Director: Sam Taylor Writers: Ted Wild, John Grey, and Clyde Bruckman Cinematographers: Walter Lundin Producer: Harold Lloyd (uncredited) for the Harold Lloyd Company; distributed by Paramount Starring: Harold Lloyd, Jobyna Ralston, Noah Young
Why I chose it Two reasons, really. The first is that I had sadly neglected Harold Lloyd's films when I developed a strong interest in silent comedy and watched every extant film from Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. Second, during a somewhat stressful week, a comedy appealed more strongly than it ordinarily might.
'No-spoiler' plot overview J. Harold Manners (Harold Lloyd) is a wealthy, spoiled, but eternally optimistic young man from "Uptown" of a large city, who accidentally makes a grant to establish a Mission in the rough "Downtown" neighborhood. In trying to get his name off the Mission's marquee, he begins to soften when his heartstrings are tugged by the Mission founder's charming, pious young daughter, Hope (Jobyna Ralston). Trying to make a good impression, Harold is pressed to get a gang of pool hall toughs into the Mission, leading them on a zigzag chase through the streets with this ulterior motive. Sequestered in the Mission, the gang fends off the attention of the beat cops, who are out to apprehend some petty thieves. Later, a series of further misadventures threatens to derail his wedding to Hope, catalyzed by Harold's snooty uptown friends' efforts to prevent him from marrying below his station.
Production Background and 1926 in Film History Nebraska-born Harold Lloyd made over 200 films in his career, from the second decade of the 20th century to about the mid 1930s. As bankable box-office, Lloyd used his business acumen, understanding of the medium, and his own comic charisma to consistently build his audience. Like his contemporaries Keaton and Chaplin, Lloyd eventually founded his own company and wielded creative control over nearly all aspects of film production. For Heaven's Sake came after two of his most famous films, The Freshman, and Safety Last; butapparently Lloyd didn't like the film, at least partly because he had to rework the script from a version deemed too expensive to film. Yet it was highly successful, becoming the 12th highest grossing film of the silent era, beating out any of Lloyd's other films.
Future star John Wayne made his debut feature film appearance as an uncredited football player in the college comedy-drama, Brown of Harvard (1926).
Screen sensation Rudolph Valentino died at the young age of 31, sparking hysteria among his legions of fans.
Major studios were ramping up efforts to produce commercially viable sound films, such as the Warner Bros. Vitaphone technology and Fox's Movietone technology.
Perhaps Lloyd wasn't crazy about the film, and the gags were reworked from earlier films or inspired by Chaplin or Keaton, but minute for minute I had a heck of a ride with it - I don't think my broad smile ever left my face during the 58-minute running time.
Apparently the original film script had Lloyd playing his usual "boy-next-door" type. The change was in the film's favor, in my opinion; I loved Lloyd playing this rather clueless millionaire - he cut a dashing figure, and his costumes and posing just added to the laughs.
I find Jobyna Ralston a delightful, charming actress and the perfect partner for Lloyd, even though I've only seen her in this one and in The Freshman. I know Lloyd married another of his leading ladies, Mildred Davis, who was also wonderful, but Ralston stands out for me.
Did police routinely have shoot-outs on busy streets with motorists riding in open-top vehicles?? This early scene was funny for its absurdity, but I was reminded of scenes in many early films, both comedies and dramas, in which cops didn't think twice about pulling out guns on streets crowded with bystanders and fire multiple times at escaping suspects from quite a distance. Did this really happen in the first half of the 20th century? I need to research police practices a bit.
The physical gags and use of crowds of extras reminded me of some of Buster Keaton's best work (like his short Cops). All very well done and no trick shots.
So many of the bit players and likely extras cast as the toughs and vagabonds were so well-costumed and made up, adding to the verisimilitude of the production. (See images below).
Speaking of bit players, here's a shout-out to Steve 'Broken-Nose' Murphy (1876-1953), who I recognized from his roles in some of Chaplin's and Keaton's films. If Central Casting was called to produce a rough-looking dude with a smashed-in nose, Murphy was your guy!
Screenshots
Money flows like water for our uptown hero.
He wrecked his white car, so he'll write a check for a new one.
Harold asking Brother Paul (Paul Weigel), Mission founder, what he's gotten himself into.
Cherubic Hope (Jobyna Ralston)
It doesn't seem like a good idea for a cop, or anyone else, to fire a gun from an open top moving vehicle on a busy street.
"Roughneck" Noah Young is Harold's chief antagonist, and is king of the angry pantomime!
