A RICHARD BARTHELMESS Program
"WAY DOWN EAST" (excerpt) D.W. Griffith-United Artists, 1920.
Enough has been written about "Way Down East" in other notes, and on other
occasions, to preclude the necessity of elaborating again here. After a long
period with Griffith, through such programmers as "Scarlet Days" to the superb
"Broken Blossoms", "Way Down East" marked Barthelmess' final film for the old
maestro, before branching out on his own with Inspiration - and "Tol'able
David". Our short excerpt (from some two-thirds of the way through the film)
includes some fine scenes with Lillian Gish and Lowell Sherman. In the opening
scenes of the dance, you'll get a quick glimpse of Mary Hay, whom Barthelmess
married in June of 1920. Others present include Burr McIntosh and Creighton
Hale, while Norma Shearer and Carol Dempster can be spotted among the extras.
"THE DROP KICK" (excerpt) First National, 1927; with Dorothy Revier, Hedda
Hopper, Alberta Vaughan, Barbara Kent, Brooks Benedict.
Usually erroneously credited to Alfred Santell, "The Drop Kick" was directed by
Millard Webb. It was an unremarkable but nicely done college picture, with
the usual rather stolid and over-age college "boys", flapper activities, some
rather more serious romantic and dramatic ingredients than usual (including a
suicide), all culminating in the inevitable "big game" which the hero wins
dramatically with only a few seconds to play. Since we'll probably run the
whole film some time, we won't spoil it for that occasion by running the big
climax tonight. Instead we've taken a typical sequence from the middle of the
film. Incidentally, the obnoxious fellow at the dance is Gordon Elliott --
later Wild Bill Elliott, and a popular western star of the 40's and early 50's.
"TOL'ABLE DAVID" (excerpt) Inspiration-First National, 1921. With Gladys
Hulette, Ernest Torrence, Warner Richmond.
Still Henry King's best film - and Barthelmess' best role - "Tol'able David"
stands up beautifully today as a fine and vivid slice of Americana -- the sort
of thing that Henry King does so well that one wonders why he has to waste so
much time on material like "David and Bathsheba". For our excerpt, we have
taken the closing two reels - in which, as David, Barthelmess has finally
achieved his life's ambition - to drive the hack carrying the mail - and finds
himself fighting for his life with the murderous Hatfield clan.
- INTERMISSION -
"SHORE LEAVE" (Inspiration-First National, 1925) 77 minutes. Directed by
John S. Robertson; scenario by Josephine Lovett; based on the
play "Shore Leave" (1922) by Hubert Osborne, as produced by David Belasco
and starring Francis Starr.
The Cast: "Bilge" Smith - Richard Barthelmess; Connie Martin - Dorothy Mackail;
"Battling" Smith - Ted McNamara; Capt. Bimby Martin - Nick Long; Mrs Schuyler-
Payne - Marie Shotwell; Mr. Schuyler-Payne - Arthur Metcalfe; Admiral Smith -Warren Cooke; Chief Petty Officer - Samuel Hines.
Frankly this film somewhat baffled me when I screened it for the first time
a month ago. It was a tremendously popular film in its day with both critics
and public, and was named on several of the "Best 10" lists for 1925.
From it, evolved a 1930 remake with Jack Oakie, the somewhat re-shaped
"Follow the Fleet" with Astaire and Rogers, and an even more unrecognisable
derivation in 1955's "Hit the Deck". (From Richard Barthelmess to Vic Damone -
somehow nothing seems more ominously symbolic of the movies' decline than this!)
Perhaps because its basic story-line has become so familiar not only through
the official "remakes" but also through the endless imitations, the film
seemed to me to be rather ordinary and even empty today.
There were many valid reasons for its success and popularity in 1925. For one
thing, in the snappy jazz age its "ordinary" hero and heroine were distinctly
unusual types. This was several years before "The Crowd" made the best-ever
and most dramatic use of such types for its leads. Too, Richard Barthelmess
as the far-from-sympathetic sailor-hero was stepping way out of his usual
character. Dorothy Mackail was tremendously appealing - in the same way that
Eleanor Boardman was so winning in "The Crowd". Even the deliberately slow
pacing of the film probably seemed restful and off-beat in an era of fast
and zippy movies. It is possible to recognise that the film has qualities which
made it unusual in 1925, and at the same time wonder whether those qualities
continue to give the film stature today. Personally I felt not; but I showed
the film to several people who had quite the opposite reaction. George
Patterson of the Toronto Film Society found it almost as charming as when he
first saw it in the 20's, and was quite aghast at my hesitation about it. If
it were only available in Canada, he assured me, he'd jump at it -- and George
is the man that pondered long and hard before deciding that Griffith's
"America" was worth a whirl, and who cannot be talked into the best of Bill
Hart or Rin Tin Tin! Quite obviously, when there is any doubt, or difference
of opinion at all, the film should be given the benefit of that doubt and
afforded a screening. The film seems to be remembered warmly by all those who
saw it originally. Barthelmess, and particularly Dorothy Mackail, are both
fine, and their work is both interesting and pleasant to watch. To those of
you who didn't see the film originally, and who have no particular fondness for
the stars, it is a film that needs patience and kindness; approach it in the
right spirit, not expecting too much, and you'll probably find it a most
pleasing and unpretentious film.
Barthelmess himself is extremely fond of the film, and prefers it, for
example, to "Soul Fire" (which I thought excellent when I saw it two years
ago, but which disappointed Barthelmess so much at the time that he hasn't
seen it since). However, "Shore Leave" must be the cheapest of all the
Barthelmess-Inspiration pictures, or certainly gives that impression. One or
two miniatures and other bits of fakery are a little too obvious, and the
whole film has an economical air to it all. Much of it was filmed aboard the
USS New York, and a few shots at the Battery in New York City in 1924. The
scene of Barthelmess and Ted McNamara riding a camel, ostensibly in Egypt,
was actually shot in Central Park -- with the camera low to avoid the
decidedly non-Egyptian skyline!
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Program Notes & Enquiries: Wm. K. Everson, Hotel Bradford, 210 W. 70th St., NYC
Committee: Edward Gorey, Sandra Everson, Charles Shibuk, Dorothy Lovell.
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COMING PROGRAMS
February will be comedy month. (The notes giving full details go out next
Tuesday). Initially we had planned only one comedy show, but so much fine
material turned up that it seemed a pity to disperse it all when it was on
hand. We haven't yet finished screening everything either, but there's more
than enough top material on hand for the two shows (and at least another
15 shorts held in abeyance for another time). Each show will have a really
top-notch Harold Lloyd, Laurel and Hardy and Charlie Chase - and there'll be
fine stuff too with Fatty Arbuckle, Al St. John, Mr & Mrs Carter de Haven,
films by Mal St. Clair and Mack Sennett, a couple of really choice cartoons,
and so on. And over the weekend in Connecticut we're pre-screening a dozen
silents which promise to make interesting shows for us for the next few months.
Full details in our mailing on Tuesday.
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