OLD SAN FRANCISCO (1927)

[drednm]

Interesting film with effectively used tint tells the story of an old Spanish family now broke and the greedy part-Chinese crook (who passes for white) who tries to steal their rancho and Dolores Costello. Nicely shot with lingering shadows and back lighting, the story goes a tad overboard here and their in its zeal for Christianity and its disdain of "heathen" religions and false idols.

Costello is gorgeous, Warner Oland plays the part-Chinese thug. Charles Emmett Mack is the Irish hero. Josef Swickard plays the last Vasquez. Anders Randolf plays the greedy businessman, Anna May Wong shows up as Oland's evil hireling. Lots of other familiar faces in smaller roles and in the lengthy prologue such as John Miljan, Tom Santschi, Louise Carver, Rose Dione, Walter McGrail, Sojin, etc.

The famous earthquake/fire plays an important part in the plot, and the tinted scenes are pretty good. But I thought I read elsewhere that these scenes were either stock footage or shot for some other film. The disaster footage seems awfully brief. Any ideas?

[Jack Theakston]

The disaster scenes were certainly shot for the film—I published a few photos of the miniature-work being shot in this year's Capitolfest program book.

[drednm]

Yup, you're right. I got it backwards. The footage from Old San Francisco was used in Warners' 1938 The Sisters.

[FrankFay]

Overboard is putting it mildly- Oland has a dwarf brother kept in a cage!

I also thought Costello was beautiful, but I saw no evidence that she could act. On the other hand, her sister Helene was opposite Oland in GOOD TIME CHARLEY and she gave a nice performance.

[drednm]

Costello was fine except for the several instances of triple takes and eye rolling. She looked great in her white slave outfit!

[FrankFay]

Costello was fine except for the several instances of triple takes and eye rolling. She looked great in her white slave outfit!

She did look fine, but aside from the eye rolling she's one if those by-the-number actresses.

1.sweet innocence
2.melancholy
3.happiness
4.mild annoyance/ growing alarm / puzzlemennt (the context is important)
5.full out alarm, with eye rolling.

In between those she's beautiful but rather inert. Don't get me wrong, I love her. I just wish that more of her looks had been transferred to her offspring, but Drew Barrymore is looking more like her great-grandmother Georgina Drew every year. (There's nothing wrong with Georgina's looks but she's striking rather than beautiful. You can see Lionel's face in her features)

[Gagman 66]

I disagree. I think Dolores proves that she could act in WHEN A MAN LOVES and Silent portions of NOAH'S ARK. Not to mention LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY in 1936. Shaking off her badly Broadway coached voice that ruined the talking scenes in Noah's Ark. She wasn't just stunningly beautiful, the lady had some decent talent. Can't tell much about THE SEA BEAST as I have never seen a good print, and couldn't get past the opening reel.

[Jack Theakston]

Eric is talking about OLD SAN FRANCISCO here, in which he is spot on.

[FrankFay]

I disagree. I think Dolores proves that she could act in WHEN A MAN LOVES and Silent portions of NOAH'S ARK. Not to mention LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY in 1936. Shaking off her badly Broadway coached voice that ruined the talking scenes in Noah's Ark. She wasn't just stunningly beautiful, the lady had some decent talent. Can't tell much about THE SEA BEAST as I have never seen a good print, and couldn't get past the opening reel.

I will sgree with you about WHEN A MAN LOVES- I think Costello was more relaxed on that picture (perhaps playing opposite Barrymore helped) and the part has greater range.

She was fine in LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY (perfectly good voice), and great in THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS- A few silent era affectations in the beginning, but no one ever expressed melancholy regret as beautifully as Dolores Costello. I think her skills may have also depended on the part and especially on how well she was directed.

[entredeuxguerres]

Anytime an actor is faulted, justly, for affectations, exaggerations, etc., I wonder "where was the director?," who's in a much better position to observe (& correct) such errors than the player is while performing.

Anyway, what about her performance in Expensive Women, a favorite of mine? Rather a downbeat, world-weary role, but that's what the story was about--a bored, rich, party-girl. If any of the faults enumerated above were present, I'm glad I failed to notice them.

[drednm]

I think Costello is a perfectly fine actress with, perhaps, a limited range ... but that could be said for a lot of actors.

[Mitch Farish]

Anytime an actor is faulted, justly, for affectations, exaggerations, etc., I wonder "where was the director?," who's in a much better position to observe (& correct) such errors than the player is while performing.

Excellent point, especially in the silent era when directors actually directed the actors through a megaphone. And don't let the writers off the hook. They're the ones who write down the stupid (or brilliant) things the actors do, unless the actors are blessed with an ability to improvise. Even Lon Chaney worried that without competent direction he was prone to overact.

[FrankFay]

Anytime an actor is faulted, justly, for affectations, exaggerations, etc., I wonder "where was the director?," who's in a much better position to observe (& correct) such errors than the player is while performing.

Excellent point, especially in the silent era when directors actually directed the actors through a megaphone. And don't let the writers off the hook. They're the ones who write down the stupid (or brilliant) things the actors do, unless the actors are blessed with an ability to improvise. Even Lon Chaney worried that without competent direction he was prone to overact.

I love Chaney, but he has one acting quirk which has come to drive me nuts. It's the "I'm trying hard to resist the urge" look- he closes his eyes, leans his head backwards a little, then grimaces slightly. There's nothing wrong with it, its a very effective bit, but he pulls it out a little too often in his MGM pictures for my taste.

[N_Phay]

I just watched this, it seems to suggest that the 1906 quake was caused by god himself to prevent Dolores Costello from being sold into white slavery? I thought it more than a bit draggy, till the earthquake hit, that bit I thought was great and exciting, then it just seemd to suddenly stop! I liked Charles Emmett Mack (wish he had better roles than this and "The First Auto") and Angelo Rossitto (I had never heard of this guy before I saw this film, he had quite a career!), found Dolores Costello to be a bit OTT as some others have noted. The racial stereotyping and christain vs heathen stuff was bad but I suppose pointless to do more than note that I didn't care for it and was/am always annoyed to see Anna May Wong's talent & great looks thrown away on another one of those kind of roles. I can't imagine I'll get this one down off the shelf too many times, except to watch the earthquake bit.

[FrankFay]

Charles Emmett Mack has a good role in "Woman of the World" as a young man infatuated with Pola Negri- she tells him "Think of me as half mother, half lover". He's as bad as everyone else in Dream Street, though & I haven't seen any of his other films such as The White Rose.

I think had he lived he'd have been something like Jack Pickford or Charles Ray - playing juveniles into his adult years.

[N_Phay]

Yes, he's good in "A Woman of the World", I watched that again a couple of weeks ago, that's one of my favourite films actually. that "half mother/half lover" intertitle is quite something.

Dolores Costello's use of facial expressions in her acting reminds me a bit of Pola Negri's as it happens, Negri is a lot better though I think.

[Ray Faiola]

I have a 1956 print of the Warners short THRILLS FROM THE PAST, which is an abridgement of OLD SAN FRANCISCO. The quality is spectacular, a hundred times better than that of the current circulating feature. This is definitely a candidate for restoration.

[earlytalkiebuffRob]

A very impressive and enjoyable movie and a treat to have access to after many years of languishing in unavailability. And footage was reused in William Wellman's FRISCO JENNY in 1933...