Tue Aug 14, 2012 12:58 pm
For those of you who I could not talk to more than five minutes, my apologies, as I'm sure you saw me bolting up and down the aisles, getting the show together. Here are some thoughts on the films we ran...
THE CHINAMAN FROM BJURHOM (2004) - Very interesting documentary about Warner Oland—made for Swedish audiences, it told his story from a Swedish perspective. We were lucky enough to have Anders Sjogeren of the Warner Oland Academy of Sweden to introduce the video presentation.
HAWAIIAN NIGHTS - Not rare, but fun. What strikes me about these early Vitaphones is that for the most part, they’re shot to seem like they’re roughly life-sized when projected, using the full height of the frame as a backdrop. This particular short was done with a two-camera shoot.
INTIMATE INTERVIEWS, LOIS WILSON - Interesting entry in the Dorothy West “Intimate Interviews” series that I hadn’t seen before (we ran “Bela Lugosi” a couple of years back). The interview with Wilson is extremely naturalistic, and I’m sorry it wasn’t longer or more in-depth. The print was so sharp, it was apparent that there were flies everywhere in Miss Wilson’s backyard (some of them flying up Miss West’s skirt to the guffaws of some attendees.) The track was also very good—you could just make out a train whistle off in the distance.
RIDER OF DEATH VALLEY - I think this was my favorite talkie of the weekend. Again, a film that is “out there,” but the print was just incredible. Sharp, well-timed, EXCELLENT clear sound typical of Universal tracks from that period. The film is superb; well cast and edited, and extremely fluid camera work. The makeup during the Death Valley scenes made the scenes really brutal. I would rate this even better than Mix’s previous, DESTRY RIDES AGAIN.
THE MARRIAGE CLAUSE - This was our only 16mm entry for the weekend. A 20-minute condensation of the Universal film, you could see the full-length film was probably very good, but the cut-down was rather incoherent and abrupt. Still, it’s all that exists of the film, and I was glad to see it.
QUEEN FOR A DAY - some attendees weren’t too keen about us running an early Vitagraph short, but I REALLY enjoyed seeing this one, and I think it makes for a more well-rounded program to go *earlier* than our scope of ‘20s and ‘30s than later, naturally. Indeed, as I was previously told, this features Bunny in drag, and it’s, as I figured it would be, quite hilarious. It got a lot of great laughs from the audience. So, should there be a spot next year, I would gladly welcome Mr. Bunny’s return.
BARE KNEES - I had a chance to watch this in advance, but opted not to, because I wanted to see it fresh at the show. To be truthful, I wasn’t expecting much from this film, but was extremely delighted by it, and the score provided by Avery Tunningley. The film’s producers made the low budget go a long way. The film’s climax made good use of miniature work, edited in a way that it seemed seamless with the live-action footage. Corbin’s character is pretty brassy, with some wonderful lines. Title-work all around pretty good. One thing I noticed is that there seemed to either be a reflection or double-exposure during certain shots—I don’t know if that was a camera malfunction, or an optical issue.
COLUMBIA EXCERPTS REEL - Including THE DONNOVAN AFFAIR, THE FAKER and THE YOUNGER GENERATION. Interesting clip reel, nothing special really. The clip from THE DONNOVAN AFFAIR is from the silent version. THE FAKER clip was intriguing, but Oland is only in one shot.
THE NIGHT FLYER - OK railroad light drama. Boyd is good, but his character is so naïve that some of the jams he gets himself into don’t evoke as much pathos as they should. The climax was missing the “umph” that you would have wanted it to have, particularly in the way they were setting it up. Jobyna Ralston looks beautiful, though, and the camera work is good.
IN MY MERRY OLDSMOBILE - Good Fleischer sing-a-long, in a very nice print.
BLOSSOM SEELEY & BENNY FIELDS - Some folks didn’t care for this short, but I thought it was quite good. I would love to have seen this act in person.
OLD SAN FRANCISCO - It’s been many years since I’d seen this one, and my memory wasn’t so fresh about it. Dolores Costello, although limited in her acting range, was amazingly beautiful. The story is sheer ridiculousness, but it’s so well done that you don’t mind. Where else can you see Angelo Rossito stuck in a cage and an underground opium den in the same picture? Although the Capitol featured the film in 1929, this was the first time it played with the Vitaphone track, which was extremely well arranged, with the print we acquired having particularly good fidelity. The original tints were intact, too.
