WHAT SILENTS & PRE-CODES HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

[jdb1]

Oh I am so bummed out that I missed Sally - I meant to record it, but forgot. I have always wanted to see it, if simply to see Miller in the role she created on stage. Sounds like it was very worthwhile. I'll have to try again next year, if they do another Joe E. Brown day.

There are a few clips of Marilyn Miller on YouTube, some from Sally, but they are all pretty bad prints. Nevertheless, you get a good idea of the kind of performer she was -- a talented one. Interestingly, my readings about Miller indicate that in real life she was the opposite of the sweet and compliant girl she played on stage and in film. Most reports say she was quite the unreasonable diva, and very difficult to work with.

[MichiganJ]

I watched the John Ford silent The Blue Eagle, a fun comedy/melodrama featuring what would be the cast of Sunrise, George O'Brien, Janet Gaynor and, briefly, Margaret Livingston.

O'Brien (who, ladies, spends at least half of the film with his shirt off) and William Russell are Navy shipmates who are rivals because they are in love with the same woman. Their rivalry continues after the war, but the two soon need to combine their skills to form a war on the drug trade that is taking over the town.

Couple of things learned: When freed from her Sunrise wig, Janet Gaynor is very pretty. And more importantly, when fleeing from the cops, it is better to be in the submarine rather than on the submarine. (It's a lot drier, too.)

[pvitari]

You didn't know that Janet Gaynor was pretty? She was more than that, she was exquisite.







And a marvelous actress too. ;)

[charliechaplinfan]

I didn't know that she remade Tess of the Storm County, it makes sense, she's more like Pickford than any other performer I can think of. She was very beautiful and talented.

[JackFavell]

Janet Gaynor is one of those actresses who can be drop dead gorgeous, or just an average looking girl, depending on the way she is photographed. And I think she is pretty in Sunrise.

[charliechaplinfan]

I like her best when her innocence is allowed to shine through. I think she's attractive in Sunrise too, it was the first Gaynor film I saw and I didn't realise it was a wig just an old fashioned hair style.

Nice pictures both of you.

[JackFavell]

It's funny, sometimes I will see Janet and think, "Oh, it's just Janet Gaynor. She's so wholesome, so small town. I think I'll skip her today." and then hours later, I am crying or laughing and I've watched her for the entire day, and realized again how good she really was and how hard it is to do what she did effortlessly.

[charliechaplinfan]

I'm getting started on the biography of her and Charles Farrell.

[JackFavell]

Awesome!

[MichiganJ]

You didn't know that Janet Gaynor was pretty? She was more than that, she was exquisite.

Just for the record, of course I knew Gayner was pretty.

Still, personally though, not even Garbo could have made that wig work. I recognize that Murnau was trying to distinguish Gaynor's morality from Livingston's wickedness, and that the wig also helps to make her look more European (on some level at least), but it's way too severe and obviously a wig; her hair doesn't move in the storm--it shifts.

[Ann Harding]

Yesterday, I saw Spione (Spys, 1928), Fritz Lang's epic thriller. In spite of its length, I watched it in one go and enjoyed it thoroughly. Arte broadcast a beautiful restoration of the film with a brilliant piano score by Neil Brand. The story reminded me of Feuillade's serials with its twists and turns, kidnapping, double-crossing, black-mailing, etc. But, there is a main difference between Feuillade and Lang: the acting. Lang favors some kind of overacting (expressionist) which kills the emotion you could feel in places. Particularly, Rudolf Klein-Rogge as the criminal mastermind with a web of spys. His grimacing is terribly exaggerated, especially if you compare it with René Navarre's cool Fantômas (1913-4) or Gaston Michel's great performance in Barrabas (1919). The script follows N°326 (Willy Fritsch) who is trying to catch master criminal Haghi (R. Klein-Rogge) while falling in love with Sonia (Gerda Maurus) one of his spies. It's amusing to see Willy Fritsch, who became a prime comedian of German musicals in the 30s, playing in a Fritz Lang picture. I thought he could bring a certain freshness into the proceedings. Alas, he also fell into the overacting trap after a good beginning. Nevertheless, he makes a fine couple with the beautiful Gerda Maurus. The lovely Dutch actress Lien Deyers was also an attractive spy. A very entertaining 145 min feature. The piano accompaniment by Neil Brand needs to be mentionned as it propells the film forward with great skill and suspense.

[drednm]

Finally got around to watching Are Parents People? and thought it was ok. Betty Bronson was quite charming and I always like Lawrence Gray. Adolphe Menjou and Florence Vidor were solid as the parents. Slight plot and a snappy 63 minutes didn't give this much depth but a decent film. The subplot with the hammy actor was funny and George Beranger was quite good as Maurice Mansfield. Vidor was only 30 here, playing a matron.

[MichiganJ]

I agree about Are Parent People?. I was expecting a bit more, but for an hour film, it was enjoyable. However it was confusing that Vidor was supposed to be Bronson's mother. Sisters I'd buy, but there are only eleven years separating their ages. Requires a bit of the ol' 'suspension of disbelief' I suppose. (The actor bit was funny and I wish they'd played it up more.)

[Gagman 66]

Ed,

You still saw ARE PARENTS PEOPLE? with the Piano score from the old Grapevine VHS I think? Not the later Grapevine compiled score from the DVD-R release. And not my own compiled score because I didn't have that even burned until last week. The film was originally 7 Reels, but only the 5 reel Kodascope Cut-down survives. There are supposed to be very good Kodascope prints though which still exist.

Kevin,

I'm not sure what version you saw. But I loved this movie. I watched it over and over.

Here a taste of the picture with my Music selections:


http://fan.tcm.com/_Betty-Bronson-Are-P ... 66470.html


http://fan.tcm.com/_Betty-Bronson-Lita- ... 66470.html

[drednm]

Yes it was the Grapevine.