Silent Sundays: Safety Last (1923)

Harold Lloyd’s widely known and most popular film is said to be Safety Last. Even if you have never seen the film or have heard of it you have most likely seen the picture of him hanging from the clock off the side of a building. How Lloyd gets to the point where he is hanging from the clock is a story that has been done since the time film began.

            Harold is a small town guy who travels to the city to earn money so he can marry a girl named Mildred (Mildred Davis). While he in the city he scrimps and saves money he earns from a thankless and menial job in a department store (haven’t we all been there once or twice in our lives?). Every day he sends Mildred letters and even saves enough money to buy her at first a pendant for a chain and then finally a chain. Mildred and her mother think that he has a position within the department store so she decides to go to the city to keep Harold company.

             The Mildred surprises Harold in the store he has been swamped by women pulling at him behind the counter for pieces of fabric. Fortunately by the time Mildred comes he has just put himself back together and the crowd has died down. He realizes that she thinks he is the manager so he pretends to be one. Quite a few times that almost backfires with hilarious happenings. He uses the general manager’s office as his own since Mildred wants to see it. She leaves her pocketbook in the room and when Harold goes back to get it he hears the manager say that he will give anyone a thousand dollars to create something that entice more customers to come into the store.

            Harold has just the stunt to pull: he saw his roommate Bill climb the side of a building to get away from the police, he tells Bill that he will give him five hundred dollars if he can climb the building. Bill has been built up as a mystery man who will climb the side of the building. Unfortunately the cop that he was running away from puts two and two together and realizes that Bill is the guy he was chasing. The cop goes to the department store and chases Bill up the floors. Now Harold is the one who has to climb the building. The scene gets intense but every floor he climbs he gets into the funniest situations. At the top Mildred is happily waiting for him and gives him a big hug and kiss.

            Harold Lloyd was adorable. I liked that his comedy was not over the top it was just right and to me that makes him a comedic genius. It is so easy for comedic actors/actresses to go over the top and yes I do know that this was the silent era and that all the actors and actresses were over the top with their acting but Lloyd was not he was always at the edge but pulled away.

            The famous clock scene is not really that long. I can see why it is so famous because it looks dangerous and I found myself sitting on pins and needles his whole climb but this is where his climb gets risky. It is an iconic scene that I feel most film lovers should see and know.

            The film is very clever. One scene that I found so clever was when Harold and Bill hear their landlady coming whom they owe two weeks rent to. They jump into their coats, hang the coats up, and pull their legs up. Another good scene is when he has to get to work and he sees an ambulance. He goes over to the stretcher, lays down on the ground pretending to have something wrong with him, and the EMTs put him in the ambulance. When the one EMT is not looking he looks out the window and tells the driver to pull over at the next corner. The best was the beginning: it looks like Harold is in jail with Mildred and her mother coming to visit him and in the background it looks like there is a hangman’s noose. Harold is just waiting at the train station to leave for the city. Great fake out absolutely genius.

            One of the things I really enjoyed seeing was the clothing. At the moment at the historical society I volunteer at our textile display is called Fabulous Flapper Fashions of the 1920s. All the clothes are from after 1925 which are the clothes that are mostly associated with the 1920s and the flapper fashions. Safety Last was filmed in 1923 women’s clothes were a lot more relaxed and not as restricting because the corset was pretty much phased out by this time but the fashion was still very much in the style of the early 1900s with large hats and long dresses. It is interesting to realize that two years later the clothes would be flat dresses with beads, sashes, and fringe. Women’s hair would be bobbed and they would mostly wear cloche hats. This era is very interesting for fashion and women.

            Safety Last was really funny and really really cute. I liked how Harold and Mildred’s love was cute and innocent and their kissing and hugging scene at the end was sweet. Safety Last is a fun, enjoyable silent comedy.

 

Grand Hotel (1932)

“Grand Hotel… always the same. People come, people go. Nothing ever happens.”

            Grand Hotel is one of the best films to have been made in the 1930s and to me one of the best acted and casted of the decade. It took me a while to watch this film but I am glad I did because I can appreciate all the actors’ performances since I have seen each of them in other films. Stories of each of the characters mix and come together in touching as well as funny ways.

            Berlin’s Grand Hotel is one of the best places in the whole city. People of wealth and status come and go every day. The latest of the upper class to arrives are General Director Preysing (Wallace Beery) head of a large company looking to expand to Manchester, England; Baron Felix von Gaigern (John Barrymore)who despite his title does not have that much money; and the elusive and moody ballerina Grusinskaya (Greta Garbo).

            Otto Kringelein (Lionel Barrymore) is one guest who does not come wealth and has no status in society. He is a book keeper looking for some rest. All his life he has worked and now he has a terminal illness and for once he wants to stay at the Grand Hotel. Felix sees that the hotel staff is giving Kringelein a hard time about staying in a room so he kindly offers the man his own sweet and takes another room. Felix is able to get a room nearer to Grusinskaya which works in his advantage.

            Presying has requested the services of a stenographer to dictate some notes to. A young fresh faced woman named Flaemmchen (Joan Crawford) has been sent to help him. The first person she meets is not the General but the baron. Felix sees the young girl standing by herself outside of Preysing’s door and decides to talk to her. He thinks she is a girl for hire but she immediately sets things straight. There is an attraction between the two but it is not a lust attraction is an attraction stemming from their mutual loneliness. Kringelein comes out of his room wanting to go dancing and have Felix come with him for a drink. He wants Flaem to come along as well after she is done working with Preysing.

            Down the hall the ballerina is depressed. She does not want to go to the theater and perform she just wants to be alone. Grusinskaya is forced to go by her maid and (possibly) her agent. While the ballerina is gone Felix sees his chance to get into her room. Felix may be a Baron but he is flat broke. His family will not give him money so he became a con artist and thief. Felix climbs across his balcony and Preysing’s to get to Grusinskaya’s room to steal her expensive pearls. Unfortunately Grusinskaya has ran away from the theater and returned before Felix could leave the room. He could not leave the way he entered through the balconies because Preysing was standing out on his. When Grusinskaya comes in he pretends to be an admirer and he will not leave. He spends the night in her room and the next day she is incredibly happy in love. Felix promises he will go with her to the next country she is set to perform him although he needs money. She tells him she can pay for his train ticket but he refuses saying he needs to get the money himself.

            Felix tries to get money by gambling and takes Kringelein along with him. The book keeper winds up winning more money than he has ever seen in his life. Felix tries to steal the money but he sees how upset the man is over the missing money he gives it back. He then tries Preysing’s room but it does not go well.

            When Preysing completed his business he presents Flaem with a proposition: he is going to be spending quite some time in Manchester now that his new deal went through and he wants her to go with him as his personal secretary. Flaem reads between the lines and knows that he just wants her around his mistress. She wants to see the world and experience new things and how could she pass up the opportunity when he has promised to buy her new clothes and pay her whatever she wants.

            In the end everyone’s loneliness or wealth or their not being wealthy leads to either their down fall or to their realization they are no longer lonely.

            This is one of the best casted films I have ever seen; everyone was perfect in their roles. Lionel and John Barrymore’s characters were my favorites. Lionel was wonderfully comedic and light as Kringelein. He was a man everyone could relate to: he worked hard all his life and just wanted some enjoyment out of it he wanted to spend his money the way he wanted and be comfortable. John was so romantic and charming. Some of my favorite scenes are between the two brothers, especially where John kisses Lionel on the head after Kringelein has won his money.  John’s scenes with Greta Garbo were amazing. Garbo was incredible. I can truly see why she is considered one of Hollywood’s greatest actresses. She was gorgeous when she was happy and so believable. Joan Crawford never looked or acted better. Her last scene with Lionel Barrymore was so touching so sincere. I have never seen Wallace Beery in a film before but he was great as Preysing.

            The cinematography adds greatly to the allure and beauty of the hotel. I like we are given glimpses of all the guests coming and going in the beginning and the next day we are given glimpses of the new arrivals. Both beginning and ending shots are excellent to give us the feeling that this is just a fleeting night in a busy hotel. The shadows in this film are great.

            MGM was incredibly smart putting this cast of famous actors into one film. Grand Hotel was a huge success and went on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1932. The stories of these characters are relatable even to this day which is one of the reasons this film has held up so well over so many decades. Often times a film that tells the individual stories of so many characters then they come together at the end does not work or it comes off slow and boring but with Grand Hotel it works out wonderfully and beautifully. Grand Hotel is a great film and one that all classic film lovers will enjoy.

 

The Hoodlum Saint (1946)

No film ever suffers from having William Powell in the lead. He was a great actor he could play comedy and drama to perfection. Time and again I go on about how classy and sophisticated he was which always added that little more to his characters and the films. Powell gives a great performance, as always, in The Hoodlum Saint but he feels miscast playing the love interest to the much younger Esther Williams and Angela Lansbury.

            Terry O’Neill (Powell) has just returned from serving in World War I to find that he no longer has a job at his old newspaper where he was a reporter. He has nowhere to go and no food or clothes. One day Terry decides to crash a wedding of rich society people to try to get a job with any of them. There he meets the very pretty Kay Lorrison (Esther Williams). There is an instant attraction and after that they start seeing each other when he gets a job with her uncle’s newspaper.

            After a few months on the job Terry leaves the paper to work for a man in the stock market. Kay and her uncle have no idea why he wants to work for the man since he had been going after the stock broker incessantly in the paper. Terry wants to make money he does not want to go back to not having money again. He goes to New York City and a few of his old friends tag along.

            Terry becomes very successful and makes a lot of money and meets new people. Over the course of a few years he and Kay meet. Kay could not wait for him anymore so she married. Terry sees a singer named Dusty (Angela Lansbury) at a nightclub he frequents but he does not love her the way he loves Kay. One meeting years later Kay tells Terry that her husband died. They both want to be together again and they try to make it work. She sees that his life is all about making money he is not happy unless he has money.

            The Stock Market Crash of 1929 happens and Terry is left with nothing. With Terry’s wealth gone Kay goes back to him.

            In the middle of all this and the reason why the film is called The Hoodlum Saint is because one of Terry’s friends keeps landing in jail. To keep him from returning to jail Terry has the story told to him about St. Dismas the good thief who was crucified next to Christ. The friend gets out of jail and the plan works the friend becomes good. With Terry’s help the friend sets up a fund in the saint’s name to help others who have no place to go. Terry was never really a believer in the fund even though he wrote about it and put some money towards it until the end he needs help himself.

            William Powell was just fabulous even though the part should have gone to someone younger… well I should not say younger I should MGM should have casted an older actress as Kay instead of Esther Williams. Williams wrote in her autobiography how even Powell thought it was ridiculous that he was cast to play a younger man with a much younger leading lady. Powell and Williams did not look bad together they were excellent but the age difference is noticeable. Powell was fifty-four and Williams was twenty-five. Powell was older than most of his leading ladies by quite a few years (thirteen between he and Myrna Loy) but that difference is nuts. Esther Williams is quite good as Kay. MGM was still testing how far they could go with her since she was really a swimmer. There was one line that was good Powell asks her “Do you want to go for a swim?” and she tells him that he is the guide and he takes her to a pool hall. I thought Williams was adorable and not a bad actress. Angela Lansbury played the sinister Dusty with ulterior motives. From the moment she first comes on screen you know she is no good. I liked her performance the best because I am used to seeing her as nice characters or hearing her as Mrs. Potts so when I see as a bad girl I like her. She did not have the look which makes her all the better at playing bad. Lansbury hid her accent very well, a big difference from her cockney accent in Gaslight.  

            The Hoodlum Saint had potential to be better. It could have gone that William Powell was cast in the role and an older actress could have played Kay or Esther Williams stayed and another actor could have played Terry. I got a little bored with the story after a while but for the most part The Hoodlum Saint is not a bad film. As I said at the beginning no film starring William Powell ever truly suffers. 

The Great Garrick (1937)

The Great Garrick is a clever film. David Garrick was a real British actor in the 1760s who was known as a big ham. Warner Bros took this idea and decided to make their Garrick character conceited in thinking he is better than everyone. He makes the mistake of insulting the Comedie Francais. Garrick is set to play in Paris so the actors of Comedie plan to get their revenge and show that they really can act.

