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There will undoubtedly be more in this topic later, but it's been an interesting time so far. It's a shame thet Beggar on Horseback is incomplete but the remaining material has some great bits.

WOMAN (1918) Has Bird Kissing! Everybody's Sweetheart has Olive Thomas fondling a pet hen- does that count?

Dolores Costello makes A MILLION BID worth watching, as does Michael Curtiz' flashy camerawork, but seeing Betty Blythe so unflatteringly gowned (and a bit overweight) was quite sad.

Alec B Francis effortlessly steals any scene he is in.

How was the Lottie Pickford film? And if Olive's has played how was that? Im very curious!

FrankFay wrote:WOMAN (1918) Has Bird Kissing! Everybody's Sweetheart has Olive Thomas fondling a pet hen- does that count?

Hens are birds. You have definitely added another instance to the canon.

Fred

misspickford9 wrote:How was the Lottie Pickford film? And if Olive's has played how was that? Im very curious!

I have just gotten home so this will be brief. I didn't see Lottie Pickford (I missed Thursday) but one guy said she did not look at all like Mary.

The Olive Thomas film was nice, but rather insubstantial plotwise- she was the primary attraction. She was quite lovely. I'm sure more viewers will chime in later.

Two candidates for Best Bad Line Of The Weekend:

In THE DESERT SONG John Boles says something like "You are a Mohamedan- what can you know of Christian Love?"

In ONE MORE RIVER Mrs Patrick Campbell has an after-dinner complaint and remarks: "I don't know if it's flatulence or the hand of God"

FrankFay wrote:

misspickford9 wrote:How was the Lottie Pickford film? And if Olive's has played how was that? Im very curious!

I have just gotten home so this will be brief. I didn't see Lottie Pickford (I missed Thursday) but one guy said she did not look at all like Mary.

The Olive Thomas film was nice, but rather insubstantial plotwise- she was the primary attraction. She was quite lovely. I'm sure more viewers will chime in later.

Two candidates for Best Bad Line Of The Weekend:

In THE DESERT SONG John Boles says something like "You are a Mohamedan- what can you know of Christian Love?"

In ONE MORE RIVER Mrs Patrick Campbell has an after-dinner complaint and remarks: "I don't know if it's flatulence or the hand of God"

The nose! And LOL to those quotes thats fantastic!

OK- here's a few first impressions, I will probably be a bit brief, hopefully other viewers will fill in:

I missed Thursday entirely, so here's Friday Morning:

THE DESERT SONG (1929) Not too bad a print, James Cozart remarked that the sound quality was good- still much of the dialog was inaudible. John Boles looked quite striking in his Red Shadow costume (with mask) but was otherwise extremely annoying- though to give him some credit he sang well, in a higher tenor than he later used. His right arm tended to flail about a great deal while speaking. Carlotta King was quite pretty but not much of an actress. I suppose she sang well but in an extremely shrill soprano that the soundtrack mangled. Louise Fazenda were the comic couple, and at times were actually funny. Nice to see character Edward Martindel in a talkie, he did well.

WOMAN (1918). A couple argues and the husband looks up "Woman" in an encyclopedia and we are treated to a series of short treatments of women through the ages, rather misognyst views I should add. Eve eats the apple, Messalina scandalizes Rome, A young Southern girl turns in a Northern soldier she's hiding when a Southern colonel puts a shiny gold watch in her hands, then came a very odd one- a Breton legend about a fisherman whos wife is a transformed seal (I can explain that one later, honestly) After all this we find that Women has redeemed herself by her hard work during World War One. All this was a bit hard to take but beautifully photographed by Jacques Tourneur.

Afternoon session:

THE WHEEL OF LIFE (1929). Richard Dix plays a stalwart British officer who gets involved in a love triangle with his Colonel's wife, though it was purely circumstantial and there isn't any sex involved- it's one of those affairs where to Save the Honor of the Woman he goes off to the wilds of India- where he just happens to find her trapped in a Lamastary under siege. The Colonel (O.P. Heggie doing well under the circumstances) gets killed but things don't end happily as the "Lovers" are seen shocked and weeping over his body at the end- it's all somehow tied to the Wheel of Life as the Lama (Andre de Brullier) explains. Aside from some light moments in the first reel Dix is forced to be deadly serious for the whole picture, and somehow his usual intensity is lacking. Esther Ralston was quite beautiful but in this case she was a stick of wood.

Skipping the McElwee Shorts....

NEXT DOOR NEIGHBORS (1931). A nifty Edgar Kennedy short directed by Harry Sweet with his usual deft use of repetition. Edgar's family shared a double house with Arthur Houseman's family and the shared telephone is in the Houseman's half. An escalation of reciprocal destruction ensues with the handyman efforts of landlord Franklin Pangborn the victim of both parties.

