The Lost World.

Review #1614: The Lost World.

Cast: 

Bessie Love (Paula White), Lewis Stone (Sir John Roxton), Lloyd Hughes (Edward Malone), Wallace Beery (Professor Challenger), Arthur Hoyt (Professor Summerlee), Alma Bennett (Gladys Hungerford), Virginia Brown Faire (Marquette the half-caste girl), Bull Montana (Apeman/Gomez), Francis Finch-Smiles (Austin), Jules Cowles (Zambo), Margaret McWade (Mrs. Challenger), and George Bunny (Colin McArdle) Directed by Harry O. Hoyt.

Review: 

"I have wrought my simple plan

If I give one hour of joy

To the boy who's half a man

Or the man who's half a boy."

What better time is there to cover a creature feature than a pioneering one? Oh sure, there is much to highlight with films such as King Kong (1933) or Mighty Joe Young (1949), but each film has one striking similarity: They all had effects work done by Willis H. O'Brien. The Oakland native worked in a variety of fields in his youth, which ranged from cattle ranches to cowboy before finding an interest in dinosaurs. He eventually honed a talent for architecture into sculpting, and a model-making session with dinosaurs and brief footage led to his first chance with a short feature. The result was The Dinosaur and the Missing Link: A Prehistoric Tragedy (1915), which garnered notice from Thomas Edison (inventor and businessman with his pioneering film company). O'Brien would make more work with dinosaurs, with a key highlight being The Ghost of Slumber Mountain (1918) that he directed and starred in (alongside producer Herbert M. Dawley), which showed live actors and stop-motion creatures together (the short was sadly cut from the original print of 40 minutes to 12, and only seven further minutes have been recovered). There are quite a few firsts with this film: It was the first full-length film with stop-motion animation (with regard to the creatures), and it was the first film to be shown in an airplane during flight. It is the fact that one can access the film at all that is just (thankful, since it has existed in numerous cut versions over 95 years, with various versions that ranged from 60 to 90 minutes (because of one attempt to destroy the copies of the film to make the effects more exclusive when King Kong came around) - in any case, one can now see the film (it was intended (originally it lasted 106 minutes, but now it runs at 110) because of recent restorations (which combined portions of 11 film elements to make the most complete version), and it happens to lurk in the public domain. The film was written by Marion Fairfax (listed as screenplay and editorial direction), that was an adaptation of the 1912 novel of the same name written by Arthur Conan Doyle (writer of the Sherlock Holmes series of adventures, which equally were inspired by a real person). One can't forget about the director in all this. Hoyt (listed as providing "dramatic direction" in the credits) was a screenwriter and director over the course of three decades from the silent era to 1945 (doing a variety of films until 1933 alongside shorts) while being a graduate of Yale University in literature. O'Brien (listed as research and technical director) would do over a dozen films with effects work in decades of work (despite being hampered at times in raising funds to do what he wanted), and he liked to add a rubber bladder to his models at times to make them seem more alive. His work (helped by three associates for the models while he did animation) was grueling, spending hours at a time just to get a few seconds of footage with his metal skeleton, rubber skinned creatures, and test footage done in 1922 was shown by Doyle to the Society of American Magicians, who he apparently wanted to trick into believing the footage was actually of living dinosaurs (which worked for a time).

