Silent Sundays: The Marriage Circle (1924)

Okay, so for the past few Sundays I have been watching and reviewing silent films who’s plots are about love and marriage. What is going on with me? I am not a mushy romantic in any sense of the word! I cannot stand stories where marriages or relationships are going down the dumps because of huge mistakes in miscommunication or some bored housewife decides to try to seduce another woman’s man for some fun. That seems to be all I have been watching lately! I watch one of those types of silent films yet again with Ernst Lubitsch’s (and yeah I do realize that I reviewed an Ernst Lubitsch comedy last week. The two films just happened to jump out at me when I went looking for some silent films) The Marriage Circle.

            Josef Stock (Adolphe Menjou) is a professor. His wife Mizzi seems to have all the nice things while he is left with holes in his socks and ripped shirt collars. From what we can see of Josef he is not cruel but Mizzi tells him he is and if he does not stop with his cruelness she will leave him. Josef would like nothing more if Mizzi were to leave him. Mizzi has left to go to her friend Charlotte’s place. She takes a taxi that had been called for someone else. Mizzi and the other passenger discuss sharing the taxi. Josef sees this exchange from his bedroom window and thinks Mizzi is leaving with another man. Later in the day Josef hires a detective to gather information on where his wife goes.

            Charlotte is a very happy woman. She is very happy with her husband Franz who is a doctor. Franz come home and as he is hugging his wife he cannot stop staring at Mizzi. Mizzi also has a thing for Franz and later on fakes a fainting spell to have him come over to check on her. She has wine on a drink trolley brought in. Franz is not stupid he knows what Mizzi is trying to do and he does all he can to try to show her he has no interest in her. Josef walks in to see his wife and the doctor alone. Mizzi tries to tell her husband that she has one of her fainting spells but he can clearly see there was wine brought in and thinks he is the one Mizzi got into the taxi with that morning. The following morning Mizzi receives a letter from Franz that she should consult with another doctor. Mizzi is not easily dissuaded by Franz’s letter. She goes to his office and immediately grabs him and kisses him.

            Charlotte suspects that Franz is cheating on her but they both decide not to bring it up and fight about it anymore than they already have. She believes he is cheating on her with a young woman named Miss Hoffer. She is one of their guests at their dinner party and whenever Charlotte sees her husband is talking with Miss Hofer. Not knowing that Mizzi is the one Franz has been seeing Charlotte tells Mizzi to keep her eye on Franz since she thinks he is cheating on her with Miss Hoffer. Franz and Mizzi are almost caught out in the garden by Charlotte later on.

            That night Mizzi tells Josef that all she needs is love. He was willing to give her that love until the detective he hired to watch Mizzi comes back with a list of who she was with which includes Franz. Josef goes to Franz to tell him that he now has a reason and a person to blame to bring divorce against Mizzi. Charlotte is upset with her husband. She tries to make him jealous by tell him that she has been with his partner at the office (which she really has) but Franz does not believe her and lets her stunts such as kissing the other man in front of him go on.

            Obviously Charlotte and Franz make up and are a happy couple again. Mizzie and Josef wind up getting a divorce.

            The Marriage Circle was alright. I got bored with the story. After a while I just wanted it to end. I am not a fan of whole miscommunication thing it drives me up a wall. The cast did a very good in their roles especially Marie Provost who played Mizzi. The Marriage Circle is worth seeing at least once if you enjoy silent films. It is currently available to view in full on YouTube. 

Silent Sundays: The Oyster Princess (1919)

“An hour-and-a-half have passed and I still don’t have a husband.”

            What is it about women and wanting to desperately get married? Not all women are like that I know, I know, because I am definitely not one of those women. I would be perfectly fine with being a spinster living by myself for the rest of my life (such a happy cheerful person I am. Be my friend!). Maybe because I would not mind living out my days as a lonely old spinster I do not understand why some women are desperate to get married. Honestly planning a wedding would be my worst nightmare ever while someone women have been dreaming about their big day literally their whole lives.