WILD FLOWERS - This was definitely a hit of the weekend—Jean Goldkette’s Chicago orchestra led by Victor Young, plus a 41-foot Studebaker. Lots of fun.
YOUNG EAGLES - Although entertaining, this film really suffers from early takie-itis. Jean Arthur seems incredibly uncomfortable in her role, and some real stilted dialog make for a rather unusual contrast to a pretty good story. James Finlayson shows up, sans moustache, in a memorable role, and Stu Erwin has some great lines of dialog.
CHARLIE CHAN CARRIES ON TRAILER - Fascinating, and all too brief. Makes you really wish the film existed.
HIS MARRIAGE MIX-UP - This one really brought down the house. A very funny Columbia Langdon, where he’s been somewhat teamed up with Vernon Dent. Good gag writing.
EX-BAD BOY - Supposedly lost, a winner all the way. I wouldn’t be surprised if this starts making the rounds. Armstrong plays WAY against type in a film that does not have Universal Pictures written all over it. Jean Arthur, in contrast to YOUNG EAGLES, is obviously having a lot more fun here. Good use of a low budget.
SURPRISE, SURPRISE - This three-minute Three Stooges commercial for the Pillsbury Farina Moving Picture Machine ran at Cinefest this year, but we thought it so good that we brought it back for something of an encore at Capitolfest. Lots of fun.
SOMEWHERE IN SOMEWHERE - Fun, routine Roach comedy taking places in the trenches of the Great War.
HEART TO HEART - missed.
PARAMOUNT ON PARADE EXCERPT - missed.
HOW TO BREAK 90 - missed.
HEADS UP - I wanted to like this one so much, but it missed the boat (no pun intended). The songs are good, the cast is good, but the writing and uninspired direction really hurt the picture. For late 1930, it is unusually stilted. Also hurting things included the poor quality of the only-surviving 16mm print it was blown up from.
THE LIGHTNING RAIDER - Fun serialistic nonsense. Oland gets to ham it up.
GOOD TIME CHARLEY - I saw this at Cinecon a few years back and thought it would be a nice piece for our Warner Oland tribute. Phil Carli brought the house down, complementing this weeper. Oland and Cook steal the show in an otherwise implausible story.
THE BURGLAR TO THE RESCUE - Stilted... cornball... LOTS of fun. This takes the cake as probably the longest, most furious storm in a short I can remember. We’re looking forward to running these Shadow shorts regularly.
THE NIGHT OF JUNE 13 - Very good! Mistakenly sold as a mystery film, this is more of a suspense-drama, with human interest throughout. An excellent cast, mostly from the stage brings the material up a couple of steps. Probably Lila Lee’s best talkie role, to my memory.
A STAR IS SHORN - Fun nonsense from Columbia... went over especially well with our crowd.
A PASSPORT TO HELL - I’d seen this before, so I skipped it. A film that is a lot better than its reputation.
LIGHTNIN’ WINS - Pretty good Hans Tiesler effort, shot on a shoestring, but making the most of its dog star and low budget. One of Gary Cooper’s first roles.
THE BROWN DERBY - VERY good Johnny Hines feature. Beautiful print from UCLA had the Technicolor opening titles, tints, and particularly funny use of hand coloring (Hines face turns red at a barbershop when the barber throws a hot towel on him before a shave). The middle dragged a little bit, but the gags are all aces.
WALL STREET - A number of people like this one a lot... I felt it dragged quite a bit. Ralph Ince is good, but his boorish character makes me lack apathy for him, even to the end. The ending is a little bit of a cop-out, too.
JACK THEAKSTON’S SHORT SUBJECT FOLLIES - Included “Kid From Borneo,” which was welcomed with echoes of laughter. Second bill was Spanish version of “Don’t Hook Now” (1943), featuring Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, and a slew of golf experts; Bing sings a song in Spanish otherwise unrecorded. Last reel was 10-minutes of original Technicolor clips from the ‘30s and ‘40s.
BOWLED OVER - Amusing early-20s Paul Parrot comedy from Roach, set against a bowling alley. Very Sennett-esque, and had its moments.
THE NIGHT CRY - Superb Rin-Tin-Tin feature, rounding out the weekend quite well. This film makes you realize how well trained an animal he was. Suspenseful throughout, with some wonderful location photography. A particularly rousing score from Phil Carli.
