Modest feature from 1919, but nicely done. Charles Ray, who specialized in playing small-town juveniles (often for director Jerome Storm, their OLD-FASHIONED BOY/’20 describes his appeal to a 'T') is baseball mad in this one. Sneaking away from his chores for a local pickup game and bumping into a pro team stranded between towns, he plays well enough to catch their coach’s attention. Called to the big leagues, he quickly goes from rube to regular, picking up bad habits and a fast woman before bombing out and returning home to loyal gal Colleen Moore who almost went for local scion John Gilbert. Fun to see just how advanced film technique was on a standard feature of the day. Very advanced! As is most of the surprisingly non-indicative acting. With the surviving elements good enough to showcase some really fine work by lighting cameraman Chester Lyons, who’d rack up strong credits before dying in 1936 only 51. Ray’s at his popular peak here and very likeable, but Gilbert also swell as a bit of a cad. He’d play second-lead to Mary Pickford in the excellent HEART O’ THE HILLS later this year. So too delightful, fast-rising, funny-face Colleen Moore, soon to be a top silent star, mostly in comedies.* And while both Gilbert & Moore wouldn’t make the Talkie cut, bowing out in the mid-‘30s, Ray’s fall came even sooner, losing his place as America’s favorite rural youth to Richard Barthelmess in just a few years. Very pleasing restored edition out of KINO.
DOUBLE-BILL/LINK: *Had been trying to see Moore in LILAC TIME/’28, a WWI meller with young Gary Cooper, but unable to find a decent edition. (It's in mint condition on film.) Catch it if you can find a decent copy. Instead, as mentioned above, HEART O’ THE HILLS. https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2008/05/heart-o-hills-1919.html
SCREWY THOUGHT OF THE DAY: 1919 was a decisive year for MLB what with the war over and Babe Ruth going to the Yankees.
No comments:
Post a Comment