Doomsday (Rowland v. Lee) ***

Director: Rowland V. Lee

Cast: Florence Vidor, Gary Cooper, Lawrence Grant

Background: Florence Vidor (ex-wife of the legendary director King Vidor) was already very well known by 1928, being one of the biggest stars of the early silent era. Gary Cooper had many credits before this, but they were mostly bit parts, including a minor role in the Oscar winning Wings.

Story: A poor woman (Vidor) taking care of her sick father has two suitors. Percival Fream is an aging millionaire that offers her a life of luxury, while poor farmer Arnold Furze (Cooper) can only offer his love.

Thoughts: This one wasn't on my radar, as it's not one of the notable films from the era, but I didn't want to pass up a chance to see a young Gary Cooper in a leading role. The movie is all standard stuff, but the immensely appealing stars make it work. Florence Vidor is one of the most beautiful of all silent stars I've seen, and a young Gary Cooper just absolutely owns the screen. Lee clearly knows this, and provides us with numerous close-ups of his stars. While the story is pretty predictable from beginning to end, the two stars are so charming that it's impossible not to root for them to get together.

Postscript: Vidor would only make one sound film before retiring from acting for good. Gary Cooper of course would go on to beciome a Hollywood legend with iconic performances in movies such as High Noon, Seargent York, The Pride of the Yankees, and Mr. Deeds Goes to Town.

A Woman of Affairs (Clarence Brown) **

Director: Clarence Brown

Cast: Greta Garbo, John Gilbert, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Johnny Mack Brown

Background: Greta Garbo and John Gilbert had previously teamed up to great success in two previous films, Love and Flesh and the Devil. The story was adapted from a controversial play called The Green Hat, but the studio demanded changes to the story.

Story: Diana (Garbo) loves Neville (Gilbert), but their impending marriage is thwarted when his father disapproves and sens him away on business. Diana ends up marrying David, their other childhood friend, but when tragedy strikes she makes a decision that ruins her reputation.

Thoughts: Garbo is excellent as usual, but once again the script and director are not up to the job. Part of the problem is censorship, which diluted much of the sensational events in the book. Clarence Brown still directs things in the mode of an intense melodrama, but with everything dumbed down, it feels kind of blah. If the studio wasn't willing to do the book justice, then they needed to hire a director with a light touch, who could inject some personality and humor into the story. Only Garbo really rises to the occassion, her immeasurable screen presence impossible for even the worst director to ruin. Gilbert suffers the most, playing a very passive character, playing a man who doesn't seem so much torn between two woman, but just hopelessly confused.

Postscript: Garbo would make one more silent film before transitioning to sound, where she would receive four Oscar nominations over the next decade. Gilbert's first sound picture was a disaster (legend being that his voice was too high pitched, but that is strongly disputed by some film historians) and he was never able to recover his popularity, despite teaming up one more time with Garbo. His last film was in 1935. Clarence Brown would go on to receive six Oscar nominations for Best Director.

Laugh, Clown, Laugh (Herbert Brenon) ****

Director: Herbert Brenon

Cast: Lon Chaney, Bernard Siegel, Loretta Young, Cissy Fitzgerald, Nils Asther, Gwen Lee

Background: Laugh, Clown, Laugh had been delayed for several years so as not to appear too similar to Chaney's role as a clown in 1924's He Who Gets Slapped. This would be Loretta Young's first film role, at the age of 14.

Story: A clown (Chaney) and a count (Asther) become good friends as they help each other with emotional problems, not knowing that they both have fallen in love with the same woman (Young).

Thoughts: This actually has many similarities to Chaney's previous film The Unknown, but certainly less creepy. This is more of a straight drama, although there are still some very dark elements to the story, not the least being that Chaney's character is in love with a girl that he raised since she was a child. Lon Chaney once again proves that he has no acting equal in the silent film era. There is an incredible scene where the clown has to perform after catching the woman he loves with the count. It's an amazing bit of acting and of the more heartbreaking moments I've witnessed in a film. It leads to the line that gives the film its title: "Laugh, Clown, Laugh, eventhough your heart is breaking." Powerful stuff. The film apparently had two endings, one shot at the insistence of the studio that has thankfully been lost forever.

Postscript: Lon Chaney would only make three more films before his untimely death, robbing the world of one of the greatest actors in Hollywood history. Loretta Young would go on to be a Hollywood staple for several decades.