There were numerous adaptations of the book in the following decades (including one with minimal input from O'Brien directed by Irwin Allen), although none have matched the power of the original. The film begins with the esteemed author Doyle introducing the story, with a brief poem delivered by intertitle (as noted above), before it moves to the story it sets itself up before dinosaurs come around, which involve Hughes' reporter character yearning to prove himself (and face death) to win the affections of a girl. It just happens to coincide with a professor who claims to have seen living dinosaurs within the back country of the Amazon, but he has to prove it because most of his records were washed away in a canoe accident (which is amusing in of itself from the next intertitle, which say he nearly killed three reporters sent to interview him!) - and so he demands folks to go with him back to the Lost World and satisfy the doubters (particularly with his hatred of reporters...oops). You'd better believe that makes for a fun time. What we have for the main quartet is a field of actors with recognizable talent for the era required and beyond. Love was not a presence to be trifled with, owing to her vast presence in film, radio, and television for nearly 70 years, with this falling into the range of wholesome charm - it works well within the confines of the film, where one doesn't lose sight of her or find other things to focus on besides her soulful expression. Stone was a soon to be known character presence and MGM mainstay, and it is evident to see why: he makes a worthy warm presence to the proceedings, dignified in his hunt for game in contrast to the big spectacle and bombast present elsewhere - a true sportsman, as the film suggests. One would hope to be familiar with Hughes, since he and Berry starred together in The Sea Hawk (1924), one of a string of films with him as a leading man (he would appear in over 90 productions as star/support in 21 years of work). He does fine with a long face destined for a few curious gestures, which is what one needs for a film like this. Beery is obviously quite a force of stature to be reckoned with, and it only makes sense to see him in a key part since he was in the middle of a lengthy career with plenty of film credits that ranged from heavy villain roles to comedy and more - obviously he does well with not getting lost in that bushy beard and bombast spirit, a man up to the challenge. The climax of the film goes to the big presentation: bringing a "living proof" Brontosaurus right to the face of the doubters a year later...only to see the dinosaur roam the streets of London due to an accident. My favorite part is the creature knocking down a statue right before it starts to bob its head around at various things. Clearly, what we have is a movie to stoke fascination in the magic that makes cinema so much fun to look upon. Sure, other movies followed in its wake with furthered advancement in effects like Jurassic Park (1993), but one cannot deny the power that comes from a mysterious world full of imagination and eclectic actors to make it all worthwhile (the subsequent follow up to that book/film, interestingly enough, proved a homage with its title, for which it shares the same name as this film). 95 years have shown the age of its effects and story at times, but it is still a worthwhile time to experience at least once, serving as the important link of creature features made in the backbone of silent films that thankfully is available for all to see any time.

300! Holy cow, Movie Night has reached 300 reviews in one calendar year, which I did not certainly did not see coming at the beginning of this year (I'm sure that statement can be applied several times over). I figured as long as the output (and quality, obviously) was better than 2019 or 2018, one would be satisfied, so I hope one has enjoyed what has proved in my mind to be Movie Night's greatest year in ten years on the Internet, which was exactly ten years ago. While I doubt there will be many years of 300 reviews, I would hope that the next year of Movie Night will prove just as worthy to read upon for you folks. 

Overall, I give it 9 out of 10 stars.

Grand Hotel (1932).

Review #1338: Grand Hotel.

Cast: 
Greta Garbo (Grusinskaya, the dancer), John Barrymore (Baron Felix von Geigern), Joan Crawford (Flaemmchen, the stenographer), Wallace Beery (General Director Preysing), Lionel Barrymore (Otto Kringelein), Lewis Stone (Dr. Otternschlag), Jean Hersholt (Senf, the porter), Robert McWade (Meierheim), Purnell B. Pratt (Zinnowitz), Ferdinand Gottschalk (Pimenov), Rafaela Ottiano (Suzette), and Morgan Wallace (Chauffeur) Directed by Edmund Goulding (#1332 - Hell's Angels)

Review: 
"Grand Hotel. Always the same. People come. People go. Nothing ever happens."

Theatricality goes a long way when you have the star-power to go with it. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was the studio for stars in the 1930s, and Irving Thalberg was precisely the person to create big films through the power of picks - selecting scripts, gathering staff, etc. He had purchased the rights to adapt the novel Menschen im Hotel (1929) by Vicki Baum (who had been a chambermaid at a few high-class Berlin hotels), which was turned into a play by William A. Drake the following year (a musical of the same name was also adapted from the novel and play in 1989). Drake, alongside un-credited writers in Béla Balázs and Edgar Allan Woolf, helped to turn it into a film through writing, which comes together like a series of vignettes or an anthology piece, but it was one of the first films to utilize more than two stars to serve as headliners, which now seems like a common thing (as proven by future big-name productions in the following decades to be covered another time). It also has one key distinction - the only Best Picture winner to have no nominations in any other category. MGM would continue this trend with the comedy Dinner at Eight (which also features both Barrymores and Beery) the following year, and it would be re-made by the studio in 1945 as Week-End at the Waldorf. In any case, this is a film that has an undeniable staying power with its core five cast that a lesser cast or less capable director would've turned into plain old-hat melodrama. At 112 minutes, it pulls off entertainment that worked for Great Depression audiences and still works for modern audiences, where one shining star doesn't shine too bright over everybody else, mostly because not all of them share the stage at one point in the film. One starts with Garbo, who had risen from parts in films in her native Sweden to star in Hollywood in the span of six years, with her naturalistic acting (which worked well for silent and sound) being just as known as her reclusive nature, right down to the most memorable line of the film being how she just wants to be alone. She fares just fine, mostly when sharing the passion and focus with Barrymore, with her personally requesting red front-lighting for her love scenes, which certainly work. J. Barrymore (nicknamed "The Great Profile" with a noted career of stage and film since 1903) fares just as calmly, where one does not dwell on the considerable age difference between him and Garbo but instead focuses on his charm, which can go for either romance or dialogue with L. Barrymore. Crawford (a resilient star through self promotion alongside talent) shines with resourcefulness, a lady for the moment, whether it is hope or desperation (a role that was trimmed by the censors of the time for various reasons). L. Barrymore proves to be a fair surrogate for the audience, where one wants to see someone's attempt at a mild-mannered attempt at a first and last great gesture of life, although that makes it seem more tragic than it really is, particularly since this part could've been more grating (or on the other hand a sad one) with a different actor. Beery goes for the ham with a German accent in tow (with a promise that only he would have to put on an accent convincing him to sign on), with mixed results, really, although if a heavy is needed, one can't go wrong with someone like Beery. In any case, one will find themselves pulled into a film with spectacle to spare, from its production quality (most signified in its lobby scenes, along with art direction from Cedric Gibbons) down to its reasonable direction from Goulding that keeps everything going to the right room without missing a beat, which makes it endure to this very day.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.

