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| Syd |
 Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2006 6:38 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
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Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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Quote: The Merry Men continue skipping and capering about, Fairbanks overacts and frolics, while everyone else's acting style edges over into German Expressionism. This is particularly true of Maid Marian, whose wild-eyed (and -haired) appearance and extreme gestures make her resemble the still of the creature from Edison's Frankenstein.
This is why with all those men around she's still a maid. You'd think there'd be at least one hairdresser in the bunch. |
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| Nancy |
| Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2006 6:42 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 4607
Location: Norman, OK
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Syd wrote: This is why with all those men around she's still a maid. You'd think there'd be at least one hairdresser in the bunch.
She certainly needed one. Bad Hair Day on a massive scale. |
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| bocce |
| Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2006 3:00 pm |
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Joined: 24 May 2004
Posts: 2428
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murnau's THE LAST LAUGH is a parable of vanity and pride brought low by fate and then redeemed thru humility and generousity of spirit...
what should not be lost on the viewer is that it, like many of the weimar era silents, is an entirely symbolic reflexion of german society at the time. the doorman of the atlantic hotel is a haughty fellow who expects and enjoys the respect accorded him by his neighbors for his supposed prestige position which brings him little other than that as he is still low on the economic totem pole.
his greatcoat, embellished with superficial and meaningless ornament, is the only distinguishing characteristic which separates him from his fellow tenement dwellers. it is his pride and joy. the comparison to the german fascination with militarism is unmistakeable. when the young manager removes him from his plum position and throws him the crumb of becoming the washroom attendant due to being past his prime (level of competence), our man is devastated. he thinks of stealing the coat to regain his self esteem. but it's no good as the new and younger doorman has already assumed his position.
the symbolism would have been unmistakeable to contemporay german audiences: germany was finished as a world power, there was a new manager and doorkeeper at the atlantic and the best she could do was to suffer the ignomy of defeat. both the man and the country try to vainly save face by pretending nothing has changed but the truth is out and both must suffer the humiliation.
in lieu of his immanent sacking and in the depths of total despair, he is comforted by the nightwatchman of the hotel who shelters him and comforts him with his own coat (symbolic of the underlying spirit of a more humanistic germany even under occupation).
then, murnau wheels 180 degrees allowing the self admitted "happy ending" to ensue. he even admits its improbability in one of the few intertitles of the film (THE LAST LAUGH doesn't need many). a former guest makes the doorman his beneficiary.
the final scenes show our protagonist seemingly ready to have the last laugh, to throw his new and very real wealth in the faces of his former tormentors. but rather it is the humility and generousity of spirit that he displays toward his replacement in the washroom, his loyalty to the nightwatchman and, finally, to a homeless man on the street, that is the irony that murnau intended.
the dawes plan was put into effect the same year filming of THE LAST LAUGH took place. an american initiative, it softened the harsh leash placed on germany by the versailles treaty and was instrumental in allowing germany to re-enter the world picture both economically and politically. the 180 at the end of the film could only reference this event and murnau's fervent hope that germany would respond to such benifiscence in the same spirit as does the former doorman.
alas, it was not meant to be... |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2006 10:31 pm |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9008
Location: Shanghai
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Watched The Crowd last night, but find myself with less to comment on than I had hoped. It's basically a big budget "small" film, focusing as it does on one family. There are some scenes that remind one of 1920's comedies. But overall it is a realistic and humanistic film. I imagine at the time its impact would have been stronger, as not many movies faithfully depicted the lives of an ordinary couple.
Some unusual scenes. At the beach, the family picnic includes: frying bacon, a frosted cake and a slab of butter. Also, everyone seems to be dressed in office attire, men in vests, with ties and long sleeve shirts. I guess the idea of getting a tan wasn't in vogue yet. Not my idea of beach-appropriate behavior.
Another odd bit is when the father quits his job, but then is afraid to tell his wife. So the next day he shows up at the company annual boat trip. |
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| Nancy |
| Posted: Wed Feb 22, 2006 7:47 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 4607
Location: Norman, OK
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I'm going to double-post this to the "Juice" forum also.
I have just finished reading Amos Judd, the book on which the lost Valentino silent film The Young Rajah is based. I can see why they picked Valentino to play the lead role; this character is supposed to be exotically good looking. He is the heir of an Indian rajah, who was taken to New England as a child after some sort of violent event in his country. For his own safety, he is adopted by a Connecticut farmer and given the name Amos Judd. He comes with bucketloads of treasure and precognitive abilities. Amos grows up and falls in love with Molly Cabot. In the film, he is called back to India (which gives an excuse for exotic settings and costumes) on the eve of his wedding to Molly, but has a premonition that they will be together, apparently allowing for a happy ending. In the book, there is no such return to India. The whole Indian background seems to just be there to hang the notion of the inevitableness of his visions of the furture upon. In the book, Amos thinks he has successfully evaded a prediction of his own death and marries Molly, only to have fate catch up with him. This is a much less satisifying ending, and I suspect it was done as justification for a belief in the occult; this novel reminded me a bit of the works of Marie Corelli, which had similar themes. I don't know anything about the author, J.A. Mitchell, so I don't know if this is correct. The screenplay was written by June Mathis, who wrote several of Valentino's other films, including The Four Horsement of the Apocalypse and Blood and Sand. Perhaps the transformation from the rather mundane book into a presumed exotic spectacle was her idea, though there was an intervening play, about which I know nothing. Since the film is lost, we are left with only this novel and some really intriguing stills to pique our curiosity. |
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| dlhavard |
| Posted: Thu Feb 23, 2006 8:27 am |
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Joined: 24 May 2004
Posