Manhandled - 1924 - USA

Manhandled - 1924 - 6/10

 
Tessie toils against a tide of customers in a large department store.
The struggle in the subway is just as onerous.  New York is not for the faint.
Boyfriend Jim is a mechanic, at night a cabbie.
He is trying to save enough for marriage, and perfect an invention.
Tessie wants to go out;  if Jim is too busy, she goes with the rich swells.
Comedy, the genre I would not associate with Swanson, but she is funny here.
Mind you, she has to impersonate a countess, so out comes the wardrobe.

The Enchanted Cottage - 1924 - USA

The Enchanted Cottage - 1924 - 6/10

 
Disfigured and crippled in the Great War, Richard broods in the family manor.
After his fiancé leaves him for another, he decamps to a remote cottage.
Where he meets Laura, unattractive yet possessing a warm heart.
Theirs becomes a marriage of convenience.
Ghosts and specters of the past haunt the cottage, however, and influence the couple.
Fantasy love story is schmaltz, must have struck a chord with the post-war audiences.

Poisoned Paradise - 1924 - USA

Poisoned Paradise - 1924 - 6/10 

 

 

Margot loses all her money in Monte Carlo.
A slickster befriends her, though his motives seem to steer her into the oldest profession. 
Instead, a struggling painter offers her a job as housekeeper.
Margot has a pure heart, yet painter Hugh is drawn to flashy frauds.
Early Clara Bow is tomboyish with hair to match.  Her acting lacks the sparkle she would later exhibit.
Narrative a bit disjointed, yet the cinematography by Karl Struss looks great.

Greed - 1924 - USA

Greed - 1924 - 7/10

 
Post Gold Rush, McTeague works one of the mines, still trickling ore.
He decides to become a dentist, sets up practice.
When a friends brings his betrothed, McTeague soon desires her.
The girlfriend, Trina, marries our poor dentist, then wins a lottery.
The winnings, she refuses to share, even to spend, but clutches tight to the money.
Greed, in various forms, plays out over and over.
Watching this, as I have numerous times over the years, requires tremendous commitment.
The 1999 Turner restoration is the best print, although running time is 4 hours.

The Battle Of Hermann - 1924 - Germany

The Battle Of Hermann - 1924 - 6/10
AKA - Die Harmannschlacht

 
Too long have the Germanic tribes endured the Roman yoke.
Enslavement is still that, no matter how friendly the captors, how light the chains.
As always, once the occupiers start stealing womenfolk, weapons emerge.
Stodgy Silent suffers from too many characters, many with similar names.
Battle spectacles pocket sized.  Acting in broad strokes.
Costumes, especially Germans looking like Vikings, enjoyable.

Waxworks - 1924 - Germany

Waxworks - 1924 - 6/10
AKA - Das Wachsfigurenkabinett

 
WANTED – Writer to provide descriptions for Wax Museum exhibits.
The scribe applies, and the curator points to the Grand Calif, Ivan The Terrible, and Spring Heel Jack.
From there, the fever of inspiration builds imaginative stories.
The Calif (Emil Jannings) is the longest and dullest.  A forced comedy, relying on farce and painful situations.
Better is Ivan The Terrible (Conrad Veidt), with his paranoia, cruelty, despotism.
Spring Heel Jack (Werner Krauss) breaks the barrier, entering the writer’s world.
Ivan boasts the best sets, Jack dizzying camerawork.
All three stories are creaky, the first one especially so.

New Years Eve - 1924 - Germany

New Years Eve - 1924 - 5/10
AKA - Sylvester

 
Outside, the sidewalks and streets are jammed with merrymaking throngs.
Many venture inside the cafe and continue the party.
The barkeep serves and replenishes canapés and drinks in the back.
His wife assists.  Then the man’s mother arrives, a meek, withered, dry piece of toast.
In contrast to the revels without, they share a quiet meal before the man returns to bar duties.
And the quiet mother, no longer capable of controlling her jealousy and resentment, erupts.
No intertitles, by design.  The copy I viewed had a pronounced flicker, very fatiguing.

Venus Of The South Seas - 1924 - New Zealand

Venus Of The South Seas - 1924 - 5/10

 
John Royal owns an island, where happy natives deep water dive for pearls.
On day, daughter Shona will inherit everything.
So, shifty skipper Drake decides to woo and marry the future heiress.
Melodrama enhanced by several lengthy underwater scenes.
Plus, midway there is a fairytale of Princess Gwytha asking the Little Mermaid to help her rescue the Prince of Dreams.

The Swallow And Titmouse - 1924 - France

The Swallow And Titmouse - 1924 - 7/10
AKA - L'Hirondelle et la Mésange

The two men seem to get along fine,  Captain Pierre and new hand Michel.
Pierre has two barges, the afore mentioned Swallow and Titmouse.
They ply the canals between Antwerp and northern France.
Moving construction goods – and perhaps a bit of smuggling.
Of which the smiling, obliging Michel is determinedly curious.

 
Film may be too slow for some, enthralling for others.
The restoration is superb.  The music, evoking a liquid current, marries well.
Most of all are the images of lost habits, parades, exteriors.
Postcard views of the world between wars, which WWII would erase.

The Thief Of Baghdad - 1924 - USA

The Thief Of Baghdad - 1924 - 8/10

 
Fairbanks towering achievement, with eye popping stunts, incredible sets, and rousing action.
Lowly street thief falls in love with (completely out of his league) princess.
Meanwhile, encroaching Mongols plot to take over Baghdad.
Redemption, and the royal hand, can be gained through severe trials and heroic deeds.
One of those films for those who say, “I don’t like Silent Films.”
Magnificent, and great entertainment.

Girl Shy - 1924 - USA

Girl Shy - 1924 - 7/10

 
Silent era slapstick.
Harold Lloyd plays shy milquetoast who pens "The Secret Of Making Love".
Actual females, however, make him extraordinarily nervous.
What to do, then, when love arrives?  As well as a rival for her affections.
Jokes cascade furiously, with mishaps and a hair raising dash-to-the-altar finale.
Scenes of downtown Los Angeles, circa 1923, provide a portal into bygone, emptyish avenues.