The Bat Whispers (Roland West) ***

Director: Roland West

Cast: Chester Morris, Una Merkel, Maude Eburne, Richard Tucker, William Bakewell, Wilson Benge

Background: The story was adapted by West from a play by Avery Hopwood and Mary Roberts Rinehart. This was a remake of Roland West's 1926 silent film called The Bat. None of the original cast survive to this version, but West does reteam with his Alibi star Chester Morris.

Story: A criminal known as The Bat has been terrorizing police by announcing his intentions before his crimes and still managing to pull them off. His latest task is to go after $500,000 of stolen money from a bank heist that he knows is hidden in a secret room of a country mansion.

Thoughts: Roland West had already made one of the better early talkies with the previous year's Alibi. Once again, he's able to create a strong visual style and include some breathtaking camera tricks, including a breathtaking shot where the camera sweeps in to the house from far out. There are many eerie scenes taking place in almost complete darkness, with only enough light to see shadows of the effectively ominous presence of the Bat. It's a little disappointing then that this film doesn't quite live up to the promising beginning. The third act is the biggest problem, for when we fianlly see the villain in his bat costume, he's not scary at all and actually quite funny. Probably would have been better to never show the costume if they couldn't design a better one than that. Then there is an odd little final monologue that breaks the fourth wall and tries to be too clever. Still a pretty good horror movie, but it had the potential to be much better.

Postscript: This was the second to last film for director Roland West, whose career was hurt by rumors that he murdered his mistress. The villain in this film did inspire comic artist Bob Kane to create Batman (thankfully he changed the costume!).

Not So Dumb (King Vidor) **1/2

Director: King Vidor

Cast: Marion Davies, Elliott Nugent, Raymond Hackett, Franklin Pangborn, Julia Faye, William Holden

Background: After experimenting in his first talkie, Vidor returns to more familiar territory, teaming up with Marion Davies. The two had successfully collaborated on the silent films Show People and The Patsy. The story was adapted from a stage play written by Marc Connelly and George Kaufman.

Story: Dulcy Parker (Davies) wants to help out her fiance's business career, but all of her attempts backfire and threaten a very important business relationship.

Thoughts: After being forced to use a (very bad) French accent in her first talkie, Davies is allowed to let her spirited charm loose here, and she is an absolute delight throughout this film. She has an endless enthusiasm in every single scene that really lifts an otherwise stagey and dull affair. The rest of the cast just doesn't seem to be up to her level. But the real surprise is the clunky direction from King Vidor. This is the same man who made The Crowd, and even his misfire Hallelujah! showcased very advanced technique. Unfortunately, it seems like he chose to phone in this one. The camera barely moves at all and he does absolutely nothing visually. The dialogue itself isn't as clever or funny as the writers appear to believe. Without any support, Davies is left to carry the whole thing by herself, and to her credit she almost makes it work.

Postscript: The next year, Vidor would make The Champ with Wallace Beery and Jackie Cooper, but it would be another 16 years before he made his most highly regarded classic, 1946's Duel in the Sun. Davies would continue making comedies, eventually breaking into musicals such as 1933's Going Hollywood with Bing Crosby.

The Silver Horde (George Archainbaud) **1/2

Director: George Archainbaud

Cast: Evelyn Brent, Joel McCrea, Jean Arthur, Louis Wolheim, Raymond Hatton

Background: Director George Archainbaud was a veteran of 60 silent films and was a very prodigious filmmaker, making 9 films in the previous two years. Evelyn Brent gained notoriety for a series of performances she gave in the Josef von Sternberg films Underworld, The Last Command, and The Dragnet.

Story: Boyd Emerson (McCrea) is a salmon fishermen fighting for control of the salmon business in Alaska, while his heart is torn between high society Mildred Wayland (Jean Arthur) and Cherry Malotte (Brent), a girl with a mysterious past.