The hilarious crowd chase scenes stack one on top of another.
I love these bit players reluctantly sharing a hymn book to avoid exposure to the cops.
Even the head beat cop joins in the singing.
Harold struggles to get a group of drunks onboard a streetcar.
Where to Watch
Once again, YouTube comes through. This was a nice quality print with the Robert Israel score, which was also featured on the DVD from New Line Cinema.
Further Reading: Fellow blogger friend Laura G. also loved this film. Read her review here.
My love for the Harvard Film Archive* just gets stronger and stronger. Exhibit A: Their current William Wellman retrospective. Wellman is one of those Hollywood directors that lacks the name recognition of a Hitchcock, John Ford, Frank Capra and the like. But his talent produced some of the best and/or most entertaining films made in Hollywood over four decades, including a film I wrote about last year, The Ox-Bow Incident. And, as I discovered, he's a native of my current town, Brookline, Massachusetts, and for that alone, this retrospective grabbed my attention. [Go here for the full list of films in the retrospective.]
Sadly, I can't attend all the screenings, despite my efforts to look for ways to camp out on the grass at Harvard Yard(!) But, in the first ten days of the series, I got to four of his early films. This post is simply my appreciation for Wellman's craft as shown in these films, all of which were first-time viewings for me. In a later post, I'll write about some of his later films.
First, some facts--and/or legends--about William Wellman:
He was born in Brookline but attended high school in Newton, Mass., down the road, where he apparently got expelled for dropping a stink-bomb on the principal's head.
He played professional ice hockey.
He became a fighter pilot in WWI.
He piloted his airplane onto the grounds of Pickfair (the Douglas Fairbanks-Mary Pickford Hollywood estate) when given a casual invitation to "drop by" after Fairbanks saw him play in a hockey match.
He got his start as an actor in films in the silent era, due to his connection with Fairbanks, but quickly became much more interested in directing.
He directed the first-ever version of A Star is Born(1937).
His directing style was wide-ranging, with an emphasis on action and movement, as well as on realistic settings. His pre-code output in the early 30s was the greatest of his career.
This is the first film in history to win the best picture Oscar. It tells the story of two friends in small town America who become fighter pilots in WWI. Their friendship is strengthened, but also is their rivalry, which stems from their love for the same woman back home. There are heroic scenes aplenty, and some moments of tragedy.
The Wellman touch: It's part action/war flick and part melodrama. Wellman clearly put his flying expertise into this--the action shots were made by mounting cameras on actual airplanes and capturing real planes, carrying the real stars (!), flying up and down and over in the great skies. The film obviously was a huge success and played in some cinemas continually for over a year.
l-r: Charles Rogers, Clara Bow,
Richard Arlen (HFA)
What impressed me: The star power in this film is top caliber for the day, and oh my, the stars were stunningly gorgeous. Richard Arlen and Jobyna Ralston in particular, but also Charles (Buddy) Rogers and Clara Bow, the 'IT' girl of the day, who unfortunately had a tendency to overplay in this one. Gary Cooper makes a brief appearance, but he would shortly eclipse all these stars in the popularity department. Even El Brendel, as the comic relief, looked good here(!).
It's no secret that the action sequences are jaw-dropping, but seeing them on the big screen elicited gasps from me, and others, on more than one occasion. The scope of the battlefield scenes reminds us that the silent era did not necessarily skimp on craft or quality compared to the sound era--directors like Wellman made the most of what was available to them, and often dreamed big. Watch below for one of the big aerial scenes.
Richard Arlen again was the star in this one, but rather than a war story, this film shows the adventures of two young down-on-their-luck vagrants, the other being silent legend Louise Brooks. The two fall in love while trying to run from the law, and get entangled with a dangerous gang. This film was recently restored and released on Kino Lorber.
The Wellman touch: Silent film melodrama works well when the emotions of the film's characters, the backbone of the film, are done justice by the choices the actors and director make. The best directors work with the glory of the 'faces' they had back then to draw us in. Wellman was terrific at this, using powerful close-ups in key moments. But true to form, he also kept the pace moving quickly, with action sequences in this case on and around moving trains.
Louise Brooks sees Richard Arlen's character for the first time
What impressed me: This film is a perfect demonstration of how great silent cinematic melodrama, like opera, often focuses on no more than three central characters confronting life-altering circumstances or choices. Regardless of how realistic the scenarios are, the art is in us finding the universal feelings of the human condition and losing ourselves in the experience.
