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Cinecon 49 is over, I’ve shed tears and waved good-bye to friends I see only once a year (sometimes less) and now it’s time to catch up on my sleep, not eat for a day or two, and issue a Daughters of Naldi report on the festivities. This Cinecon featured paintings being whacked over the heads of miscreants, many kittens and puppies, and more creepy subtext than is usual. I can handle all the kittens and puppies you can give me. Herewith is my report.

IT’S A FRAME UP. This silent comedy stooges pastiche was written and directed by our own Michael Schlesinger, and stars Nick Santa Maria and Will Ryan as “Biffle and Shooster,” one of the least successful comedy duos in screen history. The film boasts funny turns by Andrew Parks (as Franklin Pangborn) and Robert Picardo (as Arthur Housman). It’s too long, Mike.

THE DOME DOCTOR. Oh dear lord, Larry Semon. Outside of a weird moment with a dancing animated onion, this was pretty much a Larry Semon short. Does anyone know, were the cartoons on the title cards drawn by Semon himself?

PUDDIN’ HEAD. Oh dear lord, Judy Canova. The film did boast a very funny turn by Francis Lederer as a Prince Mdivani clone.

RED PEPPER. Oh dear lord, Al St. John.

THE LAST MAN ON EARTH. This silent was preceded by a three minute trailer for the sound remake, IT’S GREAT TO BE ALIVE. LAST MAN is the earliest entry into the creepy “Planet of Women” genre I’ve yet seen, and it’s the least voyeuristic. The genre (closely related to the “Earthman, Give Us Your Women for Breeding Purposes” genre) reached its apotheosis in QUEEN OF OUTER SPACE and was completely eviscerated in the ‘70s by writers like Joanna Russ and James Tiptree, Jr. I do not miss it, but it did give me my favorite MST3K episode, FIRE MAIDENS OF OUTER SPACE, so silver lining. Earl Foxe finds himself the only man alive after a plague of “masculitis” kills off every other male. The male fantasy elements are upended here, as Foxe is a terrified nebbish who can’t spare a moment to leer suggestively and he’s not capable of conquering anything. There are some very funny moments in it; I particularly enjoyed the Cat Lady President, a joke which you know twenties audiences parsed as “planet of women, girls don’t know how to do the governing and stuff,” and which now reads as “planet of women, doesn’t need as much governing.” Note: on a real “Planet of Women,” we would not be running around in skimpy little chorus girl outfits. Baggy sweats and ratty t-shirts, guys.

DR. JACK. I hadn’t seen this Harold Lloyd before, it’s not the caliber of his better known works and didn’t generate the uproarious laughter Lloyd usually generates, but it’s still a pleasant, sweet comedy with some very funny moments.

HOLLYWOOD’S SILENT ECHOES. John Bengston gave us a talk on shooting locations for Keaton, Lloyd, and Chaplin in Hollywood. I’m always fascinated and gobsmacked at Mr. Bengston’s ability to spot and identify tiny architectural details; at one point he said “…now as you can see…” and an audience member responded, sotto voce, “no, only you can see that!” It’s true. I could not do what he does. I’m sure glad he does it. Sadly, I missed his walking tour of the locations, it was hotter than Hades.

PAUL KILLIAM PROMO. This short was as advertised, a promo (courtesy Paul Gierucki) Paul Killiam made for an unrealized television series on silent film. Interesting and sad that the proposed series was not picked up.

A TOUGH WINTER (English and French versions). An English language Our Gang short, followed immediately by a French language version, with the kids and Stepin Fetchit speaking phonetically (except for the two kids who were actually speaking French). Fetchit is hard to take in English, he was even weirder in French. Really a unique window into early sound film, thanks Cinecon. More of this type of programming, please?

DON’T GET NERVOUS. What the hell. I don’t remember this at all.

FLUTTERING HEARTS. A very funny Charley Chase short, with beautiful Martha Sleeper, Eugene Pallette (who was wasted in silent film) and a mannequin.

OLD IRONSIDES. This was my favorite of the festival, a big chunk of adventure filmmaking with sea battles, pirates, the beautiful Esther Ralston, the even more beautiful Charles Farrell, the usual portentous direction by James Cruze although in this case it’s not stultifying, and a smoking hot amazing score by Jon Mirsalis, the best I think I’ve ever heard him play.

KICK ME AGAIN. A Charles Puffy short. He’s clearly aping Arbuckle, but I found him amusing. I’m told he did more interesting work later, but he returned to his native Hungary at the advent of sound. Sadly, as he was Jewish, both his career and his life were cut short during WWII.

THE SCHOOLTEACHER AND THE WAIF. This Biograph starred Mary Pickford and Robert Harron, directed by D.W. Griffith. All was going well for me until the schoolteacher made the pass at the very, very young Mary. Creepy.

THE PRIDE OF THE CLAN. The print was soft and too dark, but it’s a good Pickford vehicle which made up for the soft/dark in my book. Mary plays her standard spunky young girl role with loads of stage-Scot dialect, Maurice Tourneur directing, and Ben Carre set design. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Pickford look more beautiful.

LET’S GO NATIVE. Normally I’d run the other way at a Jeanette McDonald film, but since Kay Francis was in it I decided to stay in my seat. I was hoping for something like MILLION DOLLAR LEGS or INTERNATIONAL HOUSE, and there were flashes of off-the-wall wit, but the timing didn’t quite gel. There were long, dull stretches and people kept bursting into song, which is always problematic for me. It wasn’t very good song, either. Francis was displaying all her star quality but this was the beginning of her career and they didn’t make good use of her. Oh well, you can’t win ‘em all.

A FRESH START. A Jack White short. There were some lions.

THE HOLY TERROR. A standard Jane Withers entry, Jane plays the daughter of a naval officer on a base where a prototype plane is being designed. There are spies and adventure and sailors who sing and tapdance. At one point, Jane’s father advises her that she shouldn’t spend so much time hanging out with the enlisted men. His reason is because “they’re not officers” rather than “you’re a little girl and it’s creepy.”

A BLONDE’S REVENGE. A funny Ben Turpin short.

THE GOOD BAD MAN. Douglas Fairbanks, Bessie Love, and the storied Joshua Trees of Wyoming! I liked this one quite a bit, Fairbanks is always watchable and Bessie Love was breathtaking. The Goessel Foundation is working on a restoration which I hope to see that when it’s finished. As with all westerns…well, those you can get me to sit through…my overarching concern is “stop running those horses like that! And for heaven’s sake, when you finish running the poor creature into the ground, walk it and groom it properly!”

TRANSIENT LADY. What did this film not have? Traveling skating rinks, murder, the longest fake eyelashes I’ve ever seen, gang violence, pairs skating, southern lawyers and courtroom drama, a faux Big Daddy and a proposed lynching, a love story, eyebrows that would have made Leonard Nimoy scream in envy, and evening gowns worn everywhere, including on a hike in the woods. TRANSIENT LADY is as harebrained as they come, the Hollywood studio product burning on eight cylinders. I enjoyed the living heck out of it.

MARE NOSTRUM. Seen it before, but it’s a truism: you haven’t seen it until you’ve seen it on the big screen. This was my second favorite of the festival, more seagoing adventure in a beautifully restored and tinted Photoplay print, featuring Phil Carli playing a knockout score. It’s pictorially ravishing, which we expect from Ingram; it’s also a tad slow in places, which we also expect from Ingram. My only beef with the film is Antonio Moreno: he’s a solid performer, but he doesn’t exactly rivet you with his star quality. Valentino would have smoked that role.

TURKISH HOWLS. Damn, I don’t remember this one, either. It was a short. What the hell, you all know better than to come to me for comedy reviews!

EVE’S LEAVES. Another festival favorite for me. That C.B. DeMille guy sure knew how to put a film together, didn’t he? Leatrice Joy sports her stylish cropped hair, William Boyd unveils a heretofore unexplored facility with chopsticks, and we get more pirates, adventure, and love!

SUTTER’S GOLD. Yikes, what a stiff.

WET AND WARMER. I hiked myself in at 9:00am to see this Lehrman short for some filmographical work and therefore I am so writing Cinecon costs off. Back story is: this is one of the films always listed on Virginia Rappe’s filmography in such reliable sources as wikipedia and imdb, but silent comedy peeps who had actually seen it informed me that she wasn’t in it. I was happy with that and crossed it off my list. However, they showed it at Cinecon a few years ago; after the film Richard Roberts walked up to me and said “I hate to tell you this, but I think I may have spotted her in one of the crowd scenes.” “Son of a biscuit” thinks I, and so a while ago I went to UCLA, where Jere Guldin patiently ran the thing over and over and over again on a steenbeck for me. I indeed spotted a woman who could have been Virginia Rappe, or perhaps she was just wearing Virginia Rappe’s clothing. So I’ve now seen it in 35mm on the big screen and I can confidently and categorically state: that woman may be Virginia Rappe or perhaps it’s a woman wearing Virginia Rappe’s clothing. I can’t ID the woman any more firmly than that so you’re all going to have to live with “maybe.” On the lighter side, this is one of Lehrman’s funnier shorts—I love the Frenchie puppy, and Charlotte Dawn’s lovelorn “anorexia” is hilarious.

CASTLES FOR TWO. Ah, who does not love the hillside chapparal of Ye Olde Ireland! Elliot Dexter is a financially strapped Irish aristocrat, Marie Doro the wealthy American heiress. I’ll bet you can’t guess what happens. Dexter is…well, he’s there. Doro had the biggest pair of eyes I’ve ever seen, but she kept doing strange things with her mouth that reminded me of Marion Davies in Show People, probably not the effect she was striving for. I now understand why her film career was limited. It was a pleasant trifle, if I never see it again I’m fine with that.

THE RETURN OF SHERLOCK HOLMES. This was one creaky early talkie, derived from Basil Dean’s play and showing it badly. Clive Brooks was a respectable Sherlock Holmes, if more sympathetic and warmhearted than is usual; he’s not the best or worst Holmes I’ve seen. The clown playing Moriarty, however, was the worst I’ve ever seen and I was hoping the two young romantic leads would maybe get cholera or something.

SPRING PARADE. Normally I react to Deanna Durbin with the same fleet footwork I display with Jeanette McDonald, but I decided to stick around to watch SPRING PARADE. I was quite pleasantly surprised. Durbin plays a Hungarian peasant girl (replete with dirndl, kerchief, and goat) who through a series of misadventures ends up in Vienna, falls in love, meets Emperor Franz Joseph, and goes to a ball. What, it’s a Durbin film, what did you expect? It’s Vienna so there are loads of waltzes, pastries, whipped cream, and cutesie architecture, but despite the sugary elements the film sports some outrageous humor (there are a couple of particularly funny gags built around Durbins’s petticoats). Durbin is lovely and in beautiful voice, and the music is excellent. I’m glad I stayed to watch it.

The Nitrateville dinner at Musso’s was a success, I think something like 22 people showed up—next year we might have to consider getting a private room. Thank you, Rick! Pictures are on my Facebook. The Daughters of Naldi Annual Cinecon Brunch was also a success, 13 of us got together to plot your demise over French toast. Be afraid.

Thank you to the Cinecon officers and committee for putting together another great festival, the stalwart volunteers who make it all run smoothly, the sterling accompaniment of Messrs. Carli, Mirsalis, Hodges, and new guy, Adam Swanson (welcome!). I had a great time, I’m already missing my friends and looking forward to next year. Which, btw, will be the 50th Cinecon, may I suggest a “Best of Cinecon?”

Lots of interesting info here.... I remember hating Mare Nostrum first time I saw it but thought it excellent when I saw it a year or so ago. I agree with you about Moreno and that Valentino would have been great in the role (maybe even Novarro). But the hugely underrated Alice Terry makes up for any lacks.....

I haven't seen anyone else chime in, so I'll start this year's reaction thread for Cinecon.

Thanks EB, Stan and everybody else for a great weekend. I didn't get to see as many films as I would have liked, but enjoyed a great number of this year's entries. No undiscovered masterpieces, but only a handful of real dogs.

Running themes included Eve and her apples, monkeys, the shanghai-ing of sailors, and people (and animals) busting through paintings.

THURSDAY August 29:

IT'S A FRAME UP (2013) - walked in late on this three-reel short (an unfortunate theme this weekend.) While no, SH! THE OCTOPUS, it had some very funny gags, especially involving some of the paintings in the Pangborn art gallery. It might have been a stronger entry had it been edited down to two reels, but you could see the love for the genre. **1/2

THE DOME DOCTOR (1925) - It's Larry Semon, so you can count on a white guy being covered in molasses for a blackface gag, and a black man being covered in flour for a whiteface gag. But we also had some amazing gags involving a monkey's tail that seemed to be acting as a precursor to ALIEN, which made the whole thing slightly more enjoyable than the average Semon. **1/2

PUDDIN' HEAD (1940) - Judy Canova in a rubes-go-to-the-big-city musical. Too much Judy, but her supporting cast, especially Francis Lederer and Eddie Foy Jr. made this watchable. **

THE LAST MAN ON EARTH (1924) - It's 1950(!) and mancitis has killed off every man over 13 - with one exception: one-gal-guy Earle Foxe who has retreated to the redwoods after being disappointed in love. Foxe's gun-shy character made this planet-of-women fantasy palatable. On top of that, we have a JUST IMAGINE-style look into the "future" (including couture!) and some funny gender-role moments, including a *most* industrious barmaid. The set-up took too long, but the pay-off was definitely worth it. This is one of those Cinecon discoveries that should be made more readily available. ***

RED PEPPER (1925) - Al St. John. Actually, jet-lag had already set in (I suspect THE LAST MAN ON EARTH would have received a higher rating had I been more awake.) I remember finding RED PEPPER enjoyable but can't remember any details. Much as I wanted to see the remaining features, we cut out early for sleep. **1/2


FRIDAY AUGUST 30

DR. JACK (1922) - Far from my favorite Lloyd, this was still more enjoyable on a big screen than on DVD. Lloyd is a small town doctor brought in to save Mildred Davis from her money-sucking quack Eric Mayne. **1/2

John Bengtson presented a slide show of Chaplin, Keaton & Lloyd filming locations that are still (somewhat) recognizable within Hollywood. Fascinating and overwhelming at the same time.

A TOUGH WINTER (1930) - the English language and the first reel of the French version of this Our Gang short. With Stepin Fetchit. I'll wait a second while your brain processes the concept of Stepin Fetchit speaking French. Have you recovered? Actually, Stepin is slightly more coherent en francais than he is in English. The kids range from surprisingly good to Stan-Laurel-amusingly-bad. Don't worry about plot. **1/2

FLUTTERING HEARTS (1927) - Charley Chase speakeasy comedy with Martha Sleeper, Oliver Hardy and Eugene Pallette. Easily the best short I saw all weekend. ***

OLD IRONSIDES (1926) - silly but highly enjoyable fantasy of Wallace Beery shanghai-ing Charles Farrell and George Bancroft aboard a merchant ship that somehow gets itself in the middle of the Battle of Tripoli Harbor in 1804. This is a BIG film and seeing it on a BIG screen made a BIG difference. It didn't hurt that cinematographer Alfred Gilks captured several jaw-droppingly beautiful close-ups of Farrell (far more and far more erotic than those afforded leading lady Esther Ralston.) Also astonishing was George Godfrey's almost stereotype-free performance as the black cook. Best of all, when captured by pirates, Godfrey gave as good as he got along with (and alongside) Beery and Bancroft. Even moreso than Blue Washington in THE BLOOD SHIP, (made the following year with the equally too-beautiful Richard Arlen) Godfrey and company shock by making race a non-issue (apart, of course, from those evil Muslim pirates.) While we were blessed with four great accompanists all weekend long, Jon Mirsalis really rose to the occasion on this one. ***1/2

KICK ME AGAIN (1925) - silent two-reeler with Charles Puffy as a dancing instructor. Lots of fat gags, some better than average, and he ends up in drag at the end to avoid a jealous husband. **1/2

THE SCHOOL TEACHER AND THE WAIF (1912) unintentionally creepy early Pickford as a youngster failing to fit in at school and the teacher who really really really likes her. *1/2

THE PRIDE OF THE CLAN (1917) - Pickford silent with Mary as the orphaned leader of a Scottish clan who falls for Matt Moore, neither knowing that he is British nobility. I wanted to like this more than I did. Still suffering from jet lag didn't help, nor did the less than pristine print, nor did the creepy Pickford amuse bouche which preceded it. But I think my biggest issue was that Mary was less plucky and more Gish-victim than usual. I hoped she would end up with the disgruntled drunk (Edward Roseman?) instead of Moore, but you can't have everything. **

LETS GO NATIVE (1930) - one of the last entries of the 1929-30 tidal wave of musicals, director Leo McCarey essentially fashioned a DUCK SOUP-styled Marxian fever dream - but without the Marx Brothers. The plot, such as it is, involved Jeanette MacDonald as a broke heiress-turned-stage-show-costume-designer en route with the company to Brazil when they are shipwrecked and wash ashore an island ruled by Skeets Gallagher. We also get Jack Oakie as Voltaire McGinnis wooing - and singing with(!) - socialite Kay Fwancis. We also get some wonderfully heady pre-code moments, a dancing bear ballet and a knowing sendup of the sing-at-the-drop-of-a-hat conventions that the public was already tiring of. I would love to see this again when I am more awake, and while I understand others thought a lot less of it than I, I highly recommend it to those in the mood for silly and logic-free entertainment. ***

I really really really wanted to see the Fredi Washington nightcap feature, but cut my losses and went to the hotel.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 31

THE GOOD BAD MAN (1916) - have I mentioned recently how much I love Bessie Love? She was, to some, more cute than pretty and didn't have that something special that makes a star, but I have yet to see her give a bad, un-natural performance. And she's wonderful here opposite Douglas Fairbanks. Doug is good too in a neither comic nor swashbuckaly role as a robin-hood-styled western bandit trying to uncover the tragedy of his early years that led him down the road to crime. But Bessie steals the film. ***

TRANSIENT LADY (1935) - perhaps the biggest surprise of the weekend. Frances Drake finds herself in a small southern town with Clark Williams and Edward Ellis in a traveling roller skating rink (who knew?) Williams gets himself railroaded for murder and the town aristocrat Gene Raymond must fight to get him acquitted, while good ole boy Henry Hull leaves no piece of scenery undigested as the prosecutor and brother of the victim. But just as Hull organizes the town into a lynch mob, producer Junior Laemmle throws in the wildest of curves. Filmed *just* after the Code came in - between his IMITATION OF LIFE and SHOW BOAT - Junior has his black supporting cast (Rochester Anderson, John Taylor and, unbilled, Hattie McDaniel among others) suddenly stop with the cringe-inducing comedy bits and get real, as the entire black population of the town go into hiding to avoid being caught up in the lynch mob's path. While not nearly as coherent or polished as FURY, released a year later, TRANSIENT LADY is a brave, if quirky, effort. Clearly, there is a story somewhere on Junior Laemmle's complicated thoughts on race. ***

MARE NOSTRUM (1926) - I first fell in love with MARE NOSTRUM at Cinecon 1994(?) and have enjoyed seeing it from time to time on TCM, but it was a real treat to see it again, beautifully and subtly tinted by Photoplay, on the big screen. I still find Alice Terry emotionally cool as an actress, but it works well for her role as a WWI Austrian spy. Likewise, Antonio Moreno is no Valentino, but it works for his weak sea captain role. In any case, the true stars of the film are John Seitz's beautiful photography of those wonderful European locations - and they both deliver in spades. Seeing such a beautiful print on a big screen allows one to truly drink in all the details. I'm not sure if this title is now common enough to be considered a warhorse, but it, along with OLD IRONSIDES were the hits of the weekend. ***1/2

THEIR FIRST EXEUCTION (1913) Ford Sterling and Mack Sennett contemplate the funny side of execution by electric chair in this Sennett short. **1/2

SUDDENLY IT'S SPRING (1947) - Paulette Goddard takes the Claudette Colbert role in this Fred MacMurray coming home screwball comedy. So long as you don't think enough to notice the hangar-sized plot holes, this was fun, but not as good as some of the previous MacMurray comedies Cinecon has run recently. Best was the bitchy first meeting of estranged wife Goddard and Fred's would-be fiancé Arleen Whelan. I was more interested in a (for me) rare spotting of Broadway actors Macdonald Carey and (especially) Roberta Jonay. **3/4

HOLD 'EM YALE (1928) Rod La Rocque in a woefully unfunny football comedy. Even the addition of a monkey failed to liven the proceedings. I gave up on this long before the climatic football game, and it appears as if the production team did as well, as there was no attempt at all to match up the football footage with La Rocque's damaged left arm. For me (who bypassed most of SUTTER'S GOLD) this was the stinker of the weekend. *

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 1

EVE'S LEAVES (1926) - gender-bending romantic comedy of Leatrice Joy in male drag (as a ship captain's daughter) winning William Boyd while fighting the yellow peril in China. The whole thing played like a Disney cartoon with the exception that the princess (Joy) actually fought alongside the men and was smart enough to work out ways to get her out of the troubles she had caused herself. Charming. ***

OH, MARY, BE CAREFUL (1921) - Madge Kennedy in an action-free pre-flapper comedy of a mantrap sent to live with her spinster aunt, where she sets her sights on the tree surgeon (George J. Forth.) As with EVE'S LEAVES, we get apples and allusions to Eve and Eden. While many of the title cards were funny, this film was a case of tell and not show. *Nothing* of interest happened on the screen between the titles, which told the whole story. Beyond slight. **

APRIL LOVE (1957) - Only the opportunity to see Shirley Jones in person would have ever prompted me to sit through this Pat Boone vehicle. But it was truly inoffensive all around and Shirley never looked lovelier. I was disappointed that co-guest Pat Boone managed to turn the Q&A session after the film into the Pat Boone show, but I'm happy I was there and got Shirley to sign her book. **1/2

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 2

WET AND WARMER (1920) - Henry Lehrman short about bootleggers using a building's fire hoses to store and dispense bootleg hooch. We also got some funny gags involving a dog (and some people) popping through three-sheet posters. And a wild and dangerous fiery finale. **1/2

CASTLES FOR TWO (1917) - Marie Doro as the American heiress who returns to Ireland and romances titled but cash-poor gentleman Elliott Dexter, but wishes to ensure that he loves her for her and not her money. It being Ireland, we also get fairies (children in funny hats shot in double exposure.) Another comedy romance heavy on charm but not big on laughs. **1/4

Sadly, that was all we had time for. Thanks again to everyone who put Cinecon together. It was great to meet up with old friends and meet some new ones. Thanks most of all for allowing me the luxury of seeing film again on a big screen with an appreciative audience. In the desert of Atlanta, that joy has all but disappeared.

Now to see if what I've heard is true and if Shirley Jones (and/or her collaborator) really has gone to the David Bret school of celebrity biography.

Here are my reviews for Days 1 and 2. Days 3, 4 and 5 are coming up:

IT’S A FRAME UP! (2013) - I suspect Mike Schlesinger’s ode to 1930s comedy shorts might have got a better reaction had the crowd been a little warmed up. There were a few jokes that didn't land or went on a little long, but the same could be said of the source material, which was lovingly and convincingly reproduced.

THE DOME DOCTOR (1925) - As an oddball hairdresser, Semon does his best to produce his usual special-effects laden fare on a limited budget. A nice sequence with a monkey shows that Semon might have been a more likeable comic had he dropped the focus on effects and concentrated on character moments.

PUDDIN’ HEAD (1940) - This plays as if Republic thought up three different vehicles for cornpone superstar Judy Canova, but kept changing their mind about which one to go with. We start with a standard Beverly Hillbillies-type premise, with Judy and Uncle Goober (Slim Somerville) stumbling into a valuable plot of land in New York, out of which a rich executive and his bumbling son (Raymond Warburn and Eddie Foy, Jr) hope to cheat them. Francis Lederer's self-effacing performance as a shiftless European prince is the best thing in the film, but both he and his storyline appear from nowhere halfway through. In the final third the focus suddenly changes again, to Judy’s attempts to become a radio star. Judy Canova plays Judy Canova as only Judy Canova can. Take from that what you will.

DOWN ARGENTINE WAY (1940) - Enjoyable Technicolor soufflé has handsome Argentinian horse-breeder Don Ameche fall for Betty Grable who, Romeo and Juliet style, turns out to be the daughter of a rival equestrian family. The script is light and Charlotte Greenwood, as Betty’s snooty mother, gets the best lines. Aside from the horse racing theme there’s very little authentic Argentinian atmosphere - we get several rhumbas (Cuban), the conga (Cuban), a debut American appearance from Carmen Miranda (Brazilian) and a show-stopping tap dance from the Nicholas Brothers - but, unforgivably, not a single tango! The newly restored print looked stunning.

RED PEPPER (1925) - Enjoyable Al St John short livened by some impressive bicycle acrobatics. Al is a chemist who conceives an ideal way to sell his anti-itching powder: by striking unsuspecting citizens with itching powder.

THE LAST MAN ON EARTH (1924) - Hapless little Ernest is in love with Hattie, who could not marry him ‘even if he were the last man on earth’. Devastated, Ernest rejects women for life. The fun starts when we cut to the distant future - first 1940, and later 1950 - when the major threat to mankind is not World War but ‘masculitis’, a disease that has wiped out the whole adult male population. When an aviatrix finds the now-grown Ernest living in the wilderness as a hermit, his discovery is a sensation. Before long, his hand in marriage is being fought over by millionairesses and won via an all-ladies boxing match, with a conclusion that makes Seven Chances look like The Dating Game!

It’s a stretch to find any feminist message lurking behind the film, though there are some gutsy female characters. The concept wasn’t quite strong enough to last the distance, but its offbeat nature, outlandish future fashions and touches such as an all-women gang of street thugs are so much fun that it hardly matters. A highlight of Day 1, assisted by a clever accompaniment by Frederick Hodges.

This was preceded with the trailer for the lost 1933 remake It’s Great to Be Alive. By the sounds of things, a feminist masterpiece it was not.

WAY OUT WEST (1920) - This sham-Western has some funny moments, thanks largely to the agreeably dour presence of pear-shaped comic Hank Mann.

JUST A GOOD GUY (1924) - Hal Roach comic and Harry Langdon-alike Arthur Stone is a pawn shop worker with an odd resemblance to a newly created robot man. The robot’s damaged, and guess who has to step in to substitute for it? Stone’s work as the robot is quite clever, and Olive Borden contributes a cameo as a lady shoplifter. Fay Wray is also credited, but I didn’t spot her.

DR JACK (1922) - Not the funniest Harold Lloyd by any means, this still serves as a reminder of Lloyd’s skill as a craftsman - even an early feature such as this compares well to one made five years later in terms of construction and pace. Lloyd plays a kindly country doctor attempting to cure the ‘Sick-Little-Well-Girl’ (Mildred Davis), whose spirit and health are being broken by the officious Dr Von Saulsbourg (Eric Mayne).

SILENT ECHOES - This presentation really helped to illuminate John Bengston’s groundbreaking work on silent film location scouting, clarifying several of the locations discussed in his books and website. His recent discovery that the alleyways off Cahuenga Blvd and Selma Ave served as a setting for Chaplin’s The Kid, Lloyd’s Safety Last and Keaton’s Cops is a knockout.

I strolled up to take another look at Cahuenga during the festival - alas, an outdoor cafe has moved into Buster's Cops alleyway, obscuring a view that did not change for ninety years. I’d still like to know who we have to talk to to have it renamed ‘John Bengston Boulevard’.

SILENTS PLEASE - PAUL KILLIAM PITCH REEL - This video pitch, in which Killiam details his concept for the ground-breaking Silents Please television presentation, reminds us just how important Killiam’s love and respect for the medium was, at a time when Fractured Flickers and its ilk were all that most people saw, or cared to see, of a silent film.

A TOUGH WINTER (1930) - Shown first in English and then in the one surviving reel of the French version, this ‘Our Gang’ curiosity provides an interesting insight into early sound bilingual production. It appears a dual cast was used, with a couple of fluent French-speaking kids appearing only in the background of the English version but given the bulk of the lines in the French version, with the young American cast mainly limited to the occasional “Oui!” or “Oh la la!”. You have to wonder what the French thought of the excruciating comic stylings of Stepin Fetchit. The story itself is fairly standard Our Gang fare, with the kids making a mess of the house when they try their hand at pulling taffy.

DON’T GET NERVOUS - This is a fun home-made silent movie starring the radiant Fay McKenzie, who was in attendance, along with Billy Gilbert and several other famous faces. Fay is an auditioning starlet who can’t seem to impress a big director or his very camp cameraman.

FLUTTERING HEARTS (1927) - This funny Charley Chase short clicks into gear in the second reel, with a sequence that has Charley bringing a female mannequin into a speakeasy, not only dancing an energetic fox trot but manipulating it skillfully enough to make it successfully seduce the dastardly but tipsy Big Bill (a pre-Laurel Oliver Hardy). A young Eugene Pallette appears as a motorcycle cop, and there are some good views of early Culver City.

OLD IRONSIDES (1926) - I find James Cruze’s nation-building movies a little self-important, and Old Ironsides is no exception. Nevertheless, it’s a well-made, lavish and enjoyable epic, with a very young-looking Charles Farrell as an adventurer who joins the crew of the legendary ship, the ‘Constitution’. Esther Ralston does what she can with a colourless role as Farrell’s love interest, while Wallace Beery and George Bancroft provide good comic relief in supporting roles. You can see the film’s high budget on the screen with some elaborate sets and epic tall-ship sea battles, assisted immensely by Jon Mirsalis’s brilliant score. I know that synth scores are not generally liked, but this one was simply the best I’ve ever heard, subtle and atmospheric, whilst not overdoing it with the sound effects.

KICK ME AGAIN (1925) - The roly-poly Hungarian comic Charles Puffy is a very likeable screen presence in this short, which he spends mostly in a tutu. It seems that poor Puffy came to a sad end, though its exact nature is unclear. Some sources claim that he died in a Soviet gulag, others that he passed away in Tokyo in 1942, and still others that he was a victim of Auschwitz. I’d like to know more, and to see more of his work.

THE SCHOOLTEACHER AND THE WAIF (1912) - Shown in a brand new Pickford Foundation print, this short is quintessential Mary, playing a plucky but misunderstood schoolgirl, the denoument being that her initially severe schoolteacher falls in love with her. Um, eek!

THE PRIDE OF THE CLAN (1917) - Frankly, one of the less compelling Pickfords I’ve seen from this period. Mary, as the doughty Scotswoman who becomes the head of the McTavish clan after the sea claims her father, is excellent as usual, but she is saddled with a plodding plot and rather dull love interest in Matt Moore. The Scottish coastal setting provides the opportunity for some lovely shots of roiling seas.

LET’S GO NATIVE (1930) - Completely bonkers Pre-Code is a bizarre collision of Gilligans Island and International House. It isn’t much use explaining the plot, which has a varied cast including Jeanette Macdonald, Jack Oakie, and an under-used Kay Francis shipwrecked on a tropical island ruled by Skeets Gallagher (of course). There is a funny running gag involving the name of Oakie’s character, Voltaire McGinnis, but this is uneven at best, its musical numbers and farcical plot giving it more of the flavour of a stage revue than a film.

ONE MILE FROM HEAVEN (1937) - I was glad not to miss this, one of the most interesting treatments of race I have ever seen in a 1930s Hollywood film. Claire Trevor is a go-getting reporter who hopes to scoop her bumbling colleagues with the story of a black woman (Fredi Washington), who claims that her white daughter (Joan Carol) is her real child. In getting to the bottom of the story, Claire is forced to confront issues of journalistic integrity, particularly as she befriends the woman and her policeman beau, played (and occasionally danced) by Bill ‘Bojangles’ Robinson. Blackmailers and a wealthy couple (Sally Blane and John Eldredge) become involved before the truth is revealed.

Performances are excellent all round and Allan Dwan’s direction is expert, but Fredi Washington is the clear standout, giving an intensely moving and dignified performance that makes it all the more sad that this was her screen swansong. Though the rather disappointing ending is rooted in the attitudes of its time, there are aspects that are simply revolutionary. When Claire Trevor first stumbles into the black neighbourhood, we see black people not as servants or comic relief but as human beings, going about their business. This is an important film which deserves to be more widely seen.

Still recuperating from the weekend, and am impressed by the endurance of others to catch so many more flicks than I did. In brief:

-- LAST MAN ON EARTH: was one of my favorites of the weekend, just because it kept topping itself in outlandishness. As Harlan said, it took too long to get going (strange prologue that seemed to belong to a different film, stylistically and narratively). But once we got to the 'future', it was a pure delight. What's not to love about a 'flapper frolic' (apparently they still have flappers in 1950!) and Congresswomen boxing on the Senate floor?!