Thoughts: The real revelation here is Evelyn Brent. While I found her to be a terrific actress in both Underworld and The Last Command, I'd never heard her speak before. Not only does her voice match the resourceful, tough-talking persona she showed in silent films, but she delivers her lines with a sparkling energy that betrays none of the problems that many actresses faced in the early sound era. In fact, a young Jean Arthur is completely wooden here, and it is she that would rise to fame throughout the decade. It's too bad the story, or the rest of the cast, just isn't strong enough to support Brent's wonderful performance. McCrea isn't interesting enough to be a leading man, and it almost seems like the director realizes this because much of the story is told from Brent's point of view. She creates a memorable character in Cherry Malotte, but she deserved a better script and cast to support her.

Postscript: Brent continued acting in many films over the next two decades, but it was Joel McCrea and especially Jean Arthur who would really become stars in the future. Arthur made a name for herself by playing the female lead in several Frank Capra classics, while McCrea would star in the classics Sullivan's Travels and The Palm Beach Story. Sadly, the modern DVD cover (see above) completely ignores Brent's presence in the film.

1930 - A New Decade Begins

The Depression had just hit the United States, but it also coincided with the invention of recorded dialogue in motion pictures. What started as an experiment in the Al Jolson vehicle The Jazz Singer was the standard in 1930. In fact, of the 27 films I am watching this year, only two of them are silents and both are foreign holdovers that just made it to the US. This new technology would spur a further interest in films, which were now a way for people to escape their economic despair.

The collection of films I have chosen this year include many from the great silent directors we've seen in the past, including King Vidor, FW Murnau, Frank Borzage, Ernst Lubitsch, and Josef von Sternberg. Future legends John Ford and Alfred Hitchcock would have some of their first sound films this year.

What will be really exciting is hearing some of the great silent stars speak for the first time, which was certainly also a great thrill for the audiences of the time. This year we will hear Harold Lloyd, Greta Garbo, Charles Farrell, Evelyn Brent, and many others. We will also witness the first major starring role for future Hollywood legend John Wayne in The Big Trail.

Here is the complete list:


Abraham Lincoln (DW Griffith)
All Quiet on the Western Front (Lewis Milestone)
Animal Crackers (Victor Heerman)
Anna Christie (Clarence Brown)
Bat Whispers (Roland West)
Blood of a Poet (Jean Cocteau)
City Girl (FW Murnau)
Earth (Aleksandr Dovzhenko)
Feet First (Clyde Bruckman)
Hell's Angels (Howard Hughes)
Juno and the Paycock (Alfred Hitchcock)
L'âge d'or (Luis Bunuel)
Liliom (Frank Borzage)
Min and Bill (George W. Hill)
Monte Carlo (Ernst Lubitsch)
Morocco (Josef von Sternberg)
Murder! (Alfred Hitchcock)
Not So Dumb (King Vidor)
Song O My Heart (Frank Borzage)
Storm Over Asia (Vsevolod Pudovkin)
The Big Trail (Raoul Walsh)
The Blue Angel (Josef Von Sternberg)
The Divorcee (Robert Z. Leonard)
The Silver Horde (George Archainbaud)
Under the Roofs of Paris (Rene Clair)
Up the River (John Ford)

1929 Top 10, Year in Review, and Awards

1929 was a major year of transition for Hollywood. The last silent movies were being released and a new era of cinema would soon be born. But if the silents were ending in 1929, they would go out with a bang, as the top 6 films on my list were all silent films, and only two talkies made the top 10.

Problems with proper line delivery hampered many of the talkies, not to mention the stationary camera that was now required due to problems with moving sound equipment around. Best Picture winner The Broadway Melody is far from the best film of the year, but was actually one of the better early talkies and certainly better than the previous winner of the award (Wings).

We had some interesting debuts this year. The Coconauts was the first film from the Marx Brothers. Ernst Lubitsch made his first musical and introduced movie audiences to Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette Macdonald. Nina Mae Mckinney was dazzling in King Vidor's otherwise mediocre Hallelujah!, notable for being the first major Hollywood film with an all-black cast.