Pangborn to his little son: "With plenty of hard work and effort you'll be able to own a property like this yourself- and live over the garage"

THE DANCIN' FOOL (1920) Neat little comedy drama with Wallace Reid and Bebe Daniels as sweethearts and dancing partners- and they really were both excellent dancers. There's a bit of a Race to the Rescue as Reid saves his uncles jug factory from being taken over by the likes of Tully Marshall. Still, Wally and BeBe are the whole point of the film and they're charming.

I missed most of THE SECRET MAN (1958) but the ending looked like a nice taught cold was spy drama set in half-ruined building in a strangely deserted London.

EVENING

THE BANK SWINDLE (1930). A William J Burns short. So Bad it's.........bad.

JOAN CRAWFORD'S HOME MOVIES- Joan trying to look pretty much like anyone else in well preserved home movies, but even in casual clothes and out on a camping trip she's definitely aware of the camera. Great to see her in Kodacolor before he'd made color films.

THE CIRCLE (1925). Lovely Frank Borzage, great to see Eleanor Boardman and she does a fine job, beautifully expressive eyes. The whole cast was great, the only time I've enjoyed Creighton Hale who plays his usual starchy character for an excellent series of laughs. Eugenie Besserer was delightful.

THE PERFECT SPECIMEN (1938). A screwball comedy that just doesn't work. Too long, too many episodes, too much shouting, in fact just too much. I'm not saying it was entirely bad, and Errol Flynn displays plenty of charm, but I don't want to see it again any time soon.

I couldn't stay awake for the last film of the day, an alternate black and white print of DOCTOR X (1932) even though I kept murmurring "Synthetic Flessssshhhhh" on my way to bed.

"How was the Lottie Pickford film?"

I thought it was pretty enjoyable, a kind of variation on "Count of Monte Cristo" though it falters a bit at the ending. Lottie's performance is certainly fine. She doesn't look much like Mary. But then again Mary didn't look much like Mary either in "Less than the Dust."
Henry Nicolella[/quote]

FrankFay wrote:
THE WHEEL OF LIFE (1929). Richard Dix plays a stalwart British officer who gets involved in a love triangle with his Colonel's wife, though it was purely circumstantial and there isn't any sex involved- it's one of those affairs where to Save the Honor of the Woman he goes off to the wilds of India- where he just happens to find her trapped in a Lamastary under siege. The Colonel (O.P. Heggie doing well under the circumstances) gets killed but things don't end happily as the "Lovers" are seen shocked and weeping over his body at the end- it's all somehow tied to the Wheel of Life as the Lama (Nigel de Brullier) explains.

Nigel de Brullier?!!!!

Waaa! I wish I could have come up to see it.

FrankFay wrote: WOMAN (1918). A couple argues and the husband looks up "Woman" in an encyclopedia and we are treated to a series of short treatments of women through the ages, rather misognyst views I should add. Eve eats the apple, Messalina scandalizes Rome, A young Southern girl turns in a Northern soldier she's hiding when a Southern colonel puts a shiny gold watch in her hands, then came a very odd one- a Breton legend about a fisherman whos wife is a transformed seal (I can explain that one later, honestly) After all this we find that Women has redeemed herself by her hard work during World War One. All this was a bit hard to take but beautifully photographed by Jacques Tourneur.

"Rather" misogynist?

The Breton legend may be The Fairy Melusine? or perhaps she was a selkie, a...er...were-seal?

So I take it you saw One More River, what did you think of it?

Fred

Frederica wrote:

FrankFay wrote: WOMAN (1918). A couple argues and the husband looks up "Woman" in an encyclopedia and we are treated to a series of short treatments of women through the ages, rather misognyst views I should add. Eve eats the apple, Messalina scandalizes Rome, A young Southern girl turns in a Northern soldier she's hiding when a Southern colonel puts a shiny gold watch in her hands, then came a very odd one- a Breton legend about a fisherman whos wife is a transformed seal (I can explain that one later, honestly) After all this we find that Women has redeemed herself by her hard work during World War One. All this was a bit hard to take but beautifully photographed by Jacques Tourneur.

"Rather" misogynist?

The Breton legend may be The Fairy Melusine? or perhaps she was a selkie, a...er...were-seal?

Here's what happened: A fisherman hears that on a certain night of the year seals come to the shore, take off their skins and become beautiful women for the night- but evil comes to any man who observes them. The fisherman immediately goes to the shore and does this (we see seals on the shore, there's a dissolve to women getting out of seal costumes and frollicking about apparently nude- not easy to do on a rocky coastline.) Anyhow, the fisherman steals one of the skins, trapping a woman on shore- she's beautiful, frightened, vulnerable, and a title tells us he marries her and they have a child. We see her three years later in a nice peasant dress looking melancholy, we are told that there is a large chest her husband keeps locked. Of course when her husband goes off on a voyage she manages to find the key, get her sealskin back (she clutches it and looks out the window with ecstacy) and the husband gets back just in time to see her transform and go back to the sea. It was all odd but rather lovely.

So I take it you saw One More River, what did you think of it?

