"To those who
believe in Santa Claus, thirty miles to the gallon, and other fairy stories…"
Cruise of the
Jasper B (1926) with Lilian Henley
The weekend cast off with a Jasper B-film, this one was
an odd fish that put me in mind of the Marx Brothers, with period-zany humour
and a hero who wasn’t afraid to dress for the occasion. Rod La Rocque looks
like a lanky Fairbanks in the Black Pirate as Jerry Cleggett, descendant of an
18th Century pirate and inheritor of his family fortune so long as
he marries before he’s 25… He lives on the bad-ship Jasper B but leaves it in
pursuit of conveniently timed true love with Agatha Fairhaven (Mildred Harris).
All looks fair set for multi-millionaire matrimony until Reginald
Maltravers (Snitz Edwards) tries to put a spoke in the wheel to rob his stepsister
Agatha of her inheritance which, naturally, is detailed in the will written on
her back. The second half of the film is full of entertaining hi-jinks as the couple,
aided by Cleggett’s right-hand man Wiggins (Jack Ackroyd), tries to shake off
their pursuers and end up being attacked by army, navy and air force… some
comment on Federal government and heavy handedness perhaps?
James W. Horne directs and it was good of him to take
responsibility in the circumstances. Lillian Henley accompanied keeping a cool
head whilst all those around we’re nearly losing theirs.
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| Rider of the Stone... |
The Stone Rider (1923) with John Sweeney
‘Tis the season for Weimar film and it was good to see
another rare one this featuring Dr Mabuse himself, Rudolf Klein-Rogge, in the
role of Der Herr vom Berge a man more villain than hero. In a weekend dominated
by Hollywood films it was interesting to compare this expressionist-gothic tale
with its darker themes and wild mise en scène. The central fantasy village looked
like Teletubbies on mescaline and the interiors were similarly eccentric – like
Caligari off-cuts. The story was dream-like but then it is a tale being told to
a group of young people as they gather beneath a curious rock feature that
looks like a man riding a horse…
Directed by Fritz Wendhausen from a script he co-wrote
with Thea von Harbou, The Stone Rider
is a grim fairy-tale but also an interesting one the subverts our expectations
with redemptive love saving the soul of a man who never knew he cared.
The irony is that vom Berge is feared for his visits to
disrupt weddings in his valley and it is one such love match he destroys that
sets his fate in motion. The groom lashes out at him with a knife and in so
doing, kills his bride Schaffnerin (Emilia Unda) … vom Berge rides off
laughing, leaving the valley full of fear and a need for revenge.
Schaffnerin’s sister (Hirtin) Lucie Mannheim runs down from
the mountain too late but resolves to avenge the death and sets off armed for
the deed. Opportunity presents itself but something stays her hand… deeper
feelings intervene and there’s hope out of hate. But, just as the Baron softens so do his
subject’s hearts harden for revenge… it’s a brutal world and The Stone Rider is determined to
confront it.
John Sweeney illuminated with some expressionism of his
own, monolithic slabs of gothic foreboding mixing with thrilling romance.
 |
| "Their only sin was that they loved too much..." |
The Price of Pleasure (1925) with Costas Fotopolous
Turns out that even pleasure carries a charge even as The
Stone Rider pays the wages of sin. This film was directed by Edward Sloman who directed
His People (1925) and Surrender
(1927) – two very interesting works of which Kevin Brownlow spoke highly.
Mordaunt Hall wrote a bizarre review of this film for The
New York Times at the time, in which he praised the method of child actor Charles
Bernard Murphy Jr. who must have been all of 18 months at the time: “He is the jolliest and most effective baby
we have seen on the screen filling a rôle in a full-fledged production…”
but the film is much more about the boy’s “support actors”, Virginia Valli’s expressiveness, Norman Kerry’s
heroic quality and Louise Fazenda’s sheer zip: she’s always highly watchable!
Valli plays Linnie Randall, a shop girl who marries Kerry’s
Garry Schuyler who is well above her station but equally smitten. This pure
love-match is does not impress Garry’s mother (Kate Lester) who cannot overlook
her daughter-in-law’s humble status and employs lawyer John Osborne (George
Fawcett ) to drive a wedge between the
two.