Tempest (Sam Taylor) **1/2

Director: Sam Taylor

Cast: John Barrymore, Camilla Horn, Louis Wolheim, Boris de Fast, George Fawcett

Background: Director Sam Taylor made a name for himself by directing several Harold Lloyd comedies, including what I consider to be the very best silent film of them all, 1923's Safety Last! In only his 3rd film without Lloyd, he was able to snag matinee idol John Barrymore as the lead.

Story: In Czarist Russia, a lowly peasant (Barrymore) is suddenly promoted to Lieutenant. He falls in love with a princess (Horn) who betrays him when he is caught in her room. He gets sent to jail, but the tables are turned when he is freed during the revolution.

Thoughts: Here we have a different take on the revolution that doesn't make the Bolsheviks look so nice. In many ways, this is a very timely film in that it criticizes the overzealous actions of a conquering army. But the film isn't interested in making that the central theme. This is really about the romance, and that's where we run into some problems. Barrymore is up to the task with a charismatic turn in the lead role, but Camilla Horn as his leading lady is just terrible. Her entire performance is flat and not once is there any sense of chemistry between the two leads. Thus the central romance thus suffers quite a bit, even if you ignore that the spy falling in love with the target was already a big film cliche by this point. The movie is still paced very well and looks great, but I wish they had either done a better casting job or dispensed with a romance that didn't work.

Postscript: The film won an Oscar for Art Direction. Barrymore would continue for another decade as a box office star. Sam Taylor had moderate success, including directing Mary Pickford to an Oscar in 1929's Coquette.

The Docks of New York (Josef von Sternberg) ***1/2

Director: Josef von Sternberg

Cast: George Bancroft, Betty Compson, Olga Baclanova, Clyde Cook

Story: Bill Roberts (Bancroft) is a coal worker on a steam ship who rescues Mae (Betty Compson) from a suicide attempt, leading to an unlikely romance.

Thoughts: A fresh and appealing story with a central romance that really works. Von Sternberg (reuniting with Bancroft from 1927's Underworld) once again creates fascinating characters that find their way together out of sad, desperate situations. Moreover, they feel like authentic characters that have real problems. And he found two actors that really connect. You really want to believe that these two people will figure out how to make it work. The film is also populated with very interesting supporting characters. Olga Baclanova is terrific as an engineer's wife and Clyde Cook makes a great villain as the engineer. All of this is punctuated by some wonderful cinematography.

Postscript: Like many of Von Sternberg's films, The Docks of New York enjoys a solid reputation today despite not being available on DVD. Both Compson and Bancroft had long careers as character actors, while Von Sternberg would continue a long and distinguished directing career.

The Wedding March (Erich Von Stroheim) ***

Director: Erich Von Stroheim

Cast: Erich Von Stroheim, Fay Wray, Matthew Betts, Zasu Pitts, George Fawcett

Background: Von Stroheim was already well known for a number of films, including the legendary Greed, where he fought with the studio over the running time (9 hours). The studio ripped his movie apart and destroyed the lost footage. Stroheim would fight with the studio over The Wedding March as well, with the studio forcing von Stroheim to split it into two films, the latter being known as The Honeymoon.

Story: A young aristocrat's (von Stroheim) parents tell him to marry money, but he falls in love with Mitzi (Wray), an inn-keeper's daughter.

Thoughts: Stroheim is clearly a talented director and his brilliant visual flair is on display throughout this film, able to capture both the grand celebratory moments for the royalty and the small intimate beauty of the backyard scenes. Still, this is a story that just doesn't click the way I expected it to. I fully admit that part of the problem is certainly due to the fact that it bears many similarities to Ernst Lubitsch's Student Prince in Old Heidelberg, which is superior to this film in almost every single way. Von Stroheim is a sly actor, but as a director he's sometimes a little too obsessed with the details. A flirtation scene between the two leads is one of the more memorable moments in the film, but goes on far too long. But even with all the problems, you can't deny Von Stroheim's talent or the appeal of the central story.

Postscript: After more fights with the studio on future films, Von Stroheim decided to stick to acting and among his many accomplishments is a memorable performance in the Billy Wilder classic Sunset Boulevard. Fay Wray would go on to be known for her iconic role in King Kong. The last known print of The Honeymoon was destroyed in a fire in 1957.