Cinecon Review
ChaneyFan
year I was highly critical of the Cinecon for many reasons I won't rehash here.
I said that if I thought it was terrible again this year I would say so. So
here's what I thought of this year's Cinecon...fabulous! Possibly one of the
best Cinecons ever. Not overpowered by guests, the few guests they had were
excellent, and lots of great films. Not a stinker in the lot. Brief reviews
follow, with ratings from * (worst) to ****. If I don't mention you're
favorite below, it means I had seen it before or I caught up on my sleep.
ADAM'S RIB (1923, Famous-Players Lasky) A pretty good Cecil B. DeMille with
Anna Q. Nilsson finding romance with Theodore Kosloff when her business-minded
husband Milton Sills neglects her. Goes along fine as a fairly serious drama,
but then they detour for 2 reels with an utterly ridiculous prehistoric story.
This might have been fun if done tongue-in-cheek á la FIG LEAVES, but this was
deadly serious, and it killed what would otherwise be a good picture. **½
MARKED MONEY (1928, Pathe) The other Junior Coghlan silent from this era,
SQUARE SHOULDERS, is overly maudlin, but this was a fast-paced actioner about a
plot to deprive Junior of his $25,000 inheritance. Just one action sequence
after another, and with a nice music & effects track to boot. ***
THE NIGHT OF LOVE (1927, Goldwyn) This was a shameless attempt on the part of
the Cinecon programmers to assure my attendance and it worked, as I have been
dying to see this Ronald Colman-Vilma Banky silent for decades. Walking in, Ed
Hulse said, "Get ready for 8 reels of gauze shots of portraits," but he
couldn't have been further from the truth. A full-blooded actioner, very
similar to the recent BRAVEHEART in tone and content. Colman's bride is taken
for "first night" privileges by evil Duke Montague Love (I mean, you *gotta*
love any picture with Love as the villain!). When she commits suicide, Colman
vows revenge, eventually building a rebel army, and stealing Love's new bride
(Banky) for his own first night rights. Exciting, beautifully shot, and Banky
shows more cleavage than I can ever recall seeing in any American silent
picture. ***½
OH! SAILOR BEHAVE (1930, Warner Bros.) Well what can you say about an Olsen and
Johnson musical? Lots of funny shticks, some good musical numbers, and Irene
Delroy and Charles King make a nice romantic couple. Not great, but fun. **½
GHOST (1914, I forget the studio...Kay-Bee??) An interesting 3-reeler about a
man who steals an inheritance, only to have the "ghost" of his dead brother
(OK, he wasn't really dead) coming back to haunt him. Creepy and effective.
***
MARTIN EDEN (1914, Bosworth) If I had to pick the worst film of the weekend,
this would be it. Not a bad film, but missing reels 3-4 of 6 didn't help, and
this overly depressing story of a despondent writer just didn't do it for me.
Still, it was nice to look at, with some great location shots of Oakland, CA!
**
THE GARDEN OF ALLAH (1937, Selznick) A lovely restoration of the third 3-strip
Technicolor feature ever made was marred by 3 reels with sound 10 sec out of
synch with the picture. I understand the wrong print was shipped from the lab
and Disney archivist Scott McQueen was last seen heading to YCM to kill
someone. I'll help post bail for him.
SALOMY JANE (1914, California Motion Picture Co.) I thought I was going to hate
this, but this magnificent LOC restoration showcased the wonderful outdoor
sequences (virtually the entire picture) shot in San Rafael, CA. Based on a
Bret Harte story, there were so many characters coming and going I couldn't
keep them straight, but eventually it all came together in a fine climax. ***
FAZIL (1928, Fox) This was originally scheduled for Monday afternoon and I
suggested to Michael that it was pretty rare and he might want to move it to a
better slot. Good thing, since it was standing-room only and had the best
attendance of any film that weekend. Not a very *good* picture mind you, but
certainly fascinating, with Charles Farrell quite believable as a fiery Arab.
This also is the answer to the trivia question, "Name a silent film in which we
see a woman shaving her arm pits."
BAD GIRL (1931, Fox) This was on the schedule because I begged Bob to run it.
This was the only major Oscar winning film (Frank Borzage for Best Director and
Edwin Burke for screenplay) I had never seen. Picture the first half of THE
CROWD, but without the husband being a jerk, and you have a pretty good idea of
the story, but done with snappy dialogue and lots of slick camera angles and
shots, making this something special. ***
"UNIDENTIFIED FILMS" This was a novel and fun show where Rob Stone and Sam
Gill of UCLA Film Archive ran some 19 clips of unidentified silent and sound
pictures, with the audience trying to identify specific characters. A few of
the films were identified outright, including the marvelous Raymond Griffith
short, "An Aerial Joyride." My only complaint...when they were done I wanted
to see 19 more!