Linnie runs away upset and – calamity! – gets knocked
down by Garry’s over-anxious driving, somehow, he is convinced that she has
died in hospital and his mother makes sure it stays that way. Meanwhile, Linnie
recovers, has Garry’s baby boy – CB Murphy jnr – and gets by with her pal Stella
Kelly (Louise Fazenda) babysitting… The course of true love never runs true but
you can bet that joy wins out in the end.
Costas Fotopolous made merry throughout with fluid themes
that followed the romance through the slings and arrows of outrageous parents.
Living Flowers (1906)
35mm Shorts from the David Eve Collection –
Programme One, with Lillian Henley
David Eve has amassed a collection of rare short films, and
we saw a selection on a 35mm copy of the originals which are held in George
Eastman House. I was especially taken with the coloured Living Flowers (1906)
directed by George Velle in which women’s faces grew from flowers; includible
vibrancy for a 113-year old film. Then there was Wait Till I Catch You (1910)
by Percy Stow involving a chase through the streets of Croydon – hell, we’ve
all been there! Finally, there was a rare-as-hens-teeth Mack Sennett comedy, Great Scott (1920) featuring the Charlie
Murray and Ford Sterling – one of a series of shorts in which they played “Reilly”
and “Yonson” – Irish and Dutch antagonists in a multi-cultural muddle.
Lillian Henley crafted delightful themes, drawing on her theatrical
affinity for this period as she opened a melodic gateway to Edwardian Croydon
and beyond.
Beauty’s Worth (1922) with John
Sweeney
Marion Davies was always good, this was one of her major
films from her period of peak popularity – when she was crowned “Queen of the
Screen” by theatre owners - and as with When
Knighthood Was in Flower (1922), Little
Old New York and The Bride’s Play,
she’s a solid-gold star already and showing how adept she really was a romantic
drama. She didn’t need to wait for The Patsy
or Show People for the audience to
get her, she was always, lovingly funny and charmingly believable.
Here she goes from being Prudence Cole, a nice homely Quaker
girl, in an unusually stylish satin Quaker dress, to being a fashion plate for
the quick-designing talents of cool rich-boy artist Cheyne Rovein (Forrest
Stanley). Rovein is trying to help Prudence impress the shallow young man who
she thinks she loves and manages to stage some very impressive tableaux at a
few days’ notice one of which allows the actress to recreate the dancing doll
routine from the Ziegfeld Follies of 1916 in which she featured – a long road
to the top for Brooklyn’s Marion Douras!
In the film she starts off poor Prudence under the thumb
of her strictly Quaker aunts, Aunt Elizabeth (Martha Mattox, so scary in Paul
Leni’s Cat and the Canary which also featured Mr Stanley)
And Aunt Cynthia (Aileen Manning). They receive a visit
from former neighbours Mrs. Garrison (Truly Shattuck, yes, really!!) and her
son Henry (Hallam Cooley) – Prudence’s childhood sweetheart and a man with fond
memories of her inheritance.
 |
| Amazing what you can throw together in just two days... |
The Garrisons get permission to bring Prudence over to
stay with them in Haven, somewhere on the familiar coast of Monterey where the
idle rich and their feckless off-spring spend all day looking for something to
do. Pru is, of course out of her depth here and just hasn’t the fashion sense
to catch up, which is where our bohemian friend steps in to help her get
noticed by her intended and, as it transpires, herself…
John Sweeney accompanied with some lovely lines and was
especially impressive in covering the splendour of those high-fashion tableaux,
even in the most predictable of Hollywood fare, you need to be ready for such a
shift and, as usual, Mr Sweeney had it covered. He played his part on
underpinning the gentle charm of this film and of the leading actress herself.
Once again, I had to miss Norwegian epic, Laila (1929) on account of footballing matters – this being Liverpool FC’s
sixth triumph in the Champions League. You can never have too much of a good
thing in film or footie!
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