Notes from Capitolfest 17 in Rome, NY. Films in chronological order.
Day 1
Helen’s Babies
Dir. William A. Seiter
85 Minutes
USA
1924
Starring: Baby Peggy, Clara Bow, Edward Everett Horton, Jeanne Carpenter
***/*****
Simple and enjoyable, if slight, comic vehicle for Baby Peggy (new to me aside from some references here and there). Premise has “child rearing expert” Harry (Edward Everett Horton) visiting his sister and her husband for a few days of rest only to find they have left him babysitting their two children. Naturally, chaos follows. Film gravitates from set-piece to set-piece, often letting the camera linger on Baby Peggy while she does her thing (and the film preceded an alternate take of an extended gag with a collar box), but there still a handful of chuckles littered throughout despite a lack of anything really substantial.
Rich Man's Folly
Dir. John Cromwell
80 Minutes
USA
1931
Starring: George Bancroft, Frances Dee, Robert Ames, Juliette Compton, David Durand
***1/2/*****
Suggested by Dickens’ “Dombey and Sons” as a vechicle for the increasingly difficult to work with George Bancroft, “Rich Man’s Folly” almost feels like a project that Capra could have given a bump. Bancraft’s Brock Trumbull wishes for nothing but a son to carry on his business, legacy, and name, but continues to lose things in his attempt to achieve this goal. Francis Dee plays his decreasingly loyal daughter who wants to marry a competitor’s son. The film ultimately leads to Bancroft’s “awakening” of sorts following a late “vision” that questions his morals and priorities, but it’s still quite effective and has feeling. Cromwell is good with the tighter dramatic scenes, done to much better effect in The Silver Chord two years later.
Men In Her Life
Dir. William Beaudine
70 Minutes
USA
1931
Starring: Lois Moran, Charles Bickford, Victor Varconi, Don Dillaway
****/*****
Early Ruskin script does a reverse Pygmalion as a society girl (Lois Moran) tries to make a “gentleman” out of a former bootlegger (Charles Bickford). Moran and Bickford have terrific chemistry, and their scenes elevate the picture in extraordinary ways, making Riskin’s dialogue pop wonderfully. And for a solid two thirds this is quite the entertaining comedy of manners with a love triangle thrown in for added complications. The third act “return” of Moran’s “pre-movie” lover almost threatens to derail the whole affair, and it’s easy to groan when the climactic scenes take place in a courtroom setting considering how was fun was being had prior, but the ending sets an equilibrium both tonally and in terms of enjoyment. Beaudine directs group scenes quite nicely, giving much space and different direction to everyone involved. Title is a bit more sordid than the content.
The Eagle and the Squawk
4 Minutes
USA 1933
NRA promotion film—Sterling Halloway and Andy Devine appear. “No Relatives Allowed”.
The Strange Case of Clara Deane
Dir. Max Marcin/Louis J. Gasnier
78 Minutes
USA
1932
Starring: Wynne Gibson, Pat O'Brien, Dudley Digges, Frances Dee, George Barber
****/*****
Interesting, very effective, and sneakily moving melodrama with Wynne Gibson taking a fall alongside criminal husband Pat O’Brien and being sentenced to fifteen years in prison. Rather than becoming a prison drama, the film cuts to the end of the sentence and charts her attempts to catch a glimpse of her daughter, four at the time of the sentencing and now a young woman (Francis Dee after the time jump). The film weirdly feels about to wrap up when Pat O’Brien returns to the drama, and moves back into violence for its climax. But the final scene, between Wynne and Dee, is simply, kind of beautifully performed, and ends rather calmly. The title is quite apt, and the film melds genres without really settling on the conventions of any one (though MAN did these characters age after only 15 years. . .).
The Bookworm Turns
Dir. Charles Avery
10 Minutes
USA
1917
Starring: Harry Depp, Claire Anderson, James Spencer
**1/2/*****
Short film farce about a bookworm and an athletic coach having it out over a girl. While it is amusing at times and packs in quite a bit in its fourteen minutes (some special effects such as the bookworm throughing books at a shelf that fall perfectly on their spines, a cross dressing sequence), not much of the material actually lands.
Captain Blood
Dir. David Smith/Albert E. Smith
110 Minutes
USA
1924
Starring: J. Walter Kerrigan, Jean Paige, Charlotte Merriam, James Morrison
**/*****
Pretty tepid silent swashbuckler (admittedly not a particularly favorite genre of mine) with the occasional moment of spectacle sprinkled about the lukewarm drama. Heavy title card reliance (with quite the amount of detail) kill the already lacked momentum, and the film never really lifts off on its own, instead settling into a very episodic rhythm until its tidy conclusion.