OLD CLOTHES (1925, Jackie Coogan Production) This was one of the real surprises
of the weekend. First, I'd never seen Jackie Coogan in a print this sharp!
Second, how can you *not* like a film with Max Davidson in a pathos-filled
performance!! Quite a nice picture, sort of a LITTLE ANNIE ROONEY role for
young Coogan, and very likable. ***
CHILD OF MANHATTAN (1933, Columbia) A slick, snappy pre-Code romance with Nancy
Carroll looking hot as always. I had the predictable poor girl-rich boy
romance pegged about 3 min into the picture, but it was lots of fun anyway.
***
GOLF WIDOWS (1928, Columbia) An oxymoron...a good Columbia silent not directed
by Frank Capra! A funny film that certainly brings Charley Chase and Hal Roach
to mind. A delightful comedy of embarrassment, with Harrison Ford first
getting involved with a naked woman in his car (exactly like LIMOUSINE LOVE),
and moving on to one sexual fiasco after another. One gag running through the
entire film involves a pair of women's underwear that is impossible for Ford to
get rid of. Some nice shooting in what must surely have been actual Tijuana
locations too. ***
THE GUILTY GENERATION (1931, Columbia) A few others mentioned that they had
seen this before, but it was a first for me and I thought it was a knockout.
Basically Romeo and Juliet in a gangland setting, with Robert Young and
Constance Cummings falling in love, though their parents (Boris Karloff and Leo
Carrillo!!) are gangland rivals. Tough, pre-Code, exciting, and a great
climax. ***½
TORNADO (1924, Universal) Except for the Dutch intertitles (translated live),
this was another of my favorites of the weekend. Starts out as a moody
wilderness melodrama, with House Peters brooding over the loss of his
sweetheart, through trickery, to his (former) best friend. Then, about halfway
into the picture, we switch to a storm sequence that runs for about half an
hour and this baby absolutely springs to life. This was either incredible
special effects or they dammed up a river and let loose a log jam just for the
picture. Really an amazing epic and certainly one of the 10 best silents to
come out of Universal. ***½
THE DESPERADOES (1943, Columbia) I had seen this and planned to skip it, but
having both stars in attendance (Evelyn Keyes and Claire Trevor) and a newly
restored color print, I watched 5 min and got suckered in. A nice A-western,
with Keyes (only third billed) stealing the show. ***
FATE OF A FLIRT (1925, Waldorf Pictures) This was the last of many silents I
played over the weekend and I was tired and getting sloppy on piano, so I
probably didn't enjoy this as much as I might have as a stand-alone film, but
it was still fun. The program notes incorrectly identify this as a Columbia
picture, but it looked and felt like a Waldorf (i.e., a cheap independent). A
cute romantic fluff. Likable, but with a totally forgettable cast. **½
WATSON FAMILY REUNION. This was the frosting on the cake for the weekend, with
7 of the 9 original Watson kids reunited. (The two oldest girls passed away,
the rest are still with us). Instead of running a film or doing clips, they
simply got up on stage and narrated about 90 min of slides, including both rare
family album shots and scenes from their films. Bobs Watson (who Bill Everson
used to refer to as "The Crying Machine") got so choked up talking about ON
BORROWED TIME that one of the others had to continue the story for him. An
absolutely magical event.
Overall, a wonderful collection of films and it all came off with only minor
technical glitches. Oh yeah...and unlike last year, they had a marvelous grand
piano at the Alex!
Having said all that, here's some minor complaints and suggestions.
1. The banquet ran 2 hr 50 min, which was 30 min shorter than last year, but
was still an hour too long. It could have easily have been shortened and hour
by muzzling the M.C. (see #2).
2. In a moment of insanity, someone asked A.C. Lyles to be Master of
Ceremonies. He was the most pompous, arrogant, self-promoting B.S.er I have
ever heard. His off-color jokes, his tasteless references to Robert Young's
suicide attempt, and his endless self-glorifying comments about "my good
friend" ___________ (fill in any random star's name) elevated bad taste to a
new level. He was positively horrible and needs to be banned from all future
events. I was left with a bad taste in my mouth, and every time he told
another of his stories, I could see Claire Trevor wince.