-- MARE NOSTRUM: I'd seen bits of this on TCM, but oh so lovely on the big screen with an audience. I initially feared the Rex Ingram pretty-pictures syndrome (I've always found 4 Horseman a snooze), but became totally engrossed in the story as it developed into the thrilling climax.

-- FLUTTERING HEARTS: Whole-heartedly second Harlan's comments about the Charley Chase short; just brilliant comedy, especially with the mannequin.
-- TOUGH WINTER: a little Our Gang goes a long way for me, and this was no exception though the opportunity to hear Stepin Fetchit speak French was hard to pass up. And the kids' line readings didn't seem much worse in phoenetic French than English.

-- John Bengsten's presentation was a delight for me -- streets and buildings (and even alleys) I have driven or walked past countless times took on new meaning thanks to John's obsession.

-- SUDDENLY IT"S SPRING: I liked this better than expected; sort of an AWFUL TRUTH with lapses of logic, but Paulette Goddard and Fred MacMurray were terrific (loved his attempts to repulse her by acting like an oaf).

-- HOLD EM YALE: always appreciate the opportunity to see restorations (and appreciate the effort), but this Rod La Roque vehicle was like bargain-basement William Haines: 30 year old cocky 'kid' goes to college and chases girl. I folded about half-way through.

-- APRIL LOVE: wouldn't have watched but for Shirley Jones, but a pleasant and charming surprise in new print in Cinemascope. Pat Boone was better than I was expecting, and there was a great supporting cast.

-- CHINA: from 1943, set in wartorn China in the '30s with Loretta Young, Alan Ladd, and William Bendix fighting the Japanese (but heavy on the WW2 propaganda). The 3 stars deliver in great turns, a rousing climax and beautiful score.

-- SPRING PARADE (1940): plucky Deanna Durbin vehicle set in fairy-tale 19th century Vienna, with endearing support from Henry Stephensen as the Emperor and SZ Sakall as a kindly baker who takes Deanna in. The fly in this confection was Robert Cummings, who makes my skin crawl.

thanks to Bob, Stan, Bryan, Stella and everyone else for another fun weekend!

Harlett O'Dowd wrote:
THE LAST MAN ON EARTH (1924) - It's 1950(!) and mancitis has killed off every man over 13 - with one exception: one-gal-guy Earle Foxe who has retreated to the redwoods after being disappointed in love. Foxe's gun-shy character made this planet-of-women fantasy palatable. On top of that, we have a JUST IMAGINE-style look into the "future" (including couture!) and some funny gender-role moments, including a *most* industrious barmaid. The set-up took too long, but the pay-off was definitely worth it. This is one of those Cinecon discoveries that should be made more readily available. ***

Make it readily available and I'll scoop it up in a flash. (and add that trailer to It's Great to Be Alive too)

Steve

And now for Days 3, 4 and 5. To anyone who saw the films that have not been covered, please chime in, I want to hear how they were!

A FRESH START (1920) - I couldn’t tell you the plot of this baffling short from Henry Lehrman protege Jack White, but there was appeal in the appearance of some early special effects, including stop-motion animation and split-screen.

THE HOLY TERROR (1937) - One of the better, Jane Withers vehicles I’ve seen and certainly the most lavishly staged, this probably made a swell kid’s matinee at the time of its release but is not very sophisticated fare for grown ups. Jane plays a winsome army brat who becomes involved in tracking down some spies in pursuit of a secret aircraft being constructed on the base. Jane Withers was in attendance, and is as feisty as ever.

A BLONDE’S REVENGE (1926) - Ben Turpin, in the running to become a senator, is the victim of a rival candidate who attempts to lure him in some compromising situations in order to be photographed and thrown from the race. Some things never change.

THE GOOD BAD MAN (1916) - Interesting early Douglas Fairbanks vehicle, which has Doug playing what would later become a quintessential Fairbanks role - the lovable rogue who turns out to be good at heart. He’s ‘Passing Through’, a Robin Hood-style bandit who attributes his thieving ways to his uncertain parentage. Once this is cleared up, he decides to turn over a new leaf. Doug is of course charming, while Bessie Love is muted as his love interest.

TRANSIENT LADY (1935) - Where to start with this very peculiar late Pre-Code? Francis Drake is a member of a troupe of travelling roller skating performers, who creates a stir when she arrives at a closed-minded town. Gene Raymond is OK as the small-town lawyer who falls for her, but Henry Hull is unbelievably hammy as corrupt local senator Hamp Baxter, who rules the town with an iron fist. Helen Lowell and Clara Blandick are enjoyable as the two tough old ladies who won’t stand for Francis’ mistreatment. Otherwise, this is one of those things I believe the kids call a ‘hot mess’.

THEIR FIRST EXECUTION (1913) - Ford Sterling and Mack Sennett mug it up in this early short. Call me sensitive but I wasn’t crazy about the idea of capital punishment as comedy fodder.

SUDDENLY IT’S SPRING (1947) - In this completely delightful screwball comedy, Paulette Goddard is a WAC and wartime marriage counsellor, who returns home to find herself having second thoughts about the divorce she’d planned with hubby Fred MacMurray since before the war. Paulette puts up every contrivance to avoid signing the papers, much to the consternation of MacMurray’s new girlfriend, a wonderfully catty Arleen Whelan. Meanwhile, MacMurray’s millionaire friend (Jack Lindsay) claims to be helping her win her husband back, but actually has designs on her himself.

Aside from some great comedy, there’s a real flavour of life in the postwar period, with references to housing shortages and the tensions that were breaking up real-life marriages. Wonderful performances and a sparkling script make this a real find.

HOLD ‘EM YALE (1928) - This forgettable college comedy features Rod La Roque as an amorous Argentinian bandit who follows an American girl (Jeanette Loff) to Yale, where he becomes a football star. It didn’t seem to have the usual polish of De Mille productions of this period, but featured some good views of his still-extant Culver City studio facade.

TURKISH HOWLS (1927) - This FBO short leaves no Turkish cliche untried, but cannot find enough to do with them to fill two reels.

EVE’S LEAVES (1926) - My ‘Must See’ of the festival, Eve's Leaves did not disappoint. Leatrice Joy is both sexy and self-deprecating as Eve, a naive girl who has been brought up on shipboard as a boy by her sailor father. The arrival of handsome American adventurer William Boyd inspires her to ditch the trousers and try her hand - hilariously - at seduction. The pair fall prey to a gang of Chinese pirates, but Eve’s pluck saves the day. Whimsical, well-made and wonderfully enjoyable, it was another festival highlight.

SUTTER’S GOLD (1937) - This interminable biopic of Californian pioneer John Sutter demonstrates just how important Preston Sturgess’ screenplay was to the success of last year’s far superior Diamond Jim (1935). High production values cannot overcome a deadly dull, overlong and exposition-laden script in which nothing is left to chance - characters tell us exactly who they are and how they feel at every possible moment. Edward Arnold is at least sincere, but Binnie Barnes sleepwalks through her love-interest role. Reportedly, this was the film that sunk Carl Laemmle’s leadership of Universal Pictures. By the end, I would have personally fired him myself.

A THRILLING ROMANCE (1926) - A clear standout as the best comedy short of the festival. A lady screenwriter is struggling to come up with her newest scenario, but then finds herself part of an increasingly outlandish series of events. Star Wanda Wiley performs some hilarious (and dangerous!) car stunts against a great backdrop of early Los Angeles. It seems the survival rate of Wiley pictures is not high, which is a terrible shame - I want to see more from this talented lady!

OH MARY, BE CAREFUL (1921) - Madge Kennedy charms again in a more substantial film than last year’s Dollars and Sense (1920). This time, she’s a coy flapper who is thrown out of college and sent to live with her strict Aunt Myra, who hopes to cure her of her incorrigible flirting. The aunt's efforts are in vain, as a handsome young tree surgeon (Morgan Smith) arrives at the property. Kennedy’s baby-face is irresistible, and the cute subtitles ensured this was a lot of fun.

APRIL LOVE (1957) - In this sweet-natured and well-made musical drama, Pat Boone appears in an atypical role as a rev-head, sent to live in the country after falling in with the wrong crowd and losing his license. His aunt (Jeanette Nolan) is welcoming but his gruff Uncle Jed (Arthur O’Connell) is forbidding, still mourning the death of his own son in Korea. Boone gradually warms to the countryside, particularly after he meets pretty Dolores (Fran Templeton) and her horse-mad sister Liz (Shirley Jones). An interest in harness racing leads to a thawing in his relationship with Uncle Jed and a blossoming friendship - or something more - with Liz.

The new Cinemascope restoration looked gorgeous on the Egyptian’s giant screen, and there was an engaging Q&A with stars Boone and Jones afterwards. The only question I had was how they managed the tricky, dangerous-looking horseback stunts, which were obviously performed by the stars themselves.

BOTTOMS UP (1934) - Spencer Tracy plays huckster ‘Smoothie’ King in this thoroughly enjoyable Pre-Code. Encountering out-of-work actress Wanda Gale (Pat Paterson), he conceives a clever scam to catapult himself and fellow also-rans Herbert Mundin and Sid Silvers to the top of Hollywood. Under the guise of a visiting English noblewoman, Wanda finds herself not only starring alongside her hero Hal Reid (John Boles), the handsome but disillusioned star who has turned to drink, but finding her way into his affections. The witty script is rich with references to early sound-era Hollywood; Thelma Todd is good but under-utilised as an insufferable fellow actress. Because it clashed with the celebrity banquet, this did not get the audience it deserved.

THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE ARE FREE (1956) - I only saw about an hour of this, which contained some imaginatively staged dance sequences and looked good in Cinemascope. A late entry in the 1950s cycle of composer biopics, this time covering the career of Buddy DeSylva, Lew Brown and Ray Henderson, it was OK as far as the genre goes.

WET AND WARMER (1920) - Henry Lehrman throws everything at this short, which contains some hits but a few stretches of misses. Chief in the former category is a funny gag in which a small dog caught under a paper billboard causes a Theda Bara poster to undulate indecently, and some hair-raising building ledge sequences a-la Safety Last. The latter afforded some good glimpses of early Los Angeles.

CASTLES FOR TWO (1917) - Elliott Dexter is a penniless Irish lord who is being urged to marry money for the sake of his estate. Money arrives in the person of an American heiress (the ethereal Marie Doro). He is resistant to the idea of being married off to her; meanwhile, she has heard some unflattering (and untrue) stories about his supposed tyranny. After discovering him to be charming after all, Marie pretends to be poor in order to win his heart fair and square, and does so with the assistance of some of the local Irish fairies (yes, really). A quite effective early feature with just a bit of decomp at the beginning and end.

THE RETURN OF SHERLOCK HOLMES (1929) - About as creaky and paceless as the average 1929 talkie, this British-American co-production contains some moments of inspiration but its fair share of wooden performances and ludicrous lines. Clive Brook makes a decently quirky Holmes, but Harry T. Morey is a frankly bizarre Moriarty, who seems to have time-travelled in from a Universal horror film. The dense mystery plot takes in everything from Scotland Yard corruption to phone hacking.