It will be exciting and interesting to see how sound films develop through the years, but it was great to see several great films that showcased the strength of silent cinema in its final year. Now here is my top 10 of 1929:

10. Queen Kelly (Erich Von Stroheim)

The Prince will do anything to see Gloria Swanson.

9. Lucky Star (Frank Borzage)

Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell in a heartbreaking romance.

8. Alibi (Roland West)

The memorable interrogation sequence.

7. The Love Parade (Ernst Lubitsch)

Lupino Lane and Lillian Roth steal the show.

6. Diary of a Lost Girl (GW Pabst)

Louise Brooks as the resilient Thymiane.

5. Asphalt (Joe May)

Betty Amann (with her seductive eyes) makes a great femme fatale.

4. Pandora's Box (GW Pabst)

Louise Brooks is captivating in her most famous film role.

3. Napoleon (Abel Gance)

The memorable triptych sequence.

2. Spies (Fritz Lang)

Rudolf Klein-Rogge as the menacing Haghi.

1. The Iron Mask (Allan Dwan)

Fairbanks displays his acrobatic skill in this stirring goodbye to silent cinema.

Awards

Best Picture

Asphalt
*The Iron Mask
Napoleon
Pandora's Box
Spies

Best Director

Allan Dwan, The Iron Mask
*Abel Gance, Napoleon
Fritz Lang, Spies
Joe May, Asphalt
GW Pabst, Pandora's Box


Best Lead Actor

Maurice Chevalier, The Love Parade
Albert Dieudonne, Napoleon
*Douglas Fairbanks, The Iron Mask
Charles Farrell, Lucky Star
Chester Morris, Alibi


Best Lead Actress

Betty Amann, Asphalt
Louise Brooks, Diary of a Lost Girl
*Louise Brooks, Pandora's Box
Janet Gaynor, Lucky Star
Jeanette MacDonald, The Love Parade


Best Supporting Actor

Nigel De Brulier, The Iron Mask
*Rudolf Klein-Rogge, Spies
Lupino Lane, The Love Parade
Purnell Pratt, Alibi
Vladimir Roudenko, Napoleon


Best Supporting Actress

Bessie Love, The Broadway Melody
*Nina Mae McKinney, Hallelujah!
Seena Owen, Queen Kelly
Alice Roberts, Pandora's Box
Lillian Roth, The Love Parade


Best Screenplay

*The Iron Mask (Douglas Fairbanks)
The Love Parade (Ernest Vajda, Guy Bolton)
Napoleon (Abel Gance)
Pandora's Box (Joseph Fleisler, Ladislaus Vajda)
Spies (Fritz Lang, Thea von Harbou)

Applause (Rouben Mamoulian) *1/2

Director: Rouben Mamoulian

Cast: Helen Morgan, Joan Peers, Fuller Mellish Jr., Jack Cameron, Henry Wadsworth

Background: This early talkie was director Rouben Mamoulian's first film. It was adapted from a novel by Beth Brown.

Story: Kitty Darling (Morgan) is a popular burlesque performer who sends her daughter April (Peers) to a convent to keep her away from a seedy lifestyle. Years later, April returns as her mother's popularity begins to fade.

Thoughts: There's definitely some positive stuff here. Mamoulian was ahead of his time in the way he utilized sound equipment, and the seedy, negative portrayal of burlesque clubs is refreshing. It's very similar to how you would see a strip club portrayed in a modern film. Helen Morgan gives a brave and realistic portrayal of a woman stuck in a lifestyle she knows there is no escape from. Unfortunately, none of that can make up for some ridiculously horrific performances by the other actors, especially Joan Peers as her daughter. It has to be one of the worst performances I've seen in a movie, with a dramatic sequence where her mother is consoling her that is unintentionally funny. Then when I thought it couldn't worse, they pair Peers up with the equally wooden Henry Wadsworth as a romantic interest. There is an incredibly long courtship sequence for the two that just destroys the entire movie.