3. The projection in the Alex Theater was not the best. Yes, I know they are
volunteers, and no I don't want to volunteer, but there were some silents where
I missed the first 2-3 intertitles at reel changes because they took so long to
get them in focus.
4. Speaking of projection, don't you guys know to keep some Vitafilm handy?
Both FAMILY LIFE and ADAM'S RIB had major chattering problems. This was blamed
on "old, brittle prints" but aren't *all* the things we run in this condition?
Simply brushing a little Vitafilm on the edges of the film would have fixed the
problem without even having to stop the film.
5. I never had time to do more than a cursory spin through the dealer's room.
This is partly due to too many good films, but I still express my concern for
the many hours away from the hotel at the Alex. (By the way, for the record, I
did a careful measurement and as the human walks this is about 0.75 miles from
the Alex to the hotel...it's slightly over 0.8 miles as the car drives.)
Despite this quibbling, I thought it was a great weekend and look forward to
next year. Kudos to Bob Birchard, Michael Schlesinger, Eric Stogo, and the
other volunteers who made this a great weekend.
===============================
Jon Mirsalis
e-mail: Chan...@aol.com
Jon's Film Sites: http://members.aol.com/ChaneyFan/jonfilm.htm
Lon Chaney Home Page: http://members.aol.com/ChaneyFan
Robert Birchard
>
> THE DESPERADOES (1943, Columbia) I had seen this and planned to skip it, but
> having both stars in attendance (Evelyn Keyes and Claire Trevor) and a newly
> restored color print, I watched 5 min and got suckered in. A nice A-western,
> with Keyes (only third billed) stealing the show. ***
>
I intend to respond in more detail to Jon's complete post in the
next day or so, but I did want to mention that as I was siting at the
Alex watching "The Desperadoes" I was thinking to myself:
Where on earth but Cinecon would you see something like this on the
big screen? Sure, it's played TV and will be available on video
cassette next year, but it is doubtful that it would ever become a
staple of the revival house circuit (what there is left of it) nor is it
likely to be screened in a museum or festival setting (a good--but not
great--film, with a mid-range star cast and a director with a modest
Sarris rating).
To see this magnificent print on a big screen was a treat that is
not likely to be repeated anywhere anytime soon.
Having two of the stars at the screening was a bonus.
It is interesting to note that Evelyn Keyes, who spoke before the
screening, had no intention of sitting through it--but she, too, got
sucked in after the first few minutes. It was a good showcase for her.
The film did not offer Claire Trevor a chance to really strut her
stuff, but she had several strong scenes and looked great in those
Tecnicolored costumes.
And, Frances Dee showed up at the theater during the screening and
sat in to watch most of the film. She was not in the movie, of course,
but she found it interesting and commented that it was one of the few
Westerns she had seen in which the women characters dominated the
action.
--
Bob Birchard
bbir...@earthlink.net
http://www.mdle.com/ClassicFilms/Guest/birchard.htm
David P. Hayes
>FAZIL (1928, Fox) This was originally scheduled for Monday afternoon and I
>suggested to Michael that it was pretty rare and he might want to move it to a
>better slot. Good thing, since it was standing-room only and had the best
I believe you meant to write that it had the best attendance of any film IN THE
LITTLE ROOM. Indeed, the room was packed, but we are still talking about a
room considerably smaller than the big projection room at the hotel or the
Alex.
I agree that the film was worth scheduling when there were the most people
present, and personally I enjoyed it and am glad that it was run when it was.
A neat and moody conflict between two cultures, brought to life by Charles
Farrel and Greta Nissen.
--
David Hayes
To respond privately, excise the first underscore from address.
David P. Hayes
>suggested to Michael that it was pretty rare and he might want to move it to a
>better slot. Good thing, since it was standing-room only and had the best
Al Badger
>
>
>
> BAD GIRL (1931, Fox) This was on the schedule because I begged Bob to run it.
> This was the only major Oscar winning film (Frank Borzage for Best Director and
> Edwin Burke for screenplay) I had never seen. Picture the first half of THE
> CROWD, but without the husband being a jerk, and you have a pretty good idea of
> the story, but done with snappy dialogue and lots of slick camera angles and
> shots, making this something special. ***
>
>
SHRIEK! "Bad Girl" exists!! I'd seen it reported MIA or dead so many
times I'd given up hope! Where does it live? What's its email
address? Do its pet peeves include ill-trained dogs and world hunger?