SPRING PARADE (1940) - A well-made piece of wartime escapism set in a highly sentimentalised pre-war Vienna. Deanna Durbin plays the unworldly peasant girl Ilonka, who finds the fabulous but improbable fortune given her by a gypsy coming true almost at once. The setting provides ample opportunity for Deanna to sing a Viennese waltz or ten, and there are nice performances from S.Z. Sakall as the kindly baker who takes her under his wing, and Henry Stephenson as the Emperor Franz Joseph. Unexpectedly charming.

Frederica wrote:TURKISH HOWLS. Damn, I don’t remember this one, either. It was a short. What the hell, you all know better than to come to me for comedy reviews!

Frankly, you're better off not remembering. I had forgotten the first reel before we even got to the second. I'm fine with that.

And thank you, Frederica, for marshalling us all into Musso and Frank for a good (if noisy) time. This Cinecon thing is so good, I think they should hold one every year!

By the way, an F. Gwynplaine Macintyre alert is in order - his IMDB reviews of several festival films, including The Last Woman on Earth and The Return of Sherlock Holmes, are clearly fakes. To anyone who saw and enjoyed these films - or even if you saw and loathed them - I encourage you to contribute your own review to IMDB and correct the record.

I'm relieved to hear at least that The Return of Sherlock Holmes exists, given that the only user review was F Gwynplaine MacIntyre, i was afraid it might not be. It's certainly one of the more elusive Holmes talkies, and sounds from your reviews like it's rather a hoot. Harry T. Morey is an old Vitagraph actor who, for reasons which may now be apparent, didn't seem to have much of a talkie career (i've only seen him in the Ben Blue short Very Close Veins)

greta

And he was one of the directors of the 1907 Kalem Ben-Hur, or so it is claimed (it's his only directing credit, so who knows what that means).

greta de groat wrote:I'm relieved to hear at least that The Return of Sherlock Holmes exists, given that the only user review was F Gwynplaine MacIntyre, i was afraid it might not be. It's certainly one of the more elusive Holmes talkies, and sounds from your reviews like it's rather a hoot. Harry T. Morey is an old Vitagraph actor who, for reasons which may now be apparent, didn't seem to have much of a talkie career (i've only seen him in the Ben Blue short Very Close Veins)

greta

According to the programme notes, it's such a rarity that it's often cited as a lost film (the print came from the Library of Congress). It's definitely worth a watch if you can, particularly if you're a Holmesian. I certainly wouldn't go so far as to call it a lost classic - the plot's dense and stagebound, and as Frederica mentions, the young couple in the subplot are utterly slap-worthy - but there's much to like amongst the other players, particularly Donald Crisp.

Brooksie wrote:

greta de groat wrote:I'm relieved to hear at least that The Return of Sherlock Holmes exists, given that the only user review was F Gwynplaine MacIntyre, i was afraid it might not be. It's certainly one of the more elusive Holmes talkies, and sounds from your reviews like it's rather a hoot. Harry T. Morey is an old Vitagraph actor who, for reasons which may now be apparent, didn't seem to have much of a talkie career (i've only seen him in the Ben Blue short Very Close Veins)

greta

According to the programme notes, it's such a rarity that it's often cited as a lost film (the print came from the Library of Congress). It's definitely worth a watch if you can, particularly if you're a Holmesian. I certainly wouldn't go so far as to call it a lost classic - the plot's dense and stagebound, and as Frederica mentions, the young couple in the subplot are utterly slap-worthy - but there's much to like amongst the other players, particularly Donald Crisp.

Crisp was very good--he seemed to be the only actor in the piece who had already grasped how to act in sound film. Brooks came across as a bit mike-aware. Greta, you may be annoyed at how they played with Holmes's character, there is always a tendency to file off his rough edges. The real Holmes (did I just say that?) would have smacked those two kids into the middle of next week.

Frederica wrote:[
Crisp was very good--he seemed to be the only actor in the piece who had already grasped how to act in sound film. Brook came across as a bit mike-aware. Greta, you may be annoyed at how they played with Holmes's character, there is always a tendency to file off his rough edges. The real Holmes (did I just say that?) would have smacked those two kids into the middle of next week.

Well, in the next Brook Sherlock Holmes film, he's got a fiancee himself, so i think that one messes with the character even more (not to mention Brook ends up in drag, which is pretty scary). On the other hand, that film has a delicious Moriarty in Ernest Torrence, easily the best thing about the film.

greta

greta de groat wrote: Well, in the next Brooks Sherlock Holmes film, he's got a fiancee himself, so i think that one messes with the character even more (not to mention Brooks ends up in drag, which is pretty scary). On the other hand, that film has a delicious Moriarty in Ernest Torrence, easily the best thing about the film.

greta

Oh dear lord, a fiancee for Sherlock Holmes.

Decotodd wrote: -- MARE NOSTRUM: I'd seen bits of this on TCM, but oh so lovely on the big screen with an audience. I initially feared the Rex Ingram pretty-pictures syndrome (I've always found 4 Horseman a snooze), but became totally engrossed in the story as it developed into the thrilling climax.

I'm loving everyone's reviews! Thanks for posting!

Boggle, DecoTodd, Four Horsemen a snooze?!

Damn, I really want to see some of these, including The Good Bad Man, I love me some Doug and Bessie Love!

Part I of my review. I found many themes throughout, paintings over the head, mannequins without heads, odd and colorful forms of transportation, political issues that resonate today.

“It’s a Frameup,” is a contemporary, black and white film made in loving homage to 1930s comedy shorts featuring such performers as Max Davidson, Charley Chase, and Andy Clyde., with some roles based on comic gems like Franklin Pangborn and Edgar Kennedy. Financially-strapped Biffle and Shooster land jobs working in the Pangborn Gallery, watching over a priceless painting while the owner runs an errand. Comic mishaps ensue, punctuated by puns, wisecracks, and slapstick. In-jokes include parody paintings such as “Mammy’s Mother,” featuring Hattie McDaniel seated in a chair with a photo of Tara on the wall, and Max Davidson slapping his face in amazement a la “The Scream.” Fun though a little long.

A subdued Larry Semon short “The Dome Doctor,” (1925) followed. Sweethearts Semon and Dorothy Dwan deal with dueling dads who run a neighboring beauty shop and deli. A mischievous monkey causes all sorts of mishaps, aided by absent-minded Semon, with a variety of individuals dipped in flour, covered in molasses, and other icky items. At the conclusion, a shed explodes around an imprisoned Semon, who haphazardly bicycles away through what appears the Cahuenga Pass.

Republic’s “Puddin’ Head” (1941) played third, starring Judy Canova and Slim Summerville as country bumpkins living on a small farm surrounded by Fifth Avenue. Plotting and manipulations follow, but all’s well that ends well, enhanced by funny farm animals. Fun performances by Raymond Walburn, Francis Lederer, Eddie Foy Jr., and Canova put over odd musical numbers written by a young Jule Styne. The Mack Sennett/Republic administration building can be glimpsed in one shot.

“Down Argentine Way” (1941) screened just before the dinner break, a nice though somewhat static Fox Technicolor musical starring Don Ameche as an amorous Argentinian falling in love with a young American horsewoman, Betty Grable. Grable and tooty-fruity Carmen Miranda make their screen debuts in the film, which features such locations as the Will Rogers Ranch and polo field and Del Mar Racetrack. The Nicholas Brothers steal the show with two acrobatic, irrepressible tap numbers.

After dinner, the Al St. John short “Red Pepper” (1925) screened, containing amazing bicycle riding by St. John, who sprinkles itching powder on unsuspecting people to get them to buy salve from a particular store to help pay the mortgage. Nice locations like Hollywood, Echo Park Lake, and Edendale pop up, along with a poster promoting a Buster Keaton film playing at Bard’s. Dogs real and fake serve as important plot points.

A perfectly blended combo of last people on earth films screened: the trailer for the lost Fox film remake “It’s Great to be Alive,” followed by “The Last Man on Earth (Fox, 1924,” featuring Black-Foxe Academy’s leader, Earle Foxe. “The Last Man on Earth (Fox, 1924)” examined Foxe as the last man, who survived the great plague, Masculitis, when he ran away to the Giant Sequoias after his sweetheart rejected him. Women and boys under 14 survive into the 1940s and 1950s, where flappers are still popular, women are still wearing odd 1920s getups, open-air biplanes are still the rage, and Prince Edward became the King of England rather than the Duke of Wales. A member of the Tea House Gang, operating out of Chicago’s the Chicken Coop, discovers Foxe, and madness ensues. America’s cat lady President convenes the Senate to decide his fate, with Senatoresses from California and Texas boxing in the Senate for him. Contemporary issues pop up, like a divided Congress fighting each other and the President.

The Hank Mann-Vernon Dent “Way Out West” proved to be pretty bland and long, with villain Dent plotting with the sheriff to control a small western town, thwarted by city slicker Mann, who carries a Pacific Electric train pass for Vermont Ave.
Another slow, odd, and unfunny feature followed, the silent “Silk Hose High Pressure,” starring the boring Charlie Chaplin copycat, Billie Ritchie. Ritchie and his fellow boarding house dweller flirt with the chorus girls that move in, reenact a British music hall gag in a theatre, chase girls and each other through the building, and end up using a water hose to lift people in the air.

“Terror Aboard” closed the night, a Paramount pre-code about death aboard a yacht. Devilish billionaire John Halliday is caught in financial shenanigans, and decides to break away for a tropical island while cruising with friends on his yacht. To leave no witnesses, he kills virtually everyone on board: crew and friends, in all types of evil ways, but as it all good melodrama, he gets it in the end when a shark pulls him down as he attempts to swim away. Good parts for Halliday, early Charlie Ruggles, Eddie “Rochester” Anderson, Neil Hamilton, and Jack LaRue.

Friday opened with “Just a Good Guy,” (1924) a silent short with slacker Arthur Stone posing for a mechanical man when he falls behind on his rent. His evil landlord attempts to steal the robot to earn a fortune before getting his comeuppance, after the robot’s head is destroyed. Stone is a poor man’s Harry Langdon and slightly odd. The Roach backlot is employed for the short.

Harold Lloyd’s “Dr. Jack” (1922) followed, a sweet and easy comedy that isn’t as successful as his more famous features. Areas around Culver City and a home in Country Park popped up, as well as a shot of the Hillview apartments.

John Bengtson once again gave a detailed and informative presentation about Chaplin, Keaton, and Lloyd filming locations around Culver City and Hollywood, pointing out the “Dr. Jack” locations and many along Hollywood Boulevard from La Brea Ave. down to Cahuenga Boulevard. At the lunch break, Bengtson led about 40 people on a hot day down to Hollywood and Caheunga Boulevards to see many of the sites that still survive, particularly the important location of Cosmo Alley just off of Cahuenga.

Paul Killiam put together a sweet promotional piece pitching a silent movie TV show called “Movie Museum” to NBC, combining photographs and clips of great silent stars and films, along with his own letterhead and photograph. While NBC failed to pick it up, ABC later did.

