FORGOTTEN WOMEN (1931)

First, some clarification.  This impressively odd All-Gal WWI story was originally called THE MAD PARADE, but had its title changed to FORGOTTEN WOMEN on re-release.  An unrelated 1931 film, a Hollywood backstager directed by Richard Thorpe before his M-G-M days, also was titled FORGOTTEN WOMEN.  Then yet another unrelated FORGOTTEN WOMEN (now lost?) appeared in 1949, directed by William Beaudine; the guy who directed this film!  Got that?  By then, Beaudine had become a real Hollywood Hack, working his way thru more than 350 titles.  Better things early on, including two fine late silents for Mary Pickford, LITTLE ANNIE ROONIE/’25 (with William Haines) and Mary's stunning childhood terrors masterpiece, SPARROWS/’26.  This Early Talkie, a low-budget indie, originally distributed by Paramount, hardly matches the Pickford films, but from what you can make out in the rare print sourced by Alpha Video, it’s a substantial, and substantially weird, achievement.  With an all-female cast, like George Cukor’s THE WOMEN/’39 men are a main topic, but never fully seen, it follows the follies & jealousies of eight canteen service women/nurses working near The Western Front. Lots of doughnuts, care packages, coffee & bandages.  On a dangerous motor van run to pick up injured soldiers, they wind up driving into No-Man’s-Land during a fierce bombardment.  Lost and under attack, they hide in bunkers & a blasted shelter.  With pressure from constant attacks bringing out all the panic & conflicts that have been building up, something's gotta give before the women pick lots on a suicide run to get help..  It’s really less like THE WOMEN, than JOURNEY’S END meets STAGE DOOR, with the best roles going to fading silent star Evelyn Brent, surprisingly vivid & forceful as a brave, hardened nurse, and to Irene Rich as Den Mother.  But all eight have their moments (when you can make out Who’s Who between a subfusc print and about ten minutes of lost footage).  Beaudine does pretty well with a mix of miniatures & fully-staged action, and improves in handling the interiors as the film progresses and space starts closing in on his cast.  Tough and fascinating, if hardly a complete success, it also tilts very Pre-Code racy.  Something which may explain some narrative lacunae in the battered print, probably from a trimmed Production Code Approved re-release.

DOUBLE-BILL:  For a WWII look at a similar group of service women, try Mark Sandrich’s SO PROUDLY WE HAIL!/’43 with Claudette Colbert, Paulette Goddard & Veronica Lake.