Criminal Code an early Howard Hawks movie starring Walter Huston, Boris Karloff, Philip Holmes and Constance Cummings. It's a crime drama about a young man who commits murder because he thinks that someone is going to kill him first, had he had proper representation he might not have been sent down, Walter Huston is the prosecuting attorney and later becomes warden of the jail that houses Bob played by Philip Holmes. He 'promotes Bob to chaffeur after the lad nearly goes mad. Bob has discovered the criminal code whilst inside and won't break it when he witnesses the murder of a grass by his former cellmate, Boris Karloff. He's thrown in solitary but is saved by the warden's daughter, Constance Cummings, who loves him. I love to see Boris Karloff in roles other than his horror roles, he steals the show here.