As you can see, I've become a bit delirious. But if there's more
information about "Bad Girl", especially if there would be any
opportunity to see it, I'd be ever grateful to hear.
Best,
Al Badger
pre...@my-dejanews.com
Robert Birchard <bbir...@earthlink.net> wrote:
> ChaneyFan wrote in part:
> >
> > THE DESPERADOES (1943, Columbia) I had seen this and planned to skip it, but
> > having both stars in attendance (Evelyn Keyes and Claire Trevor) and a newly
> > restored color print, I watched 5 min and got suckered in. A nice
A-western,
> > with Keyes (only third billed) stealing the show. ***
> >
>
Ah, I knew it would be a hit!
Mike S.
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ChaneyFan
information about "Bad Girl", especially if there would be any
opportunity to see it, I'd be ever grateful to hear.
Well, I waited about 25 years to see it. Museum of Modern Art has the only
print I know of. Good luck. The way to see it would have been to attend
Cinecon!
eric stott
The scriptwriter for BAD GIRL won an oscar- it is in the Albany
Institute of History and Art collection, Albany N.Y. My only opportunity
to see an Oscar, and I didn't have to leave town!
Eric Stott
David P. Hayes
<199809120834...@ladder03.news.aol.com>...
>>>>As you can see, I've become a bit delirious. But if there's more
>information about "Bad Girl", especially if there would be any
>opportunity to see it, I'd be ever grateful to hear.
>
>Well, I waited about 25 years to see it. Museum of Modern Art has the only
>print I know of. Good luck. The way to see it would have been to attend
>Cinecon!
UCLA ran "Bad Girl" as part of a Frank Borzage retrospective in the late 1980s.
My recollection is that the print looked better at that time. It was on a
double-bill that night with "After Tomorrow," which was shown at Cinecon (on
35mm) about two years ago.
ChaneyFan
1980s.
My recollection is that the print looked better at that time. It was on a
double-bill that night with "After Tomorrow," which was shown at Cinecon (on
35mm) about two years ago.
MOMA has both a 16mm and 35mm of BAD GIRL. We got the 16mm, but I'm not sure
if that was by choice, or because the 35 was unavailable. (Bob B??)
Robert Birchard
>
> >>>UCLA ran "Bad Girl" as part of a Frank Borzage retrospective in the late
> 1980s.
> My recollection is that the print looked better at that time. It was on a
> double-bill that night with "After Tomorrow," which was shown at Cinecon (on
> 35mm) about two years ago.
>
> MOMA has both a 16mm and 35mm of BAD GIRL. We got the 16mm, but I'm not sure
> if that was by choice, or because the 35 was unavailable. (Bob B??)
To the best of my knowledge the only PRINT MoMA has is 16mm. This
is the same print that was run at UCLA (a so-so print of a good movie
tends to look better when replayed in the memory). It is my
understanding that hey have copied the film in 35mmm but have not yet
made a print.
Jay Schwartz
>4. Speaking of projection, don't you guys know to keep some Vitafilm handy?
>Both FAMILY LIFE and ADAM'S RIB had major chattering problems. This was blamed
>on "old, brittle prints" but aren't *all* the things we run in this condition?
>Simply brushing a little Vitafilm on the edges of the film would have fixed the
>problem without even having to stop the film.
And where does one find Vitafilm these days?
----------------------------
Secret Cinema website:
http://www.voicenet.com/~jschwart
pre...@my-dejanews.com
jsch...@voicenet.com wrote:
> chan...@aol.com (ChaneyFan) wrote:
>
> >4. Speaking of projection, don't you guys know to keep some Vitafilm handy?
> >Both FAMILY LIFE and ADAM'S RIB had major chattering problems. This was
blamed
> >on "old, brittle prints" but aren't *all* the things we run in this
condition?
> >Simply brushing a little Vitafilm on the edges of the film would have fixed
the
> >problem without even having to stop the film.
>
Actually, I still have some and volunteered to bring it in, but by the end of
Thursday evening, we determined that it was the projectors, not the films,
that were the cause of the chattering. Stan Taffel very graciously lent us
two of his, and there were virtually no problems thereafter.
Mike Schlesinger
>
> ----------------------------
> Secret Cinema website:
> http://www.voicenet.com/~jschwart
>
>
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ChaneyFan
I have a secret cache of about 3 gallons. It may be the last 3 gallons on
earth! I might leave my jewels, cash, and other valuables lying out, but I
guard this precious item with guard dogs, barbed wire, and a security system!