I thought it was very good. Excellent cast, great to see Jane Wyatt as something besides Mrs. Anderson. Colin Clive was a quite hissable villain. I find Diana Wynard's face to have a strangely immobile and unfocussed quality but she's certainly an effective actress. Whale kept the film moving along nicely, lots of interesting camera angles and compositions though not as flashy as his horror pictures. Only problem I had with it was that I really didn't give a damm about any of these people or their lives. It was taken from a Gallsworthy novel (one of the characters is a Forsyte) and maybe if I'd been up in their backstory they'd have seemed more human to me. As it was it was all upper class reserve, though there were flashes of temper and sarcastic wit during the courtroom scenes.

FrankFay wrote:
Here's what happened: A fisherman hears that on a certain night of the year seals come to the shore, take off their skins and become beautiful women for the night- but evil comes to any man who observes them. The fisherman immediately goes to the shore and does this (we see seals on the shore, there's a dissolve to women getting out of seal costumes and frollicking about apparently nude- not easy to do on a rocky coastline.) Anyhow, the fisherman steals one of the skins, trapping a woman on shore- she's beautiful, frightened, vulnerable, and a title tells us he marries her and they have a child. We see her three years later in a nice peasant dress looking melancholy, we are told that there is a large chest her husband keeps locked. Of course when her husband goes off on a voyage she manages to find the key, get her sealskin back (she clutches it and looks out the window with ecstacy) and the husband gets back just in time to see her transform and go back to the sea. It was all odd but rather lovely.

Fred's right, that's the "Selkie" folk-tale. I'm used to that myth being Irish or Scottish rather than Breton -- but those Celts get around and share music and stories. The story shows up as a plot point in The Secret of Roan Inish (1994), which is set in Ireland.

Or perhaps the film-makers found Brittany more romantic than Scotland or Ireland for whatever reason...

Rodney wrote:

FrankFay wrote:
Here's what happened: A fisherman hears that on a certain night of the year seals come to the shore, take off their skins and become beautiful women for the night- but evil comes to any man who observes them. The fisherman immediately goes to the shore and does this (we see seals on the shore, there's a dissolve to women getting out of seal costumes and frollicking about apparently nude- not easy to do on a rocky coastline.) Anyhow, the fisherman steals one of the skins, trapping a woman on shore- she's beautiful, frightened, vulnerable, and a title tells us he marries her and they have a child. We see her three years later in a nice peasant dress looking melancholy, we are told that there is a large chest her husband keeps locked. Of course when her husband goes off on a voyage she manages to find the key, get her sealskin back (she clutches it and looks out the window with ecstacy) and the husband gets back just in time to see her transform and go back to the sea. It was all odd but rather lovely.

Fred's right, that's the "Selkie" folk-tale. I'm used to that myth being Irish or Scottish rather than Breton -- but those Celts get around and share music and stories. The story shows up as a plot point in The Secret of Roan Inish (1994), which is set in Ireland.

Or perhaps the film-makers found Brittany more romantic than Scotland or Ireland for whatever reason...

I could be entirely wrong about the Breton thing- I didn't take notes. It was certainly interesting.

Rodney wrote:

FrankFay wrote:

Fred's right, that's the "Selkie" folk-tale. I'm used to that myth being Irish or Scottish rather than Breton -- but those Celts get around and share music and stories. The story shows up as a plot point in The Secret of Roan Inish (1994), which is set in Ireland.

Or perhaps the film-makers found Brittany more romantic than Scotland or Ireland for whatever reason...

Breton is a Celtic language (related more closely to Welsh and Cornish than to Irish/Scot/Manx), so they have many of the same legends and I'm not surprised that the selkie legend would be one of them. Or maybe if you have lots of seals you create legends about were-seals. But then, we have lots of opossums, and I've yet to hear a folk-tale about were-opossums.

I liked The Secret of Roan Inish quite a bit myself.

Fred

FrankFay wrote:

So I take it you saw One More River, what did you think of it?

I thought it was very good. Excellent cast, great to see Jane Wyatt as something besides Mrs. Anderson. Colin Clive was a quite hissable villain. I find Diana Wynard's face to have a strangely immobile and unfocussed quality but she's certainly an effective actress. Whale kept the film moving along nicely, lots of interesting camera angles and compositions though not as flashy as his horror pictures. Only problem I had with it was that I really didn't give a damm about any of these people or their lives. It was taken from a Gallsworthy novel (one of the characters is a Forsyte) and maybe if I'd been up in their backstory they'd have seemed more human to me. As it was it was all upper class reserve, though there were flashes of temper and sarcastic wit during the courtroom scenes.

Curses. I've been wanting to see this film FOR YEARS. Yes, it is one of the last three Forsyte Saga novels, but it's about the aristocratic family related to the Forsytes by marriage and it's just sort of grafted onto the end of the F-Saga. So you probably got all the backstory there was to get.

Any chance this might make it to dvd?

Fred

FrankFay wrote:There will undoubtedly be more in this topic later, but it's been an interesting time so far. It's a shame thet Beggar on Horseback is incomplete but the remaining material has some great bits.

WOMAN (1918) Has Bird Kissing! Everybody's Sweetheart has Olive Thomas fondling a pet hen- does that count?