Postscript: Mamoulian would go on to a successful Hollywood career, with notable entries such as 1931's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and 1933's Queen Christina. Morgan would continue a career on both stage and screen until 1940.

The Manxman (Alfred Hitchcock) **

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Cast: Carl Brisson, Malcolm Keen, Anny Ondra

Background: Hitchcock was a busy director at this point, making 8 movies in the previous two years. The story was adapted from a novel written by Hal Caine.

Story: Fisherman Pete (Brisson) and lawyer Phillip (Keen) grew up as best friends. Pete is in love with Kate (Ondra), but cannot marry her until he gets more money, so he goes off on a long fishing trip. While he's away, Philip and Kate begin a shameful affair, but soon find out about his death. However, their marriage plans are halted when they find out he's very much alive.

Thoughts: There's a decided lack of artistry in the telling of this story. You wouldn't be able to tell this was directed by Hitchcock, as it contains none of his signature touches or his skill as a storyteller. The film mainly plods along from event to event without much interest. Anny Ondra gives an emotional performance in the lead role, but she has no chemistry with Malcolm Keen. This is a huge problem, as we're supposed to feel for the complex moral dilemma faced by Phillip and Kate. Yet they just seem like horrible, selfish people and the only sympathy to be found is for poor Pete, who just gets horribly mistreated through the whole movie. This is a romantic melodrama without any romance that doesn't need to be seen by anyone other than Hitchcock completists.

Postscript: This film only has any distinction because it is Hitchcock's last silent film. He would follow it up the same year with the much better Blackmail (also starring Ondra).

The Iron Mask (Allan Dwan) ****

Director: Allan Dwan

Cast: Douglas Fairbanks, Leon Bary, Tiny Sandford, Gino Corrado, Nigel de Brulier, William Bakewell, Marguerite De La Motte, Ullrich Haupt

Background: Douglas Fairbanks wrote the screenplay and spent a great deal of money on this sequel (with mostly different co-stars) to 1921's The Three Musketeers, knowing that it would be his last silent film (though he did film two short recorded monologues). Director Allan Dwan had over 300 films on his resume including a 1922 version of Robin Hood starring Wallace Beery.

Story: D'Artagnan (Fairbanks) attempts to get revenge against Cardinal Richelieu (de Brulier) for the death of his love Constance (De La Motte), but is forced to separate from his Musketeer pals (Bary, Sandford, Corrado) and serve the King's son Louis XIV (Bakewell) to prepare him for the throne, not knowing that the boy has a twin brother that was hidden by Richelieu.

Thoughts: While doing this project, I've seen alot of movies that I didn't care for, many of them out of duty (Wings, The Jazz Singer). So it's a great pleasure to come across something that makes me realize why I started this project in the first place. The Iron Mask is a supremely entertaining film of the highest order, incredibly exciting and fun (while maintaining a dark undercurrent) from beginning to end. Fairbanks crafted a fanciful script that changes many elements of the original story, but is still suitably complex and intriguing. Fairbanks was 46 at this point, but had not lost his marquee appeal or his ability to do fantastic stunts. It's pure joy to watch him dance around the screen, hopping over walls and doing backflips. His status as a screen legend was well earned. Allan Dwan directs this film with a breezy pace, managing to achieve a nice balance of adventure and despair. There is great support from the entire cast, especially Nigel de Brulier as the evil Cardinal Richelieu. The film concludes with one of the most memorable endings in film history, as Fairbanks wraps the story up in a way that makes it an incredibly moving goodbye to the era of silent cinema. Amazing.

Postscript: A re-issue of the film was done in the 50s for a TV release, with the intertitles removed and narration added by Douglas Fairbanks Jr. This is the same verstion available online in public domain, but I strongly recommend watching the original silent version that is available on DVD from Kino. Fairbanks retired from films in 1934, after a few unsuccessful attempts at talkies.