Wellman was able to get his actors to be the best they could be: Louise Brooks, both androgynous and stunning, and Richard Arlen, handsome, virile, and yet sensitive. And for the "villain" Wallace Beery, an oafish presence in most of his films, but here his talent is inarguable. There is a scene toward the end of the movie where his character goes through a change of heart. With only pantomime and facial expression - Beery is so so good. I gained a new respect for Beery as an actor.
The British colonial adventure novel, Beau Geste, by Percival Christopher Wren, was filmed so many times that a parody in 1977 was called The Last Remake of Beau Geste (note to self - I need to watch that sometime.) The basic story is that of the three Geste brothers, Beau, John, and Digby; they join the foreign legion and have to defend a fort in the Sahara under attack by Arabs. In the meantime, one of them, unknown to the others, has stolen a jewel from his adoptive mother in order to protect her from scandal and bankruptcy. Adventures ensue. This particular film was the first 'talking' version, coming 13 years after the highly successful silent version starring Ronald Colman.
Robert Preston, Gary Cooper, and Ray Milland as the
Geste brothers, in civilian dress. (photo from HFA).
The brothers in their uniforms (IMDb)
The Wellman touch: Here Wellman again used his love of realistic locales, and arranged for the filming of this in real sand dunes in 'Buttercup Valley' California, near the Arizona border, the same location as the 1926 film. As usual he put his actors through the rugged treatment, but they all gained respect for him, as, according to Preston, on an off night in a Mexican border town, a character came to their table and reminded Wellman he served as his airplane mechanic in the war (from Majestic Hollywood: The Greatest Films of 1939, by Mark Vieira).
Brian Donlevy (from allposterimages.com)
What impressed me: I was pretty sure I had not seen this version going in, but when it started, it looked so familiar I began to question if I indeed had seen it. It turns out, it was the silent version I had seen, but this one adhered so closely to the that the deja vu feeling was strong and understandable. Despite being familiar with the story, I particularly loved the commitment and zest that Brian Donlevy put into his role as the sadistic commander of the troops at the fort. He deservedly won the Oscar for supporting actor as a result. Apparently, he was not popular on the set, having immersed himself a bit too deeply as Sgt. Markoff.
At the beginning, the camera pans over the fort, where men are stationed one per lookout point, across the top. It is creepy, in that all of the men are staring out at us, but we realize with horror that every face is that of a dead man, killed in action, but propped up to look like he is at his post. This was also a choice made by the director of the 1926 version, Herbert Brenon.
Overall, the film won't be on my favorites list, but it is worth seeing if you're a fan of Wellman's, or any of the actors.
As a classic 'screwball comedy', starring Carole Lombard, the screwball queen, Nothing Sacred was a departure for Wellman. In this depression-era genre, typically a dizzy female heroine involves her male companions in a farcical situation that allows them to play off one another in an early Hollywood 'battle of the sexes'. In this one, Lombard is Hazel Flagg, a young woman in a small Vermont town who is presumably dying of radium poisoning. A down-on-his-luck New York City reporter Wally Cook, played by Fredric March, sees an angle to exploit, and brings Hazel to the big city to be a one-woman human interest story, to impress his beleagured boss, played by Walter Connolly. Little do they know, and Hazel isn't about to reveal, that she's just been declared healthy. And, of course, as she tries harder to conceal this fact, she and Wally fall in love. This 'battle of the sexes' becomes a real battle, when the two don boxing gloves and literally duke it out for several minutes near the end of the film!
The Wellman touch: The pace of the film was perfect, with the farcical situations gaining momentum without the action ever rising to the level of the maniacal. There were many scenes in which the actors were placed in a perfectly symmetrical position, and I consciously appreciated the image composition while I was enjoying the performances.
Fredric March and Carole Lombard (Wikipedia)
What impressed me: While Lombard is dependably wonderful, I was surprised by how well Fredric March pulled off his role. I consider him as mostly a serious actor - think The Best Years of Our Lives, The Barretts of Wimple Street. Come to think of it, he played in two other comedies that I've seen: I Married a Witch, and Design for Living, so perhaps not as much a stretch as I originally thought. However, I learned that the role was written for John Barrymore, but at this point in his career, his alcoholism prevented him from getting the part.
It was a little jarring to see a 1930s screwball comedy in color, but once I settled into this, I could appreciate the top production values accorded the film, as was common for Selznick, including the music by Oscar Levant and the screenplay by Ben Hecht. Also, with Lombard's reddish hair, I kept thinking about the similarities between her and Lucille Ball, who idolized Lombard as a comedienne. You can see how Ball adopted some of Lombard's facial expressions and kinetic acting style in her Lucy Ricardo character.