French and English versions of Our Gang’s “A Tough Winter” (1930) came next, a tough and excruciating watch of Step-in Fetchit as comic fodder for his slowness, inability to read, and the like, along with he and the kids mangling their phonetic French.

While a little long, “Don’t Get Nervous” was a sweet and funny home movie directed by Billy Gilbert featuring his niece Faye McKenzie shooting a screen test, shot by great director Gilbert, aided by Edgar Bergen and her father, with slow-burn Edgar Kennedy as studio head.

“Fluttering Hearts” (1927) featured another mannequin who found its head destroyed, after being employed by Charley Chase to trap a plotting Oliver Hardy and steal away a threatening letter in a speakeasy. A lovely Martha Sleeper plays the love interest, with scenes on the Roach backlot, and a little drag thrown in.

Silent classic “Old Ironsides” (`1926) featured a rousing score from accompanist Jon Mirsalis, along with themes of piracy, increased military funding but cuts in taxes, evil heathen Muslims, and foreign invasions that echo today. The film relays the story of Wallace Beery shanghaiing Charles Farrell and George Bancroft, who find themselves and Esther Ralston seized by pirates, before the U.S. Marines from the USS Constitution save the day. This line echoes today, “Millions for defense and not one cent in tribute.”

“Kick Me Again” (1925) once again featured drag, as large man Charles Puffy donned a tutu to impersonate a ballet dancer, when a woman’s jealous husband (Bud Jamison) came looking for him. Shots of the Universal backlot and small bungalows perhaps around North Hollywood were shown.

Veronica Lake and Joel McCrea starred in Andre de Toth’s “Ramrod” (1948), a film noir western shot in Utah, where plotting Lake attempts to set up her own cattle ranch, and hero McCrea discovers betrayal. Charlie Ruggles takes on a serious role, along with Preston Foster and Don DeFore. A lovely though dark film that played as Utah’s Centennial film.
The Biograph short, “The School Teacher and the Waif” featured a lovely young Mary Pickford sent off to school with teasing and bullying students like Bobby Harron and Mae Marsh, before the icky schoolmaster stops the torment and then attempts to seduce Pickford.

Pickford also starred in “The Pride of the Clan,” (1917) a dark story undercut by a too dark and muddy print, where Pickford becomes head of the clan after her father’s death but must deal with thwarted love. More cute animals populate the story.

I missed the last two films of the night. More to follow.

Cinecon Part II:

The short “A Fresh Start” (1920) featured Jimmie Adams and Lige Conley chasing showgirl Marvel Rea from the cabaret at which they work. Chase sequences ensue from her husband, a policeman, through the boarding house, park, and through the original LA Zoo, where lions get in on the act.

The Jane Withers’ film, “The Holy Terror” (1937) was a fun if predictable musical with Jane as a naval officer’s daughter who hangs around with the enlisted men putting on shows and singing musical numbers, but who end up saving the secret plane from spies. Images of the Fox back lot and an airport were visible.

“A Blonde’s Revenge” (1926) short and its theme of conniving politicians fits right in today, as candidate Vernon Dent schemes with his secretary Ruth Taylor to try and catch Ben Turpin in a little romantic sleaze. All are plotting against each other and capturing the dirt on film, which ends up being shown in the theatre. Part of the outdoor set appeared the same as the one in Dr. Jack.

Young Douglas Fairbanks and Bessie Love starred in the western, “The Good Bad Man,” (1916) with Fairbanks a Robin Hood of sorts robbing those doing wrong or giving the stolen goods to the hungry and poor. It’s love at first sight for the two, who must contend with evil Sam DeGrasse attempting to take over the town. The film features early examples of Fairbanks’ later work like simple magic tricks and quick jumps onto his horse.

I missed “Transient Lady” (1935), but heard it featured a little bit of everything: comedy, drama, portable skating rinks, and short appearances by people like Hattie McDaniel and John Carradine alongside stars Frances Drake and Gene Raymond.
“Mare Nostrum” (1926) is a little slow but beautiful Rex Ingram film set in Italy, with Alice Terry as a World War I spy, falling in love with Antonio Moreno.

“Their First Execution” (1913) was an unfunny Keystone Liberty Bond short, where inept prison guard Mack Sennett allows a prisoner on his way to the electric chair to escape, which he and others must track down. They chase the condemned man through Edendale, near Echo Park Lake, and bring back Ford Sterling instead to the prison, with the exterior being the old Selig Studio on Edendale Blvd. Mayhem ensues as the guards attempt to electrocute Sterling.

“Suddenly It’s Spring” (1947) seemed to be the hit of the festival, a romantic comedy featuring the likes of Fred MacMurray, Paulette Goddard, conniving MacDonald Carey, and Arleen Whelan. MacMurray and Goddard are practicing lawyers who separated before the War, with Goddard serving as a marriage counselor in the WACs. MacMurray attempts to get her to sign divorce papers so he can marry fiancé Whelan. Great timing and chemistry between the two leads, a slick performance from Carey, and hamming it up by MacMurray made the film a delight.

Silent feature “Hold ‘Em Yale” (1928) featured another teasing pet monkey who accompanies Argentinian Rod La Rocque to Yale as he chases a Dean’s daughter. La Rocque must become a big sports star to get his girl. Shots of the front façade of the DeMille (originally Ince) Studio and stages can be glimpsed, along with other street facades in the area, and stock footage of Yale and football games.

“Temple Tower” (1930) features a dark and stormy night as Bulldog Drummond searches for a girl and crooks while dealing with mad scientist Henry Walthall in the English countryside. Unfortunately, the film is an early sound effort that doesn’t quite come off.

Day 3, Sunday, September 1, opened with the short, “Turkish Howls,” (1927), with Gino Corrado in one of his largest roles playing a con man sultan, who with his entourage attempts to swindle money from some rich people. The odd looking and acting Al Cooke and Kit Guard play house dick and bellhop who end up saving the day. Middle Eastern customs and people are ridiculed and parodied.

“Eve’s Leaves” is a cute silent feature starring Leatrice Joy as the boyish daughter of a ship’s captain who encounters a made in Hollywood China. She lures a ravishing young William “Hopalong Cassidy” Boyd into a trap as a shanghaied sailor for the boat. Chinese bandits, including the great Sojin, take over the boat and kidnap Boyd and Joy, who survive perils and thrills while finding romance. There is an early form of hackysack glimpsed in early scenes, along with American cheaply-made goods flooding the Chinese market, including “authentic” mah-jongg sets manufactured in Ohio. Another pet monkey causes misadventures along the way.

I found the Universal feature “Sutter’s Gold” (1936), an interminable saga of how immigrant Sutter arrived in California and had his gold stolen from him. Instead of showing the story, the film told everything in boring detail. Edward Arnold gave it his all as Sutter, with an annoying Lee Tracy his sidekick. Movie Star Mystery Photo contestant Robert Warwick plays a Russian officer. The Paramount Ranch stands in for northern California in some of the shots.

The silent short “A Thrilling Romance” (1926) provided sweet glimpses of the Cahuenga Produce building, storefronts on Santa Monica Blvd., Famous Players-Lasky administration building on Vine St. with the Equitable Building visible north of the studio, and other shots of apartments and businesses around Hollywood, along with the Palisade cliffs on the Santa Monica coast. A la “The Mystery of the Leaping Fish,” writer Wanda Wiley imagines a story of crooks chasing a female writer after she inadvertently ends up with their stolen goods.

“Oh, Mary, Be Careful” (1921) featured fine production design from Hugo Ballin in a story of a young, flirty girl played by Madge Kennedy sent to her man-hating aunt’s home after one too many engagements. Everything seems boring until an attractive tree surgeon arrives and complications ensue before Mary gets her man
.
I missed the Shirley Jones-Pat Boone “April Love” (1957), which I heard was a pleasant musical.

“Bottoms Up” (1934) starred Spencer Tracy, Herbert Mundin, and Pat Paterson conning their way into studio jobs working with John Boles and Thelma Todd on a musical film. Opening and closing shots of the film feature real premieres at Carthay Circle Theatre and Grauman’s Chinese with the likes of , the movie also provides glimpses of downtown train stations, the Fox back lot, Wilshire Blvd., and the Brown Derby sign out of an Ambassador Hotel window. Other behind-the-scenes mentions include Fox’s “Cavalcade,” Mike Romanoff, and the Ambassador. Lucille Ball can be glimpsed in two shots, and former Movie Star Mystery Photo players Jean and June Gale play chorines.

The Henry “Pathe” Lehrman short “Wet and Warmer” (1920) featured high energy and comic chase scenes in and around Hollenbeck Park, and above the Hill Street Tunnel and Hotel La Crosse, along with glimpses of the Hall of Records from a building’s roof. The grand finale featured players like Heiner Conklin and Billie Ritchie running through rooms filled with fire.

“Castles for Two” (1917) was a sweet romance set on the chaparral-filled hills of Ireland, as rich American Marie Doro comes to Ireland chasing fairies and runs into helpful though poor gentry, Elliot Dexter, who needs cash to keep the manor and town going. After comic misidentifications, the couple falls in love. The Lasky Ranch, now Forest Lawn, stands in for Ireland.

Clive Brook starred in the seldom-seen “The Return of Sherlock Holmes,” (1929) an early sound version of the world’s most famous detective. Brook smoothly dons disguises and voices to capture a dense Dr. Moriarty. Donald Crisp smartly plays a conniving villain, but the young romantic couple bring a downer to proceedings.

The Deanna Durbin vehicle “Spring Parade” (1940) featured a few cute songs “It’s Foolish, but It’s Fun”) and nice bits by the likes of Mischa Auer, S. Z. Sakall, Henry Stephenson, Walter Catlett, Allyn Joslyn, Reginald Denny, and good old Franklin Pangborn, but showed an irksome Durbin who disregarded protocol and good sense to push the career of her composer love interest, Robert Cummings. Shot on the Universal backlot and containing some lovely background shots, the film is sweet but forgettable.

“China” (1943) starred Alan Ladd, Loretta Young, and William Bendix as Americans in a remote part of China in 1941, attempting to get themselves and a truckload of girls to Shanghai through Japanese air attacks. Hard-bitten Ladd falls for the strong, saintly Young. Because of the war, the Production Code allowed a tough off-camera rape scene and massive Japanese casualties, along with a closing speech by Ladd in which he informs a grinning Japanese general that tough average Joes like him will stand tall and destroy Japan.

Okay, I've finally got my summaries written up from what was again a great weekend that went by all too quickly. I managed to watch every single film showing at the Egyptian, even the several titles I'd seen before (which included one Thursday, five Friday, two Saturday, and one or two Sunday). Although this year's rearrangement of the traditional screening times threw off some plans of non-Cinecon things to do in L.A., it was a very nice selection of films overall, and I'm glad I saw all of them (as they are the primary reason I travel to the Cinecon, Cinefest, and Cinesation). I especially appreciated getting to see such nice new 35mm prints of the two CinemaScope films (one in stereo), the 1910s features, and the early talkies. No single titles stood out this year as truly outstanding masterpieces, but several films were very good indeed (especially in 35mm on the huge screen with an appreciative audience), and most of the movies were highly entertaining, with only a few titles that were, shall we say, "interesting to see" or "curiosities" (although some might come right out and call them pretty bad).