Queen Kelly (Erich von Stroheim) ***1/2

Director: Erich von Stroheim

Cast: Gloria Swanson, Walter Byron, Seena Owen, Tully Marshall

Background: This was a troubled production, as star Gloria Swanson was unhappy with Stroheim's direction and fired him after only one third of the film had been completed. Swanson then worked hard to complete the film with different directors, but von Stroheim's contract made this difficult.

Story: Prince Wolfram (Byron), unhappily bound to marry Queen Regina (Owen), falls in love with Kelly (Swanson), a student at a convent. He takes her to the castle to declare his love for her, but the Queen spots her and forcefully throws her out. Prince Wolfram promises that he will come find her one day.

Thoughts: What a crazy story! It plays out like an exciting prime time soap opera. I mean, you have a main character who fakes a fire to kidnap a girl that he loves. And this is treated as a great romantic gesture. You have an actress in Seena Owen that deliciously chews up so much scenery that it seems like she's auditioning for a 1929 version of Melrose Place. The movie was never fully completed, but if anything the choppy story progression, missing scenes, and bizarre ending add to the whole experience. The story is so ridiculous and moves at a surprisingly quick pace that it actually becomes quite exciting. Gloria Swanson is definitely an appealing lead and Byron acquits himself nicely as the prince. Who the hell knows what von Stroheim was going for, or how far away this is from his vision, but what is available to us on DVD today sure is a fun time.

Postscript: The film wasn't released in the United states because von Stroheim refused to approve any edited version of his work. Clips from the film were used in Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard, which starred Swanson and featured von Stroheim as a former director who worked with Swanson's character during the silent era.

Spite Marriage (Edward Sedgwick) **

Director: Edward Sedgwick

Cast: Buster Keaton, Dorothy Sebastian, Edward Earle, Leila Hyams

Background: Buster Keaton's recent films (particularly The General) had performed poorly at the box office and his distributor (United Artist) stripped some of his creative freedom, insisting on a production manager. He decided to switch to a new studio and signed for MGM.

Story: Buster is in love with stage star Trilby Drew (Sebastian), so much that he sees her show every night. When Trilby is dumped by fellow actor Lionel Benmore (Edward Earle), she decides to marry Buster (who she thinks is a millionaire) out of spite.

Thoughts: This one contains all of Buster's flaws from his previous films. The problem is it doesn't contain nearly enough of the brilliant comic bits that usually balance that out. The biggest flaw once again is that Buster plays a thoroughly unlikable character. He's kind of a jerk, actually. When we first see him, he's ruining the stage show for people who have already seen it. And he keeps his trademark stonefaced expression throughout the movie, making it hard to really care that he's being mistreated by his wife. Speaking of his wife, Sebastian plays leading lady that is just downright mean for the entire film, yet we're somehow supposed to root for them as a couple. There have been similar problems many of Buster's previous films, but there's usually memorable comedy to make you forget. All we have here is an amusing scene where Buster tries to put his drunk wife to bed, and a manic sequence on a boat where they try to dodge some villains (the best bit is the repeated trick where Buster hits a villain over the head with a bottle). That's not nearly enough to save this weak story.

Postscript: Despite this being a success, MGM began to exert even more control over Buster's movies during the transition to sound and his career as a leading man was over by the mid-30s.

Asphalt (Joe May) ****

Director: Joe May

Cast: Gustav Frohlich, Betty Amann, Albert Steinruck, Else Heller

Background: Joe May was one of the earliest German filmmakers, directing his first film in 1911. He was responsible for giving Fritz Lang his first job in film, employing him as a screenwriter. Gustav Frohlich gained notoriety for playing the hero in Fritz Lang's sci-fi epic Metropolis. This was Betty Amann's first major film role.

Story: Elsa Kramer (Amann) is a thief who gets caught stealing a diamond from a jewelry store, but successfully seduces police officer Albert Holk (Frohlich) to not turn her in. Their steamy romance now threatens to ruin his career.