            While I do not understand the appeal of desperately wanting to be married to do understand that decades and decades ago, let’s say in the early 1900s women were desperate (or needed to because of evil society) to get married because of possibly money and possibly for some sort of stability. Of course love could be involved in their desperation. And, if any silent films or films from the 1920s-1950s are to be believed, men were sometimes just as desperate to marry the girl of their dreams. Most of the films that have been made where marriage is the concern involves a woman. The silent film The Oyster Princess has that kind of plot but with a very funny and very silly twist.

            Ossi Quaker is a spoiled rich girl. Her father is known as the Oyster King. He has literally hundreds of servants under his employ at his beck and call. One day while Quaker is dictating a letter a servant comes into the room proclaiming that Ossi is having a fit throwing newspapers all over her room in rage. Quaker finds out that his daughter is upset because another rich girl she knows has married a count. To combat this issue Ossi goes to a matchmaker to try to get a husband. The matchmaker decides to give Ossi to Prince Nucki. Nucki is in heavy amount of debt and does not really want to get married.

            The matchmaker goes to Nucki’s house to tell him about the match. Nucki sends his friend Josef to take a look at Ossi. Ossi in the meantime has been going crazy. She complains to her father that it has been a half hour and she is still waiting for her husband to come. She goes into a fit again with throwing things. Josef eventually shows up. The butlers and servants in the house bow to him. One of the servants asks for his card and since the jacket belongs to Nucki Josef gives the servant Nucki’s card. Ossi is beyond excited when she sees the card says Prince Nucki on it. She is not impressed when she sees Josef, she thinks he looks stupid but in her complete and utter desperation to get married she rushes Josef off to get married in a hurry. Quaker gives his daughter a “small” wedding party with a few close family and friends. Their house is totally filled with people.

            Nucki has gone out on quite a bender. He is drunk and brought to a place to sober up. Ossi happens to be there taking care of some other drunks with a group of her friends who are against drunks. All the women are immediately taken with Nucki. Ossi winds up the lucky girl and she and Nucki fall in love. They are soon both upset that they cannot marry each other since she has married Josef. Josef comes through though. He tells them both that he put Nucki’s name down on the registration.

            The Oyster Princess was really funny. I would love to see this on a big screen somewhere to hear what parts people laugh at. The film was directed by Ernst Lubitsch who would become known for some of the greatest comedy films in the 1930s and 1940s. His direction with the story was perfect. I know I went on a rant with how I do not like stories that have to deal with women and even men desperately wanting to get married but The Oyster Princess was actually enjoyable because it was so silly and so outrageous. I wish films with this type of story were made today. If you like Ernst Lubitsch and like silent films I definitely suggest watching The Oyster Princess. It is currently available to view in full on YouTube. 

Silent Sundays: Carmen aka Gypsy Blood (1918)

           The story of Carmen has been done over and over again in the history of film. Without looking through my posts I believe I have seen several versions of Carmen. I decided to watch this silent version of the story because I have never seen Pola Negri in a film before.

            This version of Carmen begins with a group of Spanish gypsies around a camp fire. One if the gypsies tells the story of a woman named Carmen who used men to get whatever she wanted.

            Don Jose is a sergeant in Sevilla, Spain.  He has a loving fiancé named Dolores and a mother he takes care of. When he goes into the city he comes into contact with the local seductress Carmen. Jose arrests Carmen after she was involved with a fight at a bar. Alone in her jail cell, Carmen convinces Jose to help her escape. He goes along with her plan and he is soon demoted in rank.

            Jose eventually hits rock bottom. He is no longer with Dolores and he joins Carmen and group of smugglers. Jose even kills for Carmen at one point.

            Carmen leaves Jose for a famous bull fighter. When Jose learns that Carmen no longer loves him he kills her by stabbing her.

            Around the camp fire the gypsy telling the story concludes that some believe that Carmen did not die because she made a deal with the devil.

            Carmen: Gypsy Blood was alright. It was well worth watching it to say I have finally seen Pola Negri in a film. She was not bad; her acting was pretty good especially for a silent film. Ernst Lubitsch directed it and I like his direction no matter what the film. His direction actually kept my interest. Carmen: Gypsy Blood is worth watching at least once if you like silent films.