The Sea Hawk (1924).

Review #1321: The Sea Hawk (1924).

Cast: 
Milton Sills (Sir Oliver Tressilian), Enid Bennett (Lady Rosamund Godolphin), Lloyd Hughes (Lionel Tressilian), Wallace Beery (Capt. Jasper Leigh), Marc McDermott (Sir John Killigrew), Wallace MacDonald (Peter Godolphin), Bert Woodruff (Nick), Claire Du Brey (Siren), Lionel Belmore (Justice Anthony Baine), Cristina Montt (The Infanta of Spain), Albert Prisco (Yusuf-Ben-Moktar), and Frank Currier (Asad-ed-Din) Directed by Frank Lloyd (#099 - Mutiny on the Bounty)

Review: 
It only figures one needs to build their own ships to really sell their adventure films. At least that is what director Frank Lloyd felt was the best way to approach his film when it came to ship action. At the cost of around $200,000, wooden exteriors were outfitted to existing craft by designer Fred Gabourie (whose best work was props for Buster Keaton silent films), which was soon utilized for scenes on the coast of Catalina Island in California. The footage of the ships in battle were re-used in 1940 for The Sea Hawk (a Warner Bros production with Errol Flynn that had its own distinctive plot as opposed to being a remake). What can one expect from a silent spectacle like this? Well, quite a bit, given that it is an adventure film with pirates, disloyal brothers, sea-slaves, and other various elements, all of which make for an adequate time at 123 minutes, where spectacle will sail the seas far more prominently than its attempts at romance, which in of itself is okay. It takes quite a bit of build-up before it finds itself on a ship, but it all proves to be worth it, mostly because it never seems too stagey or overblown to detriment. When it comes to headliners, Sills is a fair pick for such a rugged role. He had started his career in acting on a whim in 1906, inspired by a visit to the University of Chicago by stage actor Donald Robertson (who had his own stage company) while he was working as a professor (Sills had graduated from the university previously, studying psychology and philosophy on scholarship). In the span of eighteen years leading up to this film, he had found himself on Broadway and subsequent transition to film in 1914 with The Pit. It was this film that helped him find major status, although he would die of a heart attack at the age of 48 in 1930. In this respect, he does pretty well with displaying a rough-and-tumble nature without having to put all the emotion in silly gestures. Bennett walks through her role just as well, where one needs to balance a bit of passion and scorn without so much time on screen, with chemistry between her and Sills feeling pretty assured. Hughes plays off panic fine, although he is overshadowed not only by Sills and Bennett but also by Beery. One cannot resist a colorful rascal of a pirate when done right, and Beery does this in spades, as one would expect from the noted character actor (who would find further success in the following decade). The rest of the actors do just fine, where one needs to just make sure nothing incredibly hammy lurks in the way of the main stars. On the whole, it isn't too surprising to see why this was the audience favorite for 1924, as it is an interesting spectacle piece filled with ambition and useful components (notice in one scene the hand-coloring for the torches in a night scene) that make for a worthy curiosity piece to hold up over the decades. One can't really go wrong with adventure and a small bit of romance to go along with a viewing.

Next time: Battleship Potemkin (1925).

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.

Robin Hood (1922).

Review #1319: Robin Hood.

Cast: 
Douglas Fairbanks (Earl of Huntingdon/Robin Hood), Wallace Beery (King Richard the Lion-Hearted), Sam De Grasse (Prince John), Enid Bennett (Lady Marian Fitzwalter), Paul Dickey (Sir Guy of Gisbourne), William Lowery (The High Sheriff of Nottingham), Willard Louis (Friar Tuck), Alan Hale (The Squire/Little John), Bud Geary (Will Scarlet), Lloyd Talman (Alan-a-Dale), and Billie Bennett (Servant to Lady Marian) Directed by Allan Dwan.