Here's my rundown of the Cinecon 2013 films, in the order they were screened...


THURSDAY AUGUST 29
==================

It's A Frame Up (2013) 30 min ** 1/2
Michael Schlesinger's loving ode to 1930s comedy shorts is amusing but about a reel too long. The simple plot of a Laurel & Hardy/Abbott & Costello/etc. type pair of incompetents getting a job at an art dealer's gallery would be more effective at a tight 18 minutes, with extra scenes and extended scenes available as Blu-ray bonus features. Interestingly, it did seem funnier seeing it this second time (possibly due to slightly more vocal audience reaction, or possibly due to knowing the plot and being able to concentrate more on the gags).

The Dome Doctor (1925) 25 min ** 1/2
Larry Semon is okay in this fitfully amusing comedy dealing with the mishaps he can create as a hairdresser.

PUDDIN' HEAD (1940) 80 min ***
Judy Canova has a certain appealing charm here that overcomes the outrageously corny plot, lines, and situations revolving around her family's rural property smack in the center of New York City, where the neighboring building has accidentally been expanded slightly onto her land. Far from a classic, this was much better than I was expecting.

DOWN ARGENTINE WAY (1940) 89 min *** 1/2
This routine plot of romantic mixup comes to life with engaging performances by Betty Grable and Don Ameche, an entertaining selection of musical numbers, eye-drenching Technicolor, and a couple of songs by Carmen Miranda, who thankfully doesn't have to act. There's also a great show-stopping routine by the Nicholas Brothers, who unexpectedly show up again at the very end. As a film, it's pretty slight (sharing themes with HOLD 'EM YALE screened later), but as escapist entertainment it's first-rate.


===== 6:05: DINNER (1 Hr. 35 Min.) =====

Red Pepper (1925) 17 min ***
Al St. John gets a chance to headline this fun slapstick comedy instead of being someone else's sidekick, as well as show off some spectacular bike-riding stunts he's obviously doing himself. It's mostly about using itching powder to sell an itching remedy cream.

It's Great To Be Alive (1933) TRAILER 3 min ** 1/2
This trailer promises a potentially amusing feature about the only man living in a world of women, apparently a lost film remake of the silent feature that followed.

THE LAST MAN ON EARTH (1924) 78 min ***
The premise of this bizarre film is that an incurable disease wipes out the male population during the 1930s and 40s, except for a shy man who had been rejected by his childhood sweetheart, first as a child and then at a college dance back in 1924, and fled to live as a hermit in the wilderness. He's discovered in 1950 by a female gangster who plans to aution him off to the highest bidder, and two senatoresses agree to fight it out on the floor of Congress to win him. Meanwhile his old girlfriend now has regrets and hopes to see him again. The off-the-wall role-reversal humor is compounded by the obvious relish the cast is having playing the parts. The film takes a while to get going with the "present-day" romance plot in the first reel or two, but once it jups forward to the future it's great fun.

Way Out West (1920) 25 min ** 1/2
Hank Mann plays an almost cartoon-like protagonist who manages to overcome Vernon Dent's blustering villain in this enjoyable western slapstick comedy.

Silk Hose and High Pressure (1915) 40 min **
Chaplin imitator Billie Ritchie brings some moments of style to this disjointed 3-reeler that has some amusing gags but is lacking in explanatory titles that might let the audience in on character relationships and plot motivations that are far from obvious.

TERROR ABOARD (1933) 69 min. ***
This cleverly structured and atmospheric seagoing mystery thriller is related mostly in flashback when a ship discovers an abandoned yacht and decides to investigate, only to find the corpse of a woman who has apparently frozen to death and then one of their own boarding party dead. A fragment of a burned telegram leads to the extended flashback that explains how things progressed to this point, and then it picks up again with some overlap from a different point of view. Charles Ruggles and Shirley Grey star as the comic steward and the romantic interest, with Neil Hamilton and John Halliday as rivals for her attentions.



FRIDAY AUGUST 30
================

Just A Good Guy (1924) 20 min ***
Arthur Stone plays a very Harry Landon-like character in this generally amusing Hal Roach comedy that includes a mechanical man, a pawnshop, and a dark-haired Fay Wray in a bit as a shoplifter.

DR. JACK (1922) 60 min ***
Harold Lloyd is a country doctor who prescribes common sense, and gets involved with "sick little well girl" Mildred Davis, whose overprotective father and mercenary doctor have been keeping her literally in the dark. Lloyd's winning personality raises the routine plot into a minor classic, helped even more by seeing it on 35mm instead of 16mm or DVD.

HOLLYWOOD’S SILENT ECHOES with JOHN BENGTSON (2013) 45 min *** 1/2
John Bengston presented a fascinating live powerpoint lecture revealing the current and still-surviving locations where several silent films were shot, including a single alley where Keaton, Chaplin, and Lloyd all filmed scenes from major classics at different times.

Paul Killiam Promo (1960?) 6 min ** 1/2
This curious filmed pitch by Killiam showed dupes of various silent clips to try to sell a silent film TV series to the networks.

A Tough Winter (1930) [English version] 20 min ** 1/2
Our Gang with Stepin Fetchit first try to survive during cold weather, and then make a disastrous recipe while listening to a radio cooking show in disconnected bits.

A Tough Winter (1930) [French version] 10 min ***
This phonetically-spoken French-language version of the same Our Gang short includes additional shots and lines that clarify some confusing bits in the American release, but unfortunately the last reel has been lost to decomposition. It's quite entertaining to see the same actors trying to talk in French.

Don't Get Nervous (c. 1940) 10 min ** 1/2
Billy Gilbert made this amusing amateur 16mm comedy short starring himself as a movie director and Fay McKenzie as a hopeful young starlet, featuring Edgar Kennedy as a producer, and various other friends.

===== 12:15: LUNCH (1 Hr. 45min.) =====

Fluttering Hearts (1927) 20 min *** 1/2
Charley Chase is at his best in this hilarious short, trying to get back an incriminating love letter for his fiancee Martha Sleeper's father (his big mistake was that he wrote when he should have telephoned) and winding up in a speakeasy with a female mannequin trying to flirt with villain Oliver Hardy.

OLD IRONSIDES (1926) 112 min *** 1/2
Charles Farrell gets shanghaied to serve on a merchant ship sailing to the Mediterranean with Wallace Beery and George Bancroft. Attacked by pirates near Tripoli, they eventually get involved in the famous battle of the U.S.S. COnstitution against the pirate stronghold, leading to an exciting and spectacular sea battle. One of the weekend's highlights with Jon Mirsalis in top form performing his carefully planned synth keyboard score!

Kick Me Again (1925) 12 min ** 1/2
Okay comedy starring Charles Puffy as a dancing instructor whose students' husbands tend to get jealous of his attentions to their wives.

RAMROD (1948) 95 min ***
Joel McCrea and Veronica Lake star in this independently made adult western with a film noir feeling to it, about an ambitious woman who will use any means possible to free herself from the control of her rancher father (Charles Ruggles in a rare dramatic turn) and ruthless would-be suitor (Preston Foster). While great to see in 35mm on the big screen, coincidentally, this film has recently come out on a decent Blu-ray from Olive Films that looks virtually identical to the print run at the Cinecon. Recommended for any fan of classic westerns and/or film noir.

===== 6:30: DINNER (1 Hr. 30 Min.) =====

The Schoolteacher And The Waif (1912) 15 min ***
Mary Pickford stars in this well-done D. W. Griffith short that is reminiscent of her later feature M'LISS.

THE PRIDE OF THE CLAN (1917) 80 min ** 1/2
Directed by Maurice Tourneur, Mary Pickford is the last member of the chieftan family in her coastal Scottish island village. Complications develop when her boyfriend discovers he is a long-lost heir to a title, leading to a DeMille-like conflict between class and cultural ties. While pictorially quite striking, the film has the feeling of a one or two-reel short padded out to feature length. The 16mm print looked okay, if a bit low contrast.

LET'S GO NATIVE (1930) 75 min ***
I recall it being entertaining in 16mm but the beautiful 35mm print greatly enhanced the enjoyment of this offbeat and very precode musical comedy starring Jeanette MacDonald & Jack Oakie. The first half appears as if it will be a typical musical comedy romance about debt-ridden entertainers hoping to stage a hit show in South America, and finagling their way on board a ship. A sequence of furniture repossession and destruction looks almost as if it might be out of a Laurel & Hardy comedy (perhaps a contribution by director Leo McCarey). Then suddenly an emergency forces everyone to abandon ship, and our intrepid group drifts to a remote island populated by an ex-Brooklyn MC (Skeets Gallagher) who rules over a bevy of native dancing girls and must cope with the island's excess of pearls and oil (or is that poils and earl?).

ONE MILE FROM HEAVEN (1937) 60 min ***
Claire Trevor is a reporter who finds a white baby in black neighborhood being raised by pretty widow Fredi Washington, who is engaged to cop Bill "Bojangles" Robinson (given several opportunities to dance in the film). The plot is another take on journalists tracking down stories to sell newspapers more than to help those they're reporting on, but this film presents a fascinating, even sensitive picture of the black community's interaction with itself as well as with the white community, including implications of interracial relationships that could never be stated outright in a film of the period. Sally Blaine also co-stars.



SATURDAY AUGUST 31
===================

A Fresh Start (1920) 15 min ***
This Jimmie Adams comedy had Dutch flash titles, making some of the situations and character relationships a bit obscure, but the action of two men after a married woman and all of them trying to avoid her husband builds to such a frenetic and funny pace that it's not too hard to follow, especially when they keep literally falling into her bed (flying through windows and doors) and then some lions get involved.

THE HOLY TERROR (1937) 67min ***
This pleasant Jane Withers vehicle casts her as an officer's precocious little girl, putting on talent shows and getting into various sorts of mischief on a navy air base (including a very large toy plane), and eventually hacking the navy radio communications so she can catch a band of spies trying to copy the navy's top-secret fighter plane project.

A Blonde's Revenge (1926) 20 min ** 1/2
Ben Turpin and Vernon Dent in amusing political comedy with each candidate trying to discredit the other in a romantic scandal (as if that would work!).

THE GOOD BAD MAN (1916) 60 min ***
The extremely sharp 35mm print greatly enhanced enjoyment of this interesting early Douglas Fairbanks comedy-drama about a man turning to crime because he never knew who his father was, but robbing only trivial items and giving most of his profits to children without fathers. When he meets cute Bessie Love, he decides to help her struggle against an evil villain and go straight, learning his true origins in the process.

TRANSIENT LADY (1935) 72 min ** 1/2
The best-looking 35mm print of the weekend appeared as if it were struck directly from the camera negative. The slightly odd story had Frances Drake as a star roller-skater with two male partners setting up a rink in a small southern town. She is so much more beautiful than the local girls that she attracts rowdy rednecks like flies, a fight starts, some attack her house, and one gets killed in the process (who just happens to be the brother of the local crooked lawyer/Senator). Her partner is framed for the murder and local good-guy lawyer Gene Raymond (in love with Drake) tries to defend him before the town lynches him a la Fritz Lang's FURY (which wouldn't come out for another year). Interestingly the black servants in this deep south community are presented as an important factor.