Old Man Trouble
Dir. Basil Smith
7 Minutes
USA
1929
Starring: Jules Bledsoe
Early Warner Vitaphone sound short showcasing Jules Bledsoe singing two songs to his parents outside of their cabin. A curiosity.
The Unseen
Dir. Lewis Allen
80 Minutes
USA
1945
Starring: Joel McCrea, Gail Russell, Herbert Marshall
***/*****
Lewis Allen’s follow- up The Uninvited intends to lure similar audiences who undoubtedly turned away with a slight dissatisfaction comparatively. Gail Russell plays a new governess to the Fielding children after their precious guardian was sent away for mysterious reasons by their father, Joel McCrea. Russell begins to investigate, finding out too much and getting into deeper trouble. The film is certainly entertaining for the bulk of its running time, even if nothing holds up to any scrutiny. And the final reveal is nothing that cannot be predicted early on (with a mildly hilarious final minute that wraps things up extraordinarily neatly). But much of the mystery remains ludicrous, atmosphere at times phoned in, with some of the cast looking like they’d rather be elsewhere. Co-written by Raymond Chandler, apparent more in the dialogue and less in the structure.
Day 2
Ben Blair
Dir. William Desmond Taylor
50 Minutes
USA
1916
Starring: Dustin Farnum, Winifred Kingston, Herbert Standing, Lamar Johnstone, Virginia Foltz
***/*****
Dustin Farnum starring yarn about a young man out to avenge his mother's lover who drunkenly killed her and left the boy for dead. Quick and fairly entertaining picture (barely running an hour in length), but oddly put together and William Desmond Taylor seems a bit primitive in his ability to tell a narrative. Scenes feel less organically consecutive and more stitched together to form the semblance of this story.
Caught!
Dir. Edward Sloman
68 Minutes
USA
1931
Starring: Richard Arlen, Louise Dresser, Frances Dee, Tom Kennedy, Martin Burton
***1/2/*****
Mellow western melodrama fronted by Louise Dresser as Calamity Jane, a tough, respected, and feared saloon owner who runs into trouble with a US Calvary officer (Richard Arlen) arrives to clean up the town. He soon falls in love with one of Jane's girls (Frances Dee), leading to a confrontation and an inevitable revelation. The film moves in a few expected directions, but its central twist has a surprise that feels more organic than films of this ilk sometimes do. Dresser is a real force in the film, dominating every scene (even those she is not in because her presence is both explicit and implicit in the action), and Sloman directs with ease. The first half has the feel of a hang-out movie, acclimating the viewer to this community before moving into the more dramatic areas. And the ending, while satisfying and ultimately "happy" in the arc that it completes, has an attached dose of melancholy, with even the small drop of poetry: “Who told you things gotta make sense?” Fun to see Tom Kennedy as Jane's bumbling second.
Youth Takes a Fling
Dir. Archie Mayo
77 Minutes
USA
1938
Starring: Joel McCrea, Andrea Leeds, Frank Jenks, Dorotheo Kent, Isabel Jeans, Virginia Grey
***/*****
Aching to marry, Helen Brown (Andrea Leeds) sets her sights on Joel McCrea's Joe Meadows, even though he is interested in nothing but a maritime life. Relatively entertaining, though sometimes frustrating, romantic yarn that gets its biggest comic moments from McCrea's lack of interest in romance, though it of course leads to an inevitable conclusion. Archie Mayo keeps things moving at a nice brisk pace and the film is rarely dull, but its central conflict is notably dated and, at times, a bit forced.
Roamin' Thru the Roses
Dir. Archie Gottler
20 Minutes
USA
1933
Starring: Arthur Jarrett, Margaret Nearing, Neely Edwards, Carol Wines
***/*****
Pleasant musical comedy short about a couple waxing poetic about contentment (in song form, of course) before being thrown into increasingly turbulent romantic situations. Mostly amusing with a few chuckles and moments that twist expectations. The expected tone comes at the start before being turned on its side and becoming vastly more interesting.