Review: 
Never let it be said that adventure films were content with being quiet affairs. When it comes to large-scale adventure films, this is a good case to highlight (copyrighted as Douglas Fairbanks in Robin Hood, I kid you not), with this one having a large castle set and village (all constructed at Pickford-Fairbanks Studio), with some designs done by architect Lloyd Wright (who went on to use its leftovers to design shells for the Hollywood Bowl). The budget has been reported to be around $900,000, which went into making such lavish sets, costumes, and even extras (with large moments reportedly having as many as a thousand present). The film is also noted for being shown as the first Hollywood premiere, doing so at Egyptian Theater in Hollywood (who you might recognize as one of the theaters developed by Sid Grauman). It wasn't the first film to feature the legend of Robin Hood on screen - there had been six productions involving the character, with the first being in 1908. Two of them were notable, with the 1912 version having big costumes and superimposition of animals to demonstrate their good/evil qualities, while Ivanhoe (1913) adapted the 1819 historical novel of the same name by Sir Walter Scott with the character present. Fairbanks was already a well paid and highly regarded star at the time of this film's release, and he helped formed United Artists alongside Mary Pickford, D. W. Griffith, and Charlie Chaplin in 1919 in order to help with artistic control and distributorships. The Mark of Zorro (1920) helped in creating a superstar image for its lead actor, and swashbuckling films owe a great deal to Fairbanks and the efforts he took in sparing no expense when it came to entertaining films, which continued with this feature that solidified the legend of Robin Hood in the eyes of the viewer alongside with solidifying the legend of Fairbanks as a whole.

It is a 127 minute grand spectacle that lands most of its merry advances, particularly when it comes to its action sequences (no photo trickery needed), which are fun to view when seeing how one can do such leaps and smile all the way through. It takes a bit of time to really get going, but it proves to be a useful reward that holds up to the edges of time fairly well after all these decades. Fairbanks (who had started acting just before the turn of the century and would turn turn 40 the following year after release) is clearly enjoying himself here, knowing where to go best, whether when needing to be coy or on the mark with someone else on screen. Beery makes for a fair supporting component to Fairbanks, while De Grasse makes for an adequate villain to encompass the film. Bennett and Dickey each do their own part to carry things respectively, as does the rest of the Merry Men. Two actors would later reprise their roles. Berry returned to his role the following year in Richard the Lion-Hearted, which was based on Scott's novel The Talisman, while Hale would reprise his supporting role twice - The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) and Rogues of Sherwood Forest (1950). It may not be the greatest Fairbanks adventure film (he personally felt The Thief of Bagdad (1924) was his best), but it certainly ranks up there when it comes to fun memorable times with interesting heroes, that much is for sure. It is an easy film to find in the public domain (remember, the new year means that works from 1923 are now available), and it is easy to recommend finding the best looking print one can find, where one can see different hues of color (as opposed to just monochrome) and have adventure play out for wonderful curiosity.

Overall, I give it 9 out of 10 stars.

Three Ages.

Review #877: Three Ages.

Cast:
Buster Keaton (The Boy), Margaret Leahy (The Girl), Wallace Beery (The Villain), Lillian Lawrence (The Girl's Mother), Joe Roberts (The Girl's Father), and Kewpie Morgan (The Emperor / Cave Man / Roman Thug) Directed by Buster Keaton (#757 - Seven Chances, #762 - College, and #805 - The Navigator) and Edward F. Cline.

Review:
This was the second starring role for Keaton, made three years after The Saphead and his first feature that he directed. The film was structured and shot as three separate shorts, as a form of insurance in case it did not work well as a feature, with the three films representing a different Age, from the Stone Age to Rome to the modern-day. The main prevailing theme in all three parts is the prevalence of love in society all-throughout time, with Keaton getting the girl in each story. In that regard, it is somewhat interesting (if not slightly repetitive), though the end result is a film that is moderately entertaining, but not really all that funny. In other words, you'll get some chuckles, but nothing is really that memorable (although Keaton escaping a prison due to his phone booth being towed out of the prison). Neither period really stands out entirely from the others, but they are fine for the course. Leahy is a decent lead, and Beery is a fair enough villain. It has good moments, but nothing that you could really say is rip-roaring hilarious, though Keaton is good as it gets. In a sea of Keaton films, this likely wouldn't be one I would recommend immediately, but it is adequate enough to see at least once.

Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.