Stay tuned for more of my Wellman experience, in the next couple of months.
*Sad note: The HFA lost programmer David Pendleton, this past week. RIP David. I enjoyed hearing him offer his tremendous insights introducing films over the last several years. Here is a recent appreciation by critic Ty Burr.
Jobyna Ralston and Harold Lloyd in The Freshman
courtesy IMDb
Silent comedian Harold Lloyd had a huge hit in 1925 with The Freshman (d. Fred Newmeyer and Sam Taylor). I've not seen it, and cannot wait for my first viewing tomorrow, on the big screen at the Coolidge, accompanied by the world premiere score from the Berklee Silent Film Orchestra (BSFO). I've written here before about the process by which selected elite students of Berklee College film scoring department compose a new silent film score under the direction of Prof. Sheldon Mirowitz, and then premiere it at the Coolidge Corner Cinema, as part of the 'The Sounds of Silents' film series. (It was one of these performances, six plus years ago, solidified my emerging obsession with all things classic film.) The reputation of the BSFO has grown to the extent that, on opening night of the San Francisco Silent Film Festival in June, they'll be there to repeat this performance. Yes, opening night of the SFSFF. And so far no one outside of Berklee has yet to hear the score.
Well, that is almost no one -- last Tuesday I had the good fortune to attend a 'Master Class' from Prof. Mirowitz sponsored by the Coolidge, during which he previewed some of the highlights of the score, and revealed some other interesting tidbits. Bonus for me- I got to hold in my hands, albeit briefly, the complete published BSFO score for Variété, from 2016.
Sheldon Mirowitz, from SheldonMirowitz.com
A few highlights:
The new score to The Freshman has seven separate student composer-a feat of collaboration perhaps unique at an undergraduate college, but not so unique in the long history of film scoring, said Prof. Mirowitz. The great film composers almost always have significant support along the way, directing other, unbilled musicians to produce a final score.
Selected to perform the score in live performance, the BSFO musicians are 'the best players in the Boston area.' Whoa.
The score will be a blend of musical themes that conjure up the past, but are infused with decidedly contemporary sensibilities. Prof. Mirowitz described that The Freshman, while being 'of its time', is also 'about its time'-and the music needs to reflect that. A short clip of the 'college theme' was an example, a nostalgic, tuneful march-time 'fight song'. As a 'sweet' persona, Harold Lloyd's college freshman Harold Lamb, who works hard to achieve status on campus, deserves a bit of 'old timey' flavor to enhance the comedic elements in the film.
The individual student composers will conduct the reels for which they composed the music, but will also take part in the orchestra, responsible for the various sound effects written into the score.
While the release dates haven't been announced, Prof. Mirowitz reminded us that the BSFO was engaged by Kino Lorber to accompany the restorations of The Last Laugh and Variété, both German silent films starring the great Emil Jannings.
Even more exciting, they have been commissioned to compose a score for a new restoration of The Man Who Laughs(1928). Keeping my fingers crossed for a Coolidge premiere.
New York City cinephiles note -- the BSFO will make their NYC debut on May 20th with a screening of The Freshman, at the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts, Tony Bennett concert hall.
Prof. Mirowitz recently presented a TED Talk, 'What does music DO?' that illuminates his view of the role of music in film and beyond -- check it out below. To boil it down, the music helps us understand our emotions, which enables us to make sense of the world.
Per www.silentfilm.org, here are this year's BSFO contributors:
Composers: Vincent Isler (Switzerland), Esin Aydingoz (Turkey), Bernard Duc (Switzerland), Victoria Ruggiero (USA), Andres Gutierrez (Mexico), Jeffrey Gaiser (USA), and Vinicius Pippa (Brazil)
Players: Gabriela Sofia Gomez Estevez (flute/piccolo), Lindsey Stein (oboe/English horn), Stephanie Clark (clarinet/bass clarinet), Dan Pfeiffer (horn), Joey Epstein (trumpet), Ethan Santos (trombone/bass trombone), Kino Lee (keyboard), Eren Başbuğ (keyboard), Tania Mesa (violin), Nathaniel Taylor (cello), Michael Simon (bass), Patrick Hanafin (percussion)
Special recognition to the Coolidge Corner Theatre and Becki and Dr. Martin Norman, founders of 'The Sounds of Silents' film series.