Internes Can't Take Money
Dir. Alfred Santell
78 Minutes
USA
1937
Starring: Barbara Stanwyck, Joel McCrea, Lloyd Nolan Stanley Ridges, Lee Bowman
***1/2/*****
Oddly titled, Paramount's first Dr. Kildare film (before the series moved onto MGM for an interminable amount of entries) is the only one of the bunch I have seen. With low expectations, this was an enjoyable surprise: a never dull mystery with thought actually put into its characters. What could have been an easy workman picture feels a bit elevated, superficially credited to McCrea or Barbara Stanwyck (still not a particular fan outside of a specific "pre-code" era of film), or Lloyd Nolan who brings some subtlety to his "gangster" part, but much credit should be given to Alfred Santell (new to me in the last year with The Sea Wolf and Tess of the Storm Country) who has an consistently soft touch around intimate pairings and really knows when to let the action go on without a ton of interference. Kudos for not making McCrea and Stanwyck a predictable romantic coupling: romance is on the fringe, but not an inevitable. And the ending is more about reunion than consummation. A bit of a surprise.
Big Red Riding Hood
Dir. Leo McCarey
10 Minutes
USA
1925
Starring: Charley Chase, Martha Sleeper, Helen Gilmore
***/*****
Fun silent comedy short with a marvelous trifecta of Hal Roach, Charley Chase, and Leo McCarey. Chase plays a man asked to translate "Little Red Riding Hood" into Swedish, but cannot afford the book (or perhaps he's just cheap). His efforts to read the book without paying lead to chaotic results. Film begins on a small scale, confining the action to the corner of the bookshop, before moving onto a grander canvas. Oddly enough, the bigger the stunts get the more interest wanes.
Sally, Irene and Mary
Dir. Edmund Goulding
76 Minutes
USA
1925
Starring: Constance Bennett, Joan Crawford, Sally O'Neil, William Haines, Henry Kolker
***/*****
Constance Bennett, Joan Crawford, and Sally O'Neil play a trio (respectively) of showgirls all aching for success. The film follows their individual paths, with results varying in love, marriage, and, of course, death. The film is based on a play by Cyrus Wood (adapted by Edmund Goulding, who also directs), and feels more suited to the stage, though moments a hurried car drive leading to a train crash work to break free of the confines of theatre). It is lovely to see early work by the three core actresses (though a glance through O'Neil's filmography makes me realize that she is new to me), and the film is a modestly entertaining, if generally unremarkable, silent picture.
Signin' Em Up
4 Minutes
USA
1933
Short film promoting the NRA with Wheeler and Woolsey going around the studio lot to sign the various stars---manages to make a knock against a woman's weight, make fun of Roscoe's Ates' stutter, and end with a blackface Amos & Andy punchline.
The Curse of a Broken Heart
Dir. Lester Neilson
18 Minutes
USA
1933
Starring: Pat Somerset, Marion Byron, Robert Ellis, Al Klein, Carol Wines
****/*****
Founded on a very simple premise (a dastardly mustached villain (always twirling it!) wishes to marry the beautiful virginal maid, despite continued interference by the honorable hero), The Curse of the Broken Heart is remarkable in its tone in telling its story. Played fully and entirely tongue-in-cheek, and completely upturning the tropes of this narrative in every way, the film plays like a hybrid of a Monty Python sketch with contemporary parody of old film, and it was made nearly ninety years ago. Hilariously moving from set-piece to set-piece (that airplane climax is hysterical, but the hero's insistence on throwing a log through a glass window to enter a house instead of going through the open front door is a personal favorite), with odd fourth wall breaks, continued reminders that this is all a film, and funny title cards ("please excuse us while we change reels", this is a real discovery. There is another film from the same year that is Lester Neilson's only other directing credit, also scripted by Al Martin which is a priority to find.
Legion of Terror
Dir. Charles C. Coleman
63 Minutes
USA
1936
Starring: Bruce Cabot, Marguerite Churchill, Crawford Weaver, Ward Bond, Charles C. Wilson
***/*****
Two postal inspectors (Bruce Cabot and Crawford Weaver) set out to uncover who sent a bomb to their offices. They get to the root by infiltrating a group that call themselves The Hooded Legion, a hooded KKK-esque organization that caters to their own (by way of signing to one another through flashing a small medallion), and planning terror for their enemies.
On the whole the film is somewhat poorly put together, with moments of sheer overacting and (very intentional) didactic dialogue (the final exchange about how America is a country of "joiners" is both hilarious in the "to-the-camera' method of delivery, but also (unfortunately) still very relevant today), but its too crazy a picture to not latch onto. The most successful sequences (and the ones where Coleman clearly gets to showcase a few chops) come from the Hooded Legion meeting scenes, and the unveiling of the hooded men as they light their torches is oddly creepy and is a moment that stands alongside some of the horror being produced at the time. Some nice early work by Ward Bond as the brother of Cabot's eventual love interest who sadly falls on the receiving end of The Hooded Legion's anger. A real curio if it can be found.
