Considering a largely justified rep as a straightforward adaptor of well-bred literary material in the safe/solid British tradition, Anthony Asquith’s silent film beginnings capture a rarely seen visual showman in near experimental mode. Especially so in UNDERGROUND/’28 and A COTTAGE IN DARTMOOR/’30, but also showing in this debut pic. A behind-the-scenes look at how The Movies test the marriage of cowboy star Brian Aherne (long, lean, very Gary Cooper) and temperamental co-star wife Annette Benson. While she pouts and plays bored on set, Asquith uses the time to give us a technically dazzling high-flying tour of the place. Benson only perks up when she spots studio top clown Donald Calthrop working his baggy-pants slapstick. Let the canoodling begin. But the fun comes to a stop once Benson notices her tube of lipstick is a perfect match for her husband’s rifle cartridges, setting up either an ‘accident’ waiting to happen or the perfect crime. (Some things never change!) And if the melodrama feels tacked on, it’s still fun to look behind the camera, circa 1928. As the unfulfilled wife, Annette Benson tends to play only one emotion at a time (she didn’t last much past the silent-to-sound transition), but Aherne is in his youthful prime, stealing the show while a simple storyline gives Asquith (along with co-director A.V. Bramble) space to stretch his cinematic muscles via fancy crane shots, complicated camera crawls and tricky framing. Everyone else quite vivid. Too vivid in the case of an obese clown rival in a film-within-this-film. His period one-piece bathing suit leaving little to the imagination. Yikes!
DOUBLE-BILL/LINK: SHOOTING is a decent start for Asquith, but either UNDERGROUND or DARTMOOR make better intros into his imaginative silent film world. https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2008/10/cottage-in-dartmoor-1929.html
ATTENTION MUST BE PAID: IMDb incorrectly lists a 70" running time; the restoration is more like 100".
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