            Garrick (Brian Aherne) knows he has made a bit of a mess for himself and pretends to be sick but his servant Tubby (Edward Everett Horton) tells him to get over it and show the French how fantastic he is.

            In France the Comedie lead by M. Beaumarchais (Lionel Atwill) plan their revenge against Garrick. The idea is that they will take over an inn where the entire troupe will be play the servants and the owner. Fortunately for Garrick and unfortunately for the troupe a man who used to work with the actor tells him of the troupe’s plan. Garrick is nothing but thrilled and is ready to see what will be thrown his way.

            The troupe receives their guest at the inn but an unexpected turn literally walks through the door. The turn is a young girl named Germaine (Olivia de Havilland). She is just a traveler running away from home. Garrick sees the young girl and finds her very pretty but he thinks she is part of the troupe and plays along.

            That night Germaine screams because there is a frog in her bed. Garrick knew she would be calling for him he figures Germaine is the one that is out to seduce him. He goes to her room to help and once the frog is out of the room they get to talking which leads to them taking a walk out in the garden. Garrick truly falls in love with Germaine she is a sweet young girl.

            Later when Garrick lets the troupe know that he knows their plan and had known it before he arrived, believing Germaine was in on the act tells her that she was the worst one and that she should give up her ambitions of being an actress. After Germaine leaves the troupe lets him know that she was not with them and Garrick becomes upset with the thought that he has lost the love of his life.

            Garrick is set to perform Don Juan but he is too upset over what he has done to Germaine. He wants to go find Germaine to apologize and get her back. He goes out onto the stage when stage hand he used to work with lets him know that Germaine is sitting in the balcony. Right then and there Garrick professes his love for Germaine in front of the audience without giving her away and goes on to perform in the play.

            As I said this film is clever. I liked how the troupe tried to trick Garrick. They were so elaborate in some of their shenanigans like they faked a sword fight and running down the hall that I cannot explain properly but I was laughing pretty hard. I liked the plot of this it was different and fun.

            Olivia de Havilland was twenty-one in this film and completely adorable. I love watching her early roles because she is the perfect ingénue and she was so light and so cute. The more I see of de Havilland no matter what decade or how old she is the more I adore her. I had never seen Brain Aherne in a film before this. He was alright. It was just weird seeing him with Olivia de Havilland because two years later he married her sister Joan Fontaine and I knew that before I watched the film so it seemed odd in some way. Lionel Atwill was hysterical in period dress. I felt so bad for him because this was the guy in some of the best “scary” film from 1930s. I like him as the sinister man and here he was in period dress in French clothing from the 1700s. Lana Turner was in the film but I am not familiar with her so I did not know which character she was. Her character has a name I just do not know her face well enough. Albert Dekker was in the film as well but I believe this was one of his first films and he did not really have a large role. I could be wrong I may not have really noticed him.

            The Great Garrick was enjoyable to sit through. At the time I watched it I was not really paying too much attention because my day to that point had been terrible. I thought watching a comedy with Olivia de Havilland would take my mind off of what was going on but it only helped a little. What I did pay attention to I really liked and will most likely buy The Great Garrick on DVD. 

Silent Sundays: The Love Light (1921)

            I have been thinking about doing something themed on this site to give it some substance to break out of the monotony of just doing all kinds of reviews. Every Sunday TCM has Silent Sunday Nights where they show silent films. I like that concept so I have decided to adopt it. I have several silent films saved and downloaded but so much of them are only like ten to twenty minutes long  I figured doing a Silent Sunday thing like TCM would be fun and I could post about multiple films. Also I think this is pretty fitting for the site since my first review was about Sadie Thompson starring Gloria Swanson from 1928.

            So from now on (or until I run out) on Sundays I will be posting about silent films.

            The first film in my edition of Silent Sundays is The Love Light starring silent cinema’s most popular actress and American’s first sweetheart Mary Pickford.

It has been a while since I have watched a film where my heart actually ached for the main character. I sat riveted, captivated, enthralled by The Love Light. I could feel my heart pounding in worry for Mary Pickford’s character Angela Carlotti every time she suffered a great loss and how she would overcome it. In the final moments of the film I found myself wringing my hands in worry and suspense and the relieved with lighter heart at the happy ending.