MARE NOSTRUM (1926) 102 min ***
Rex Ingram's handsome-looking but lethargic romantic melodrama about a Spanish sea captain (Antonio Moreno) and his tragic infatuation with a beautiful Austrian spy (Alice Terry) during World War I, like a TV miniseries, takes forever to get through its plot points but finally builds to some exciting sea battle sequences and a touching conclusion. The effectively color-tinted print from Photoplay Productions looked quite nice on the big screen, but Ingram's best film remains FOUR HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE.

===== 6:05: DINNER (1 Hr. 55 Min.) =====

Their First Execution (1913) 14 min **
Ford Sterling and Mack Sennett star as bumbling but not terribly funny prison guards who try to find a substitute when the prisoner they are about to electrocute manages to escape.

SUDDENLY IT'S SPRING (1947) 87min *** 1/2
Fred MacMurray, Paulette Goddard, Arleen Whelan, and Jack Lindsay star in this delightful postwar romantic comedy of two married lawyers who delayed their pending divorce when the war separated them, and now the wife is having second thoughts while the husband is ready to marry his new girlfriend and the husband's best client is trying to woo the wife.

HOLD 'EM YALE (1928) 78 min ** 1/2
Rod La Rocque stars in this okay but terribly routine college picture, helped out by a monkey and a moderately interesting "meet cute" opening reel set in Argentina when he runs into a vacationing professor and his daughter, pretending to be a bandit. Back at New Haven, a really annoying cop keeps plaguing him for no apparent reason, as the usual college shenanigans ensue.

TEMPLE TOWER (1930) 58 min * 1/2
This rare early talkie Bulldog Drummond film starring Kenneth McKenna, Marceline Day, and Henry B. Walthall is sadly so poorly acted, written, and directed that it barely manages to be campy, much less coherent, despite some interesting moody sets and photography and the nice 35mm print. For die-hard B-mystery fans only.


SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 1
==================

Turkish Howls (1927) 20 min ***
Comedy team Al Cooke and Kit Guard keep things moving in the reasonably entertaining and very non-PC comedy of a hotel detective and bellhop uncovering a con man posing as a Middle Eastern sultan.

EVE'S LEAVES (1926) 75 min ***
Leatrice Joy and William Boyd star in this fun and mildly exotic adventure-romance about a sea captain's daughter who's been raised as a boy, getting involved with a handsome rich American and Chinese pirates.

SUTTER'S GOLD (1936) 95 min ***
The very good 35mm print did much to enhance this perhaps overly ambitious historical biopic with Edward Arnold and Lee Tracy trying to cram a TV miniseries worth of plot into an hour and a half. What succeeds is Arnold's strong performance as the title character, covering many decades of time, even though the script never gets around to fleshing out much of the motivations or subtleties that might have made the film a classic.

===== 12:30: LUNCH (1Hr. 30 Min.) =====

A Thrilling Romance (1926) 20 min ***
This very entertaining comedy stars Wanda Wiley as a romance novel writer, whose rejected manuscripts inspire her to new heights of action and thrills in her next story, which we see enacted as she's writing it, with plenty of stunts often performed by Wiley herself.

OH, MARY, BE CAREFUL (1921) 70 min ***
This pleasant if forgettable romantic comedy stars Madge Kennedy as an irrepressible flirt sent to live with a dour maiden aunt who's literally written volumes about what is wrong with men. Whle the aunt's away, she sends for some friends to bring their brothers to liven up the place, pretending she's about to inherit her aunt's millions, but soon falls for the cute young tree-trimmer her aunt has inadvertantly hired.

APRIL LOVE (1957) 99 min ***
Stars Shirley Jones and Pat Boone attended and spoke after the screening of this lovely and newly restored CinemaScope and stereophonic sound print. The surprisingly entertaining musical romantic drama is about an impetuous, rebellious city boy who stole a car for a joy ride and has been sentenced to spend the summer on his uncle's farm. Naturally he falls for the pretty daughters of the neighboring ranch and learns to appreciate the rural pace of life while also learning to care for horses and become a jockey for the local harness races.

6:30 – 9:00PM: COCKTAIL RECEPTION & CELEBRITY EVENT AT HOTEL

BOTTOMS UP (1934) 85 min ** 1/2
A reasonably sharp 16mm print unfortunately had fluttery audio (possibly due to the threading) but the story of a fast-talking con artist (Spencer Tracy) promoting a hopeful young actress (Pat Paterson) into Hollywood stardom remained predictible fun. Thelma Todd is great as a vain and temperamental star, John Boles is fine as an alcoholic screen idol dissatisfied with his predictible roles, Harry Green is amusing as the studio boss, and Herbert Mundin and Sid Silvers make good sidekicks to Tracy.

THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE ARE FREE (1956) 104 min *** 1/2
Gordon MacRae, Ernest Borgnine, and Dan Daily star as noted songwriting team DeSylva, Brown and Henderson in this heavily fictionalized but nevertheless immensely entertaining biopic dramatizing their rise to fame and eventual split. What the film lacks in historical authenticity it more than makes up for in style, energy, and loads of great musical numbers beautifully staged for the wide screen. This is a film that must be seen in its full CinemaScope format to be fully appreciated, as the choreography and cinematography make use of every bit of screen space. The beautifully restored 35mm print looked great, although it had only mono sound instead of the original stereo.

IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU (1939) 70 min ***
Gloria Stuart and Stuart Erwin are a struggling young couple in the first half of this comedy-mystery, as she pushes him to overcome his shyness to get ahead at his advertising job, where his ambitious friend is always taking credit (and getting promoted) for his ideas. When he finally goes to an executive cocktail party to network with valuable contacts, he wakes up the next morning with a hangover and dead girl in the back of his car. The last half of the movie Erwin's in jail for murder while Stuart decides to solve the mystery herself because the police already believe it's an open and shut case and refuse to investigate.



MONDAY SEPTEMBER 2
==================

Wet And Warmer (1920) 25 min ***
Billie Ritchie and Heinie Conklin star with Charlotte Dawn and ALbert Ray in this frenetic comedy that has its characters running around falling into water and running through fire (hence the title).

CASTLES FOR TWO (1917) 60 min ** 1/2
Charming if predictable Marie Doro romantic drama casts her as an Irish-American heiress visiting the land of her ancestors and encountering Elliott Dexter as a poverty-stricken Irish lord whose people are also suffering poverty. She, of course, is posing as her own beautiful maid and has her less-than-attractive maid impersonating her (to throw off gold-digging suitors), and first believes that the eligible young landowner is really one of his unfortunate oppressed peasants as she's handing out food to everyone. Meanwhile, the lord's mercenary sisters are pushing for him to marry the rich American to save their estate, and we all know how everything will turn out. Interestingly along with Doro we also get to see fairies and leprechauns from time to time (through some clever double-exposures).

THE RETURN OF SHERLOCK HOLMES (1929) 71 min ***
Clive Brook makes a fine Holmes in this very rare early talkie that is quite well-made for its time, full of not only good camera work but effective editing, writing, and performances (at least from Brook, H. Reeves Smith as Watson, and Donald Crisp as Col. Moran). Harry T. Morey's Moriarty does get a bit over-the-top and the two romantic juveniles are not particularly compelling, but the film is definitely a respectable entry in the Holmes canon, drastically superior to the 1930 Bulldog Drummond mystery TEMPLE TOWER.

===== 12:00: LUNCH (1 Hr. 15 Min.) ====

SPRING PARADE (1940) 89 min ***
This enjoyable if slight Deanna Durbin vehicle casts her as an Austrian peasant girl who suddenly finds herself in Vienna working in a bakery for S. Z. Sakall, getting embroiled in a misinterpreted plot with the emperor (Henry Stephenson) and army corporal/song composer Robert Cummings. As expected, everything works out for the best for everybody, with plenty of songs and comedy bits along the way.

CHINA (1943) 78 min ** 1/2
Alan Ladd stars as a mercenary American truck driver in war-torn 1941 China (pre-Pearl Harbor) selling oil to the Japanese until he meets idealistic schoolteacher Loretta Young trying to evacuate her students to safety. Of course their perils gradually convert him to fight for the Chinese cause in this better than usual wartime propaganda film that is slickly produced and well-acted. There's an unusually progressive treatment of women and of Chinese characters, although it does contain the expected vilification of the Japanese characters, along with some dialogue that sounds remarkably like later PRC communist propaganda rather than idealism for the soon to be overthrown Republic of China.

FIFTY ROADS TO TOWN (1937) 91 min *** 1/2
This delightful romantic comedy has Don Ameche and Ann Sothern as separate fugitives from the law (for completely different reasons) who become thrown together in a mountain cabin, first finding each other an annoyance and of course growing to love each other as they deal with various (and sometimes extreme) problems that occur. Luckily I did not read the program notes before seeing it, so all the misleading and surprise twists in the plot came as pleasantly unexpected developments and I won't give them away for those who have not seen it. Suffice to say that more fun comes from the likes of Slim Summerville, Jane Darwell, and John Qualen, among others.

HI, GOOD LOOKIN' (1944) 60 min ***
This was the second-best-looking 35mm print of the weekend, perhaps making the film seem more enjoyable than it would be on regular TV or in a 16mm dupe. Ozzie Nelson plays himself leading his band, and Harriet Hilliard plays a hopeful young singer looking for a radio career, promoted by would-be talent agent and old friend Eddie Quillan. The frequent songs keep the film entertaining while the plot has Hilliard falling for hit singer Kirby Grant, whose ratings are falling as hers rise, ironically with him as her mystery backup singer on a midnight radio show.

Frederica wrote:

greta de groat wrote: Well, in the next Brooks Sherlock Holmes film, he's got a fiancee himself, so i think that one messes with the character even more (not to mention Brooks ends up in drag, which is pretty scary). On the other hand, that film has a delicious Moriarty in Ernest Torrence, easily the best thing about the film.

greta

Oh dear lord, a fiancee for Sherlock Holmes.

Worse: At the beginning of the picture, he's planning to give up the whole detective thing to marry and settle down. (Also, Clive Brook, not Brooks.)

dr.giraud wrote:

Frederica wrote:

greta de groat wrote: Well, in the next Brook Sherlock Holmes film, he's got a fiancee himself, so i think that one messes with the character even more (not to mention Brook ends up in drag, which is pretty scary). On the other hand, that film has a delicious Moriarty in Ernest Torrence, easily the best thing about the film.

greta

Oh dear lord, a fiancee for Sherlock Holmes.

Worse: At the beginning of the picture, he's planning to give up the whole detective thing to marry and settle down. (Also, Clive Brook, not Brooks.)

Oops, wasn't thinking, now corrected --but the telltale evidence is there in your quote that i can't edit!

In any case, that first scene with Holmes and his fiance is a real groaner, and the film never really recovers.

greta