Thoughts: Now, this is a wonderful film and Betty Amann is chief among the reasons, with her amazingly expressive eyes working magic on the camera. This is a film that would have been hard to do in sound. For example, the lengthy sequence where Elsa begs Albert to let her go may have grated a bit with spoken dialogue, as some of her histrionics would seem a bit ridiculous. Instead, the focus is simply on her facial expressions, and she woos him by suggestively batting her eyes. And what's really amazing about the performance of the two actors is that you'll find yourself actually hoping this romance can work out somehow, no matter how damaging that would be to Albert. Elsa is clearly wrong for him and sends him on a downward spiral, but Amann's performance is so deep and layered that you believe she might actually like him, too. The final scene might sound hokey on paper, but her eyes work that magic one more time for a memorable conclusion.

Postscript: Joe May fled Nazi Germany before World War 2 and had some success directing b-movies such as The Invisible Man Returns. Betty Amann made her way to Hollywood, but only made a few films before retiring in 1943. Gustav Frohlich would have a long career in German films.

Arsenal (Alexander Dovzhenko) **1/2

Director: Alexander Dovzhenko

Cast: Semyon Svashenko, Amvrosi Buchma, Georgi Khorkov, Dmitri Erdman

Background: Dovzhenko had only been directing movies for three years when he made Arsenal, and it was the second of his planned Ukrainian trilogy, the first being the previous year's Zvenigora.

Story: A Ukrainian soldier (Svashenko) returns after seeing the horrors of war, but when he gets back home he begins to challenge the local authorities who have claimed independence from the Soviet Union.

Thoughts: Like other Russian films of this era, such as The End of St. Petersburg, this is not a straightforward affair. Dovzhenko uses lots of symbolism and odd camera angles to make his point. The story is thankfully fairly linear once he gets down to telling it, but the real issue I had with this film is the message. Dovzhenko goes overboard in making the obvious answer that independence is a stupid idea for the Ukrainians. It's certainly understandable that there was no way he could come from another perspective while making a film in the Soviet Union, but he does himself a disservice in the way he makes his argument. The film has been praised for ambiguity, but there's nothing ambiguous about the contrast he shows between the heroic Marxists and the bald and bearded evil Ukrainian capitalists. Hell, Kerensky comes off better in Eisenstein's October than they do here. I would've preferred some more dimensions being explored. But sure, it's impossible to deny that the film is beautifully made. Dovzhenko is clearly a technical master with superior editing skill and understands everything you can do with a camera.

Postscript: Dovzhenko would complete the trilogy the next year with Earth, a film about collective farming that is even more highly regarded than this one.

Erotikon (Gustav Machaty) **1/2

Director: Gustav Machaty

Cast: Karel Schleichert, Ita Rina, Olaf Fjord, Theodor Pistek, Charlotte Susa

Background: This was Machaty's 4th outing as director, and he also wrote the screenplay.

Story: George (Schleichert) is a travelling salesman who gets stuck for the night in a small town. The railroad owner lets him stay at his house. George eventually meets and seduces the man's daughter (Rina). He leaves town the next day, but she can never forget him, even after she gets married to Hilbert (Pistek).

Thoughts: What an opening! The first 20 minutes or so of this film are just absolutely mesmerizing and showcase the true power of what can be accomplished by silent cinema. Machaty is able to build ample erotic tension just by the flirtatious glances between his two actors (who are fantastic), and the eventual consummation of this flirtation is directed in a provocative way (only a close-up of the female's face in complete ecstasy is shown) that would shame many modern filmmakers. That's why it is so painful that the rest of the film just descends into a standard melodramatic love triangle. Everything plays out in such a dull and obvious manner that it's hard to believe the same director also made the first twenty minutes. There is one really nice scene late in the film, where the two men competing for Andrea get locked in an intense chess match, obviously playing to win more than just the game, but that's the only bit of ingenuity we get. I also have major problems with the ending, which is a cheap copout from the filmmaker, allowing the main character an easy solution without having to make a moral choice.

Postscript: Machaty's most notable film would be 1933's Ecstasy, which starred Hedy Lamarr and where he once again broke sexual taboos. Ita Rina would continue acting in Czech films for the next decade.