            Angela and her brothers Antonio and Mario live in a small Italian village near the sea. They are a happy family just the three of them. Mario is “the bane of Angela’s existence” but they love each other very much. A man in the village and a good friend of Angela’s named Giovanni is in love with her and everyone knows it.

            The four of them live happily for a while until World War I rolls around. Antonio is the first to go. Mario goes off as well and Angela pleads and begs for him not to go. When Mario runs away from his sister to leave her as less painfully as possible Giovanni comes over with a shirt sent a courier that Antonio is dead.

            Giovanni is the last of Angela’s closest ones to go off to war. He has left her in charge of his lighthouse while he is away. One day Angela comes across a man in the water fighting the waves and the rocks on the shore. She rescues the man who says his name is Joseph he is an American sailor. She wants to get help but he tells her no because he is a deserter he does not want to get into trouble so no one must know where he is. As times goes on Angela begins to fall in love with Joseph. To profess her love he tells her that she is to signal him at midnight with the light at the lighthouse that she loves him. At the same moment a ship carrying back the wounded is hit by an enemy ship. Not long after this tragic moment that she is unaware she caused she and Joseph marry in secret.

            While visiting her friends Pietro and Maria, Pietro takes out an enemy’s sword he took. On the sword it says something in German with the word “Gott” in it. When Angela gets home she leans over Joseph who is sleeping and startles him and he says “Gott”. Right then and there Angela knows he is the enemy spy. Joseph now has to leave and all he wants to take with him is some chocolate since he cannot carry too much. Angela steals some but someone hears her. The people think that a stranger is among them. A dog follows Angela’s sent back to her place. She tells them yes she took the chocolate but only to send to her brother Mario. At the realization she caused Mario’s death she gives Joseph up but begs that he not be killed. Instead of going with the townspeople Joseph jumps off a cliff to his death at the rock below.

            Months later Angela has a baby girl. She has not seen the baby for some time because “her mind lay asleep” after all the tragedy she has endured. Her friend Maria has taken care of the baby after she lost her own as well as her husband. When Angela is allowed to see the baby again and take her home Maria goes into hysterics.

            Angela feels as though she has been healed with her baby. The baby has brought her so much joy. Angela puts the baby down to nap and tend to the animals on her farm when Maria comes in and steals the baby. Maria runs to the convent telling the nun that Angela is still crazy. Seeing that the baby is gone Angela runs to the convent in hysterics but the nun does not believe Angela is well. For months she thinks that the baby is in the convent and the nuns will not let her see her child until she sees Maria with a baby. At first she does not realize the baby is hers until she remembers that Maria’s baby died.

            Angela saves her baby and they live happily with Giovanni who returned home from war.

            Mary Pickford was incredible. From start to finish I just absolutely adored her. What a performance. Her expressions of loss and tragedy are what moved me the most. Pickford had such an innocent look that you can feel and see her love and loss on her face. You can feel her love for everyone in her life. I think that is a testament to her acting since the film is silent we cannot hear her say things when she is sad or happy we have to see it. Of course at times she was very overdramatic but this is the silent era actors and actresses could get away with but for the most part Pickford was amazing and truly an inspirational.

            I really connected to how Angela loved her brothers. I have three younger brothers and I cannot imagine losing any of them no matter how much we may fight or disagree sometimes. It was cute how at the beginning Angela and Mario were fighting. They were chasing each other around then when the priest came by their house she stops and kisses his ring. Mario makes a face at her calling her a brown nosier and she makes a cute face at him since the priest is looking. A few minutes later they are in a brawl around the yard as the priest is saying his prayers over his dinner with his eyes closed. Mario, Angela, Antonio, and Giovanni slink back in before the priest opens his eyes. There were several cute, loving scenes at the beginning that were very nice to see. She thought she would be like the girls from Rome and refuse him. Joseph was watching the whole time and thought she was adorable.