Day 3
Boys Will Be Boys
Dir. George Stevens
20 Minutes
1932
USA
Starring: Frank Albertson, Sally Blane, Richard Carle, Guinn Williams, Fred Kelsey, Jack Duffy
***/*****
Amusing George Stevens comedy short about a set of parents being quite happy about their sons engagement (to a showgirl!) until the father realizes that its the same girl that HE has been fooling around with. The grand set piece takes place in her dressing room where father, son, her third brute of a lover (who is ready to pounce on anyone who may be messing around with his girl), and others converge. Was mildly reminded of Lugosi's scene in Walsh's Women of All Nations the year previous.
Playboy of Paris
Dir. Ludwig Berger
79 Minutes
1930
USA
Starring: Maurice Chevalier, Frances Dee, O.P. Heggie, Stuart Erwin, Eugene Paulette, Dorothy Christy
***/*****
After discovering that his inept waiter Albert (Maurice Chevalier) is about to inherit a great deal of money, a cafe proprietor attempts to cheat him out of it. But Albert catches on and circumstances make him "the millionaire waiter". The comedy comes in his attempts to juggle the 7am to 7pm working life with the 7pm to 7am "gentleman" life, and his attempts to not allow his heiress girlfriend (Dorothy Christy) to discover he is just a "lowly" waiter. Frances Dee plays the proprietor's daughter who, of course, realizes that she loves the man with whom she constantly fights. While the picture gets a bit tiresome (with a climactic duel that somewhat comes out of nowhere), Chevalier is fun to watch, especially in his moments of great indignation and attempts to get fired, and his sparing with Dee is a pleasure to watch. And he, of course, gets a song thrown in at the start for good measure.
Her Lucky Day
Dir. Dick Smith
20 Minutes
USA
1920
Starring: Alice Howell, Dick Smith, Rose Burkhart, Theodore Lorch
**1/2/*****
Alice Howell short (also with husband Dick Smith) that begins with her being kicked out of her apartment and escalates (and, arguably, meanders) from there. Second Howell short I have ever seen (after the superior Distilled Love last year at the MOMA), but still eager to see more. Found the film a bit disjointed, and while it has a few individual chuckles in the gags moves from scene to scene without a sense of much unity in the wider narrative.
Ride, Cowboy, Ride
Dir. George Amy
22 Minutes
USA
1939
Starring: Dennis Morgan, Maris Wrixon, George Reeves, Cliff Edwards
**1/2/*****
Simple and routine, though unremarkable, western Technicolor short about a cowboy who rescues a girl from a gang of outlaws and then has to stop them from destroying his town. Relaxing (There is even room for a quick tune at the start about the lovely prairie!) and not particularly dull, but dry example of the genre.
He Done His Duty
Dir. Charles Lamont
18 Minutes
USA
1937
Starring: Andy Clyde
***/*****
Andy Clyde and Robert McKenzie play a pair of rivals vying for a sheriff position. They become required to join forces when con woman Dorothy Granger (and her crossdressing accomplice) come to town and cause trouble. Another mildly entertaining short yarn, though the Clyde/McKenzie team does not inspire a ton of confidence.
This Reckless Age
Dir. Frank Tuttle
80 Minutes
1932
USA
Starring: Charles Rogers, Richard Bennett, Peggy Shannon, Charles Ruggles, Frances Dee, Frances Starr, Maude Eburne, Allen Vincent
**/*****
At its core an exploration of the changing values of the younger generation much to the frustration of the older one, This Reckless Age suffers from being overly talky, stagy, and mostly dull. For a film with such a wide ensemble and various subplots, it crawls along to a conclusion that still somehow feels like an inevitability rather than the surprise it wants to think it is presenting. A few charming performances (mainly Charlie Ruggles and Frances Dee ("kiss-kiss")) barely help the inert action. Does make for a bizarre holiday picture with the action taking place across the Christmas/New Year season. Really for completists only, though completists of exactly what I could not say.
Going Crooked
Dir. George Melford
75 Minutes
1926
USA
Starring: Bessie Love, Oscar Shaw, Gustav von Seyffertitz, Edgar Kennedy, Lydia Knott
***1/2/*****
Fast paced, suspenseful crime drama about a young jewel thief (Bessie Love) who wants to get out of the business but is entrapped by Mordaunt (Gustav von Seyffertitz), the leader of the ring. At just a little over an hour long (with quite a bit of action taking place in such a short period of time), this is the rare picture that I wish had more information outside of its main narrative, especially scenes where Love and von Seyffertitz get to spar. Would have been at home during one of MOMA's forays into the Fox vault earlier this year.
August 9th-13th, 2019