Well… it starts off in the dusty saloons and shacks of the oil
boomtown of El Paso, Texas on the Mexican border, and ends up in the huge
eastern temples of Siam with a pit of crocodiles and scantily clad native girls
dancing in their dozens as a Prince fights with a formerly blind, former-US
army poet, for the hand of a French prima ballerina. Oh, there’s also a dog,
Chum, played by one called Pal.
So far so DeMille, we lap it all up and it makes its own
sense as the true central character, Poll Patchouli, as played by an
outrageously good Dorothy Dalton, anchors all of the extremes with grounded
emotions whether she’s heartbroken with the men who hide their love with fear
and anger, yearning after opportunities so narrowly missed, sacrificing everything
to do right by the man she wrongs or simply burning down the house of her
former husband because he just can’t see – even though he now can, thanks
to her - how much she loves him.
These two hours of narrative fireworks were accompanied by the
controlled flamboyance of Mr Neil Brand who I suspect was wearing a silk cape
recording this, matching the twists and torture, the unexpected reptiles and inconsistently
gallant monarchs with inventions that were fully embedded in the internal logic
of DeMille’s film. Neil and Dorothy knew the job and they got us across the
line… this is one that really does require a post-screening discussion into the
night at the Bar Posta opposite the Teatro Verdi in Pordenone but, instead, I’ll
share my thoughts with you, dear reader, from the Keyboard of Dell in the village
of Great Chishill.
 |
| Conrad Nagel |
This was another in the Giornate’s series of American Women
Screenwriters with this story having been co-composed by Beulah Marie Dix and
Sada Cowan “suggested” loosely by Leonard Merrick’s quiet short story The
Laurels and the Lady which is set in South Africa and has a reptile content
of nil. As Leslie Midkiff DeBauche’s programme notes point out, the two women
took off on a wild flight but one that was fully controlled by their knowledge
of cinematic form, that they make all of this work and in such a satisfying way
tonally and morally says as much about their skill as that of DeMille.
So, let’s go to El Paso where ex-serviceman Arthur Phelps (sad-eyed
Conrad Nagel) tries to forget the War by remembering his brief meeting with ballerina
Rosa Duchene (Mildred Harris), treasuring the handkerchief she gave him and collecting
her memorabilia as well as writing what one publisher described as “unoriginal”
poetry inspired by her. Many had lost so much in the conflict but Arthur’s
sense of perspective rivals his fragile eyesight as his chief injury. Oh, and his
broken heart for the ballerina one that he tries to mend with these poems and
pictures.
He sees a poster and discovers she is coming to dance in El
Paso, surely his dreams will now come true…
 |
| Theodore Kosloff and Dorothy Dalton |
We switch to a crowded bar full of hostesses and drunken men
and run by tough but fair John Rodriguez (Theodore Kosloff) who I thought was
an interesting character, one who is genuinely motivated and not just a black hatted
counterpoint. The real drama is generated by Arthur’s relationship to women, firstly
Rosa but, more importantly Poll who at the start of the film is working at Rodriguez’s
place and is the subject of his affections.
Poll may be a showgirl but she has her own code and chases a
middle-aged customer out of the saloon when he brings a younger girl in with
him. She helps the youngster out of the window and then follows, teasing Rodriguez
by sticking her tongue out at his masculine frustration. He sends his men after
her and she ends up taking refuge at Arthur’s place where he chivalrously
sleeps on the bench out front with his dog, Chum (played by Pal…)
Poll takes a shine to the poet and is convinced he needs the love of a good women rather than posters and models of unreachable stage stars, but Arthur refuses to drop his dream. Frustrated, Poll plays a trick on him by giving him an exploding cigar from the store… it’s only meant to puncture his arty dreams but it has a disastrous impact on his sight and, by the time he’s finally watching Rosa dance again his sight is disappearing.
 |
| John admires his tiny dancer... |
One thing leads to another and, Poll decides to make up for
her unintended cruelty by pretending to be Rosa, returned to her soldier boy
and willing to give up the dance. It’s so loaded with melodramatic intensity it’s
in danger of collapsing into hysterics and yet Dalton’s down-to-earth
believability caries it off without mawkishness or over sentimentality. This
great deceit is an emblem of the lies we tell all the time… and as ever the
truth will out.
Poll spots an advert for a revolutionary new surgical procedure
that could enable Arthur to see again, she decides to take the risk that her
deception will be recognised for the loving gesture that it is but no, even
with his eyes wide open Arthur’s heart of closed and, at the same time he’s
also informed that oil has been discovered on his land and he’s now a millionaire.
Why not? Sure, we’ve all had days like those…
 |
| Siam, California |
Arthur does the daft thing, divorces Poll, and heads of to
find his Rosa who by this stage is in Siam and researching temple dancing techniques for her next ballet. She’s also attracting the attention of Prince
Talat-Noi (John Davidson), much to the disgust of his chief wife (Julia Faye),
although we don’t know how the lower-raking ones feel. There are some amazing
sets here not to mention gorgeous costumery designed by Clare West, Mitchell
Leisen and Natacha Rambova – married to Valentino and also a collaborator with
Nazimova.
Rosa is fickle and also quite cruel and gets the Prince and
Arthur to retrieve her glove from a crocodile pit… could it be that her only
love is that she gets from the admiration of her audience? Anyway, reptiles vs
men, men vs men… this can only end one way or will it. Poll and El Paso show a
different solution and it is, of course, based on love.
 |
| Conrad Nagel and Dorothy Dalton |
Magically manic, this is the DeMille and shows how complete
his method was by 1921 with echoes of his Swanson vehicles in terms of the mix
of epic and exotic. A real crowd-pleaser and whilst I wish I’d been in a crowd
to see it I enjoyed it all the same.
Catch it today if you can, it’s available until 8pm UK time.
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