 

            In the 1920s when films were becoming hugely popular as an entertainment form and an industry women had much more freedom as not only actresses but as writers and directors. The most well known was Francis Marion. Marion wrote The Love Light after she and her husband had traveled through Italy and she heard some stories from women who had lived through it. She was so moved that she wrote a screenplay. Marion was best friends with Mary Pickford who liked the story. Pickford got Marion to direct the film as well. The direction just adds to the emotions of the story, it is one of the best directed films I have ever seen.

            The Love Light is one of the best films I have ever seen. Other reviews I have read say that this is not one of Mary Pickford’s best films and that the story relies too much on coincidence. I think Mary Pickford gives an incredible performance and yes the story is a bit unbelievable but it is so well acted out and directed that all I could really care about was the outcome of the characters. Come on, since then how many films, especially tragic ones, have been all about coincidences? The Love Light is an amazing film and one that if it can be found needs to be seen. 

I Am Number Four (2011)

“My entire childhood has been an episode of X-files.”

            I am sure you must be asking yourself what the hell I am doing watching a movie like I Am Number Four and after I tell you why I do not blame you for judging the hell out of me because I feel like an ass explaining it but I have to so here it goes: I watched this movie because Dianna Agron is in it. But wait how do I know who Dianna Agron is, well I have watched a few episodes of Glee here and there. Now I beg of you do not think I am a fan of Glee because I absolutely hate that show but the few times I have seen it with my roommate I really liked Dianna Agron (also I like some of the songs they sing, they are very talented I just hate the show with a passion). I think she is really pretty and I like her few songs she has sung on the show (at the moment I am obsessed with her version of “Never Can Say Goodbye”). Besides Glee this girl has been on Veronica Mars and CSI:NY so I know she is talented. So that is why I sat through I Am Number Four that and the movie did not look that bad.

           

            This kid John (Alex Pettyfer) is an alien and is protected by a guardian named Henri (Timothy Olyphant). John and Henri move around a lot because of his abilities. He cannot be found out because there are bad aliens looking to destroy him. John is number four of nine kids from his home planet that escaped and they can only be killed off in numerical order and John is next. They have run off to Paradise, Ohio in the middle of nowhere from Florida where John got a scar on his leg that glowed when number three was killed.

            Henri wants John to stay in the house they are in but John wants to go to school he needs to get out of the house. At the school he meets a kid named Sam whose father was abducted by aliens and everyone makes fun of him. He also meets the school’s resident photographer Sarah Hart (Agron). One night Sarah takes John back to her house and he sees that her family is very loving and close and he feels sad that he does not have a family like hers.

            Of course John’s alien ability is let out of the bag and now the police are after him as well as the bad aliens. Another alien like John, Number 6, arrives just in time to help him when the bad aliens invade Paradise. Number 6 is awesome she is a kick ass girl who comes in and completely takes charge. 

            There was a lot that I felt was missing from the story that made it somewhat confusing. It felt like the powers that be were hoping for the movie to be really successful so that there could be a second one and then they would explain whatever was not in the first. Also I got a little bored because it is so geared towards teens it was ridiculous.

            Dianna Agron was great I really like her as an actress. You can believe she is a girl living in a small town who is pretty but not unbelievably pretty. Her character was very sweet and nice to John she seemed very genuine with that aspect of her character. Steven Spielberg produced this movie and he picked Agron out for the role himself because he likes her from Glee. Alex Pettyfer is gorgeous! I was looking up pictures of him while watching the movie and hot damn he is beautiful! Only problem for me is he is my brother’s age at twenty-one and that for me is a little awkward so my hopes were dashed when I found out his age haha (hey I can dream!!). His acting was pretty good I think he could be really famous and popular as he gets older and if he does better films. Pettyfer and Agron were very good looking together I would like to see them in another movie together. I think they dated and I do not blame them although she is a year older than me and he is three years younger than I am…

            I Am Number Four was alright. It absolutely did not hold my attention span because it was such a teen movie. To me teen movie try way too hard these days to be cool. They are not like 10 Things I Hate About You or She’s All That or Clueless. The stories are terrible today. I Am Number Four when it was released was being billed as a Twilight for boys… that could possibly be why it was not that good! Damn Twilight! It had that same kind of vibe and I HATE Twilight! All well at least I got this movie out of my system and my curiosity was filled.