Dolores Costello makes A MILLION BID worth watching, as does Michael Curtiz' flashy camerawork, but seeing Betty Blythe so unflatteringly gowned (and a bit overweight) was quite sad.

Alec B Francis effortlessly steals any scene he is in.

It was a great time. I disagree about Betty Blythe though. I thought she was a knocout with her short bob and I thought she had a pretty nice wardrobe. I wish she had been onscreen longer than she was.

After seeing her in two films over the course of the weekend, the general concensus amongst the crowd was that Esther Ralston was simply one of the most stunningly beautiful women to ever step in front of a movie camera.

Frank,

Hey, I'm very interested in THE CIRCLE. Was this a good, and complete print from Warner's? I have a poor version on VHS, the first reel seems to be missing, and it has been copied over and over. Never finished watching it beyond the first 20 minutes or so. It's hard to tell what the original recording once looked like? I haven't transferred it to DVD-R.

Frederica wrote:

Breton is a Celtic language (related more closely to Welsh and Cornish than to Irish/Scot/Manx), so they have many of the same legends and I'm not surprised that the selkie legend would be one of them. Or maybe if you have lots of seals you create legends about were-seals. But then, we have lots of opossums, and I've yet to hear a folk-tale about were-opossums.

According to some of the stories, the Bretons were Celts pushed out of Great Britain by the Anglo-Saxon invaders -- although since the Celts were all through that area from the time of Caesar, that may simply be a legends.

The Selkie legend shows up all through northern Europe, from the Celtic areas through the Norse regions and is difficult to trace to an origin -- although apparently Charlemagne's grandmother was supposed to be web-footed and that offers some linkage. People changing to animals and back again are a common theme throughout the world and may have some relationship to totemic animals. Usually the most feared animals of an area are cited, including weretigers in the Orient.

Bob

Gagman 66 wrote:Frank,
Hey, I'm very interested in THE CIRCLE. Was this a good, and complete print from Warner's? I have a poor version on VHS, the first reel seems to be missing, and it has been copied over and over. Never finished watching it beyond the first 20 minutes or so. It's hard to tell what the original recording once looked like? I haven't transferred it to DVD-R.

If I remember correctly (and it's possible I'm not, as it was this screening was my first night at Cinefest and also I was at the piano), the print was complete, and in 16mm; I don't know the print source. Anyone who was there can feel free to correct me on the print's completeness etc. I remember finding Creighton Hale delightful as always.

Ben

Ben,

Thanks for the info. Was it a good looking print?

Yes. A pretty good 16mm. And I was in the front of the auditorium. Anyone else who saw this feel free to chime in...

Ben

Next year I'm going to attend in my jodphurs and tall boots because it seemed to be standard dress in almost every film screened! All I lack is the pith helmet.

My favorite Cinefest moment came early in All Wrong when Bryant Washburn's charactor states something to the effect, "I believe the only way to a successful marriage is for couples to avoid the bore of everday familiarity by living separately and continue the excitment of courtship by dating" which met with a twittering of laughter and then a round of applause.

The silent standout for me was the incomplete 35mm Beggar on Horseback with Edward Everett Horton as the leading man. Esther Ralston seemed silly to me in earlier screened Wheel of Life with wild and large gestures, but seemed toned down and sweet with Horton in this one. The dream sequences were amazing, especialy for 1925, with creepy Dr Suess-like props, more like an acid trip than a dream.
The musical accompaniment was SUPERB on this one!

In the next 35mm film Shopworn Angel it was weird to see Roscoe Karns without his distinctive voice. But so glad they showed these despite the fact they were incomplete.

There were a few other real standouts, but I'm not sure I should discuss it here since they were "sound" films.

silentfilmmusic wrote:Yes. A pretty good 16mm. And I was in the front of the auditorium. Anyone else who saw this feel free to chime in...

Ben

Mike? Bob? IIRC, The Circle ran at Cinecon in the early 90s and I remember the print being more than serviceable. Was this in 35?

sorry just caught the thread. The Circle was complete and from Eastman House. Print was fine.

My favorites were WHITE GOLD, SAFETY IN NUMBERS. GUMBASIA and
BEGGER ON HORSEBACK but there many wonderful films. The Sunday afternoon B films were really good especially GATEWAY and LITTLE TOYKO was fascinating and revolting.

My winner of the best line contest was when naive Buddy Rogers finds a very risque bra and asks Follies girl Carole Lombard what it is . She snatches it away and tells him "It's a ping pong net"

Thanks to all the boys and girls from Syracuse and I really liked THE BOYS FROM SYRACUSE

Getting back to the main topic, I was able to see every one of the films screened at this year's Cinefest (although I did go to bed after Fay Wray's first scene in DR. X about 15 minutes into it, since I'd seen it before numerous times). This year had a nice variety with a welcome emphasis on silents, especially those from 1921 and earlier. No real blown-away four-star standouts, but several darn good films and most others either very good or at least well worth the time. Very few duds (and none, really, for those whose tastes leaned towards bad movies as camp or any film as a valuable sociological document of its times). Below are my ratings with brief reactions. (Now it's time to go back to thinking about Red River flood preparations!)

--Christopher Jacobs
http://www.und.edu/instruct/cjacobs
http://hpr1.com/film

-------------------------------------------------------------------

CINEFEST 2009 Capsule summaries

===============================

Recurring...
themes:
--marriage for money to save family
--doctor operating on romantic rival
--lovers separated
--corporate and other business shenanigans
--sophisticated NYC girl marrying simple soldier who goes to war
--bizarre dream sequences

directors:
--Michael Curtiz (1 silent, 2 talkies)
--Frank Borzage (2 silents, 1 talkie)
--Justin Herman (3 Paramount "Pacemakers" shorts)

stars:
--Lyle Talbot
--Warner Baxter
--Malcolm McGregor
--Edward Everett Horton
--Alan Mowbray
--various character actors


THURSDAY
========

--MORNING--

A BUNDLE OF BLUES (1933) **1/2 nice Duke Ellington musical short with some great montage sequences
SAFETY IN NUMBERS (1930) *** fun precode comedy with music has naive would-be songwriter Buddy Rogers taking up with three kept chorus girls including Carole Lombard, and a brief bit with North Dakota's own Virginia Bruce
LESS THAN THE DUST (1916) *** an unusual variation on superstar Mary Pickford's plucky young girl formula, casting her as an orphan raised as the daughter of a native sword-maker in India, falling in love with the dashing British officer who is charged with putting down the Hindu revolutionaries led by her stepfather. Unfortunately the ending is lost, but at least the major plot conflicts are resolved in the surviving version.

--AFTERNOON--

THE CARETAKER'S DAUGHTER (1934) ** moderately amusing Roach comedy with various caretakers of a mansion each passing the job onto someone else
ALL WRONG (1919) *** enjoyable romantic farce with Bryant Washburn and Mildred Davis as a couple who think living apart will make their marriage last
"TRAILER MANIA" 1920s-30s-40s *** some great old trailers
CITY OF PLAY (1929) **1/2 well-done British circus melodrama set in Germany with a "Svengali" theme and a parachute jumper
DOCTORS' WIVES (1931) **1/2 ok soap opera by Frank Borzage with a young Joan Bennett putting up with dedicated Warner Baxter and tempted by his best friend Victor Varconi until a tragic turn of events

--EVENING--

GUMBASIA (1955) *** clever abstract clay animation tribute to FANTASIA, used as pilot for the "Gumby" TV series
THE INSTALLMENT COLLECTOR (1929) *** fairly static but very funny Fred Allen comedy of a small town newspaper editor dealing with bill collectors
THEY SHALL PAY (1921) *** Lottie Pickford impressive as girl avenging her father's financial ruin by systematically destroying the men responsible, and of course falling for the son of one of them
LOVE NEVER DIES (1921) **1/2 always cute Madge Bellamy in a pleasant and beautifully tinted King Vidor rural romance with a rather abrupt ending and possibly some missing segments
THE LAST TRAIL (1933) **1/2 competent Fox western with wild George O'Brien and El Brendel looking to settle down but having to foil gangsters who have taken over the ranch O'Brien has inherited (hired by them to pose as the real heir!), and trying to figure out what Claire Trevor is doing there.
WHAT PRICE VENGEANCE (1937) ** entertaining enough "quota quickie" crime story shot in Canada, starring Lyle Talbot as a sharpshooting cop who chickens out during a robbery and has to redeem himself after his little brother is blinded.

FRIDAY
======

--MORNING--

THE DESERT SONG (1929) *1/2 Though apparently well-received on its release, this laughably bad early talkie version of the ridiculous Romberg operetta may play well with modern viewers on a "Rocky Horror Picture Show" participation level. At least it has some nice tunes and outdoor cinematography, and a few funny lines by Johnny Arthur and Louise Fazenda, but it is sadly missing the Technicolor sequences that would have made it more bearable.
WOMAN (1918) **1/2 sociologically interesting episodic Maurice Tourneur exploration of seductive women throughout the ages, ending with a paean to motherhood, the Red Cross, and the hard-working women of the modern (World War I) era

--AFTERNOON--

THE WHEEL OF LIFE (1929) *** Though released the same year as THE DESERT SONG, this early talkie set in colonial India may be just as full of ethnic and sexual stereotypes but is vastly more impressive in its story, acting, set design, cinematography, editing, and just about everything else. Richard Dix is fine as the British captain in love with the troubled young wife (Esther Ralston) of the old colonel (O. P. Heggie) who's been his inspiration.
MOVIE MEMORIES (1934) ** Nice newsreel tribute to then-recently deceased silent stars
OUT WEST IN HOLLYWOOD (1953) ** Nice little retrospective "Screen Snapshots" on famous western stars with a cute plug for Ken Murray's latest film THE MARSHAL'S DAUGHTER
LIFE WITH BUSTER KEATON episode (1950s) ** enjoyable if not particularly memorable
MICKEY MOUSE CLUB PRODUCT REEL (1963) ** interesting glimpse at how TV stations were persuaded to add "The Mickey Mouse Club" to their programming lineup
NEXT DOOR NEIGHBORS (1931) *** above-average Edgar Kennedy short with Kennedy as a composer trying to write a song at the piano and neighbor Arthur Housman trying to take a nap, but both being constantly interrupted (often by a very cute young Pert Kelton) and tramping through a fence Franklin Pangborn is attempting to paint.
THE DANCIN' FOOL (1920) *** enjoyable Wallace Reid-Bebe Daniels comedy with Reid as a hick working for his uncle's pottery company for next to nothing, but simultaneously rising to fame as a cabaret dancer in his off-hours, all the while learning enough to run the jug-making business and save it from business rivals.
THE SECRET MAN (1958) *** A strong cast headed by Marshall Thompson and John Loder help this taut little spy thriller filmed in London for MGM as a quota quickie and never released in the U.S.

--EVENING--

THE BANK SWINDLE (1930) * This dull "true crime" film in the William J. Burns series follows the investigation of a payroll theft as the actors mouth the words spoken by the narrator
JOAN CRAWFORD HOME MOVIES (1940s-50s) **1/2 interesting color and B&W "off-camera" look at the famous star and her two young adopted children (including nude sunbathing shots of Crawford and her baby daughter)
THE CIRCLE (1925) ***1/2 Good Frank Borzage adaptation of the Somerset Maugham stage play about the infidelity in two generations of a wealthy family, in which a young wife always seems to favor running off with a lively boyfriend instead of staying with her stodgy husband. Creighton Hale has a rare chance to be a significant part of a romantic triangle with Eleanor Boardman and Malcolm McGregor, as they all observe the older generation's attitudes toward each other 30 years later (Alec B. Francis, Eugenie Besserer, and George Fawcett all relishing their roles delightfully).
THE PERFECT SPECIMEN (1937) ***1/2 Errol Flynn and Joan Blondell play very well off each other, aided by Edward Everett Horton, Hugh Herbert, Harry Davenport, and May Robson in this screwball romantic comedy of a sheltered rich boy who impusively takes off with working class daughter of a horticulturalist. While not up to the classics of Leo McCarey or Howard Hawks, ever-versatile director Michael Curtiz keeps things moving nicely.
DOCTOR X (1932) *** This black and white version of Michael Curtiz's Technicolor horror comedy is still fun, but the color version is much better. I stayed only through Fay Wray's first scene about 15 minutes into it and could not notice any substantial differences in the takes or angles, but this print suffered from low contrast that decreased the impact of its moody lighting.

SATURDAY
========

--MORNING 35mm--

EVERYBODY'S SWEETHEART (1920) **1/2 The last film of beautiful Olive Thomas has a rather abrupt conclusion (script problem or did she die during shooting?) but remains a pleasing, predictable, and sentimental Dickensian tale of two orphans in the rural southern U.S.
A MILLION BID (1927) *** The first American film by Michael Curtiz is a tour-de-force in technique, with powerful frame composition and lighting, frequently moving cameras, numerous multiple exposures and montage sequences, lots of subjective POV shots, and slick editing. The familiar story of a girl (lovely Dolores Costello) reluctantly marrying a millionaire (Warner Oland) to save her mother's (Betty Blythe) fortune takes an interesting turn when Oland is lost in a shipwreck and she marries the struggling doctor she loves (Malcolm McGregor), only to discover that the husband has survived with amnesia and her unknowing husband is eager to do experimental surgery to restore his memory! Surviving only with Italian intertitles, the words were translated live at the screening.
TWENTY DOLLARS A WEEK (1924) *** George Arliss is just as good in this silent version of THE WORKING MAN as he was in the talkie. It's the story of a wealthy old man's mission to reform both his idle rich son (Ronald Colman) and the idle rich heirs to his former rival's business, by taking a low-paying job and foiling another rival's hostile takeover attempt.

--AFTERNOON 35mm--

BEGGAR ON HORSEBACK (1925) *** This odd screwball silent comedy from James Cruze might well be worth a 4-star rating if the last three of its seven reels ever are discovered. Edward Everett Horton is highly amusing as a composer who resorts to writing jazz music to make money, and the surviving footage frustratingly ends in the middle of a truly bizarre, expressionistic and surrealistic nightmare sequence. Gertrude Short is adorably lively as an amorous music student.
SHOPWORN ANGEL (1929) ***1/2 This version of the oft-filmed story of a showgirl with a lover who marries a naive soldier about to go to war, causing her whole attitude towards life to change, features fine dramatic performances by Nancy Carroll, Gary Cooper, and Paul Lukas. It's disconcertingly costumed in 1929 fashions, even though set during 1918. More frustrating is the fact that the last reel or so (which had contained the film's only talking sequences) are lost. However the restoration bridges the plot information with stills and titles that describe what happens in the end.
BACK PAY (1922) ***1/2 Frank Borzage's effective film of the Fannie Hurst tearjerker is very much in keeping with pervading themes of frustrated love that he treated throughout his career. Here a dissatisfied small-town girl abandons her conventional and poor boyfriend for the fast life and wealthy lovers of the big city, but after he is severely wounded in the war she feels guilty and marries him, effecting a dramatic change on her life outlook. Seena Owen and Matt Moore are fine as the star-crossed couple, and this is one 1920s film that actually makes some attempt to recreate (or at least suggest) the fashions of the previous decade in which it's set.

--AFTERNOON 16mm--

RHAPSODY IN BLACK AND BLUE (1932) ** This amusing comic short provides a setup that gives an excuse to show Louis Armstrong performing "I'll Be Glad When You're Dead, You Rascal You" during a bizarre dream sequence.
ENTER MADAME (1934) *** Entertaining romantic comedy, verging on the screwball in scattered spots, follows the adventures of a flamboyant opera star (a vivacious Elissa Landi, with singing dubbed by Nina Koshetz) and the wealthy playboy (Cary Grant) who marries her only to grow disillusioned that she wants to continue her career instead of settling down. He then returns to previous love, divorcee Sharon Lynne, but threats of a divorce shatter the confidence of his diva wife and create more of a witty soap-opera situation.

--EVENING--

STARBRIGHT DIAMOND (1930) ** This William J. Burns detective short is a small but significant step above the rest of the series, being actually acted out with spoken dialogue instead of exaggerated pantomime to narration. It's also a bit more interesting in the mystery angle of its jewel robbery plot, structured to reveal a potentially unexpected surprise twist at the end.
WEAK BUT WILLING (1929) ** Will King is amusing as a middle-aged Jewish husband whose wife and friends insist he go out night clubbing for his birthday instead of having supper like he wants to. Jean Harlow has a fun bit part with a few lines.
BIRTHDAY PARTY FOR SID GRAUMAN'S DOG (1925) *1/2 odd curiosity that is just what it sounds like, with dogs eating cake and ice cream (strongly encouraged by their owners); looks like raw footage intended to be edited into a much briefer newsreel bit
IN THE PARK (1915) ** Chaplin's early Essanay short is far from his best film, but the beautiful clarity of this well-worn 1924 Kodascope print makes it come to life as never before.
WHITE GOLD (1927) *** William K. Howard's sheep rancher variation on the CITY GIRL/THE WIND formula is very slow starting but builds to a powerful climax and conclusion. A sheep rancher despises his son's new wife (Jetta Goudal), and she must deal not only with him but with the sinister advances of new ranch hand George Bancroft.
ONE MORE RIVER (1934) ***1/2 handsomely mounted and sensitively acted screen version of the John Galsworthy novel, directed by James Whale (whose "Bride of Frankenstein" used the same sets the next year). Whale makes the very talky story into compelling cinema with a blend of powerful camera compositions, moving camera, and relatively rapid cutting for the period.
PADDY THE NEXT BEST THING (1933) ***1/2 a nice romantic comedy set in Ireland and starring sprightly Janet Gaynor as the younger sister of Margaret Lindsay, both of whom have trouble deciding whether they love or hate rich Warner Baxter for his ability to save their debt-ridden father (Walter Connolly).

SUNDAY
======

--MORNING--

THE BOYS FROM SYRACUSE (1940) *** delightful musical-comedy version of Shakespeare’s "Comedy of Errors" but loaded with intentionally anachronistic and very topical socio-political satire on government, democracy, and international relations. Allan Jones isn't bad at all, Joe Penner is okay, and Martha Raye is great fun, but Charles Butterworth steals the show as the duke, and Eric Blore and Alan Mowbray do their best to upstage everybody, as well.

--AFTERNOON--

MY SILENT LOVE (1949) **1/2 amusing short wtih Parker Fennelly infatuated with a singer on TV
ROLLER DERBY GIRL (1949) **1/2 interesting if dated Oscar-nominated documentary on the roller-derby phenomenon as it existed in the 40s
THE FOOTBALL FAN (1949) **1/2 fun Tom Ewell comedy of a man attempting against all odds to listen to the big game on whatever radio is working
THE LADY WHO DARED (1931) **1/2 slow going but reasonably interesting early talkie with Billie Dove as a diplomat's wife set up for blackmail. Pacing and plotting pick up substantially in the last half of its 57 minutes.
GATEWAY (1938) ***1/2 A great cast of character actors hold together this very enjoyable shipboard romance between reporter Don Ameche in first class and Irish immigrant Arleen Whelan in second class, which turns into an educational immigration melodrama once they dock in New York. Lyle Talbot plays the stuffy Wisconsin man who originally wanted to marry her but changes his mind after Ameche inadvertantly involves her in a scandal.
LITTLE TOKYO U.S.A. (1942) ** interesting propaganda detective thriller with Preston Foster as a detective fighting bureacratic interference to expose a Japanese spy ring in the weeks before Pearl Harbor.
WESTBOUND LIMITED (1937) **1/2 predictable but wonderfully made railroad melodrama starring Lyle Talbot as a telegraph operator whose valiant attempt to foil a robbery results in a missed train message that causes a disastrous collision. Convicted of manslaughter, he escapes to live as a wandering hobo with a bitter attitude towards the railroad, until coming across an ailing old telegraph operator and his beautiful daughter.

Hmm I want to say Olive finished Everybody's Sweetheart before she died but she may have missed out on some post production type stuff. If they did indeed finish it was very close...just a few months I believe.

There were a few other real standouts, but I'm not sure I should discuss it here since they were "sound" films.

Don't worry about it, no sense in having multiple Cinefest threads, have at it!

I will certainly have to disagree with Christopher's review of BACK PAY. I found it to be way too long and overly drawn out. I wished Matt Moore would have just died on the battlefield so we didn't have to endure the sap-crap when he got home. I mean, JUST DIE ALREADY!! Borzage must have been paid by the foot of film for this one. I certainly was disappointed that this turkey was chosen as the last one to show at the Palace because if it was shown first I could have gotten some much needed sleep. Absolutely the worst film I saw all weekend.

But then again, as much as some people around me hated the movie, others LOVED it and thought it was terrific, so who knows.

LouieD wrote:I will certainly have to disagree with Christopher's review of BACK PAY. I found it to be way too long and overly drawn out. I wished Matt Moore would have just died on the battlefield so we didn't have to endure the sap-crap when he got home. I mean, JUST DIE ALREADY!! Borzage must have been paid by the foot of film for this one. I certainly was disappointed that this turkey was chosen as the last one to show at the Palace because if it was shown first I could have gotten some much needed sleep. Absolutely the worst film I saw all weekend.

But then again, as much as some people around me hated the movie, others LOVED it and thought it was terrific, so who knows.

I think Frank Borzage is one of those directors you either love or hate. You either buy into that "romance over logic" concept or you don't. I'm in the "don't' group as well, I like his visual style, and he actually handles actors pretty well, but his films mostly just go on for an eternity for me and then somewhere near the end the whole plot gets compromised so we can have a big sloppy romantic happy ending that defies all concepts of common sense. It also doesn't help that Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell (whom I call Squeaky and Squeakier when they get to talkies) are like fingers on a chalk board to me.

The only Borzage film I really like is THE RIVER, and thats mostly because Mary Duncan is smokin' hot in the film and survivng prints are missing the final reels so we get to miss the big contrived happy ending. It is really true that one of the main reasons I didn;t go to Cinefest this year was I looked at the Schedule, said to myself, "three Borzage's and THE DESERT SONG", and decided it wasn't worth flying across country for.

RICHARD M ROBERTS

Richard M Roberts wrote: I think Frank Borzage is one of those directors you either love or hate. You either buy into that "romance over logic" concept or you don't. I'm in the "don't' group as well, I like his visual style, and he actually handles actors pretty well, but his films mostly just go on for an eternity for me and then somewhere near the end the whole plot gets compromised so we can have a big sloppy romantic happy ending that defies all concepts of common sense. It also doesn't help that Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell (whom I call Squeaky and Squeakier when they get to talkies) are like fingers on a chalk board to me.

RICHARD M ROBERTS

Normally I really like Frank Borzage's romance over logic movies, but my liking seems to depend on my mood at the moment. I raced off to see Seventh Heaven at the Dunn during the Janet Gaynor retrospective--I'd been looking forward to seeing it for ages, but I ended up being more annoyed than swept away. I don't know why.

Fred

I've had mixed reactions to Borzage as well. I love his Norma Talmadge movies and enjoyed 7th Heaven and City Girl and Lazybones. I liked Lucky Star up to the point where it became clear that it was not OK for Farrell to be a disabled person (SPOILER, i guess) and he had to get out of his wheelchair and stagger all over the countryside. I was really annoyed by Mary Duncan in The River--both the character she played (if she was really sick of men how come she kept throwing herself all over Farrell) and her acting (sullen stare off to the side). And Farrell seemed to be this Siegfried-like idiot (i kept expecting him to say "Das ist kein Mann!" at her). Anyway, i was really grateful that one was silent because i was even more annoyed by the men in Bad Girl and Man's Castle--all that phony tough talk just made me wonder why women would see anything in men so insecure that they had to talk like that (especially Spencer Tracy, who i found utterly charmless). Liliom was an interesting experiment but Farrell is so awful and was playing the same kind of a jerk of a character, and i just can't warm to the story in any of the versions. Wasn't Living on Velvet another guy who was an irresponsible jerk? I can't imagine how anyone finds these characters romantic and i have no interest in seeing them redeemed.

But there are lots of Borzage talkies that i like--i even like the extremely bizarre Strange Cargo, and he got the performance of his life out of Gene Raymond in Smilin' Though. I have fond memories of History is Made at Night, which i haven't seen in more than 30 years. I'm still hoping to catch up with more silents--Humoresque in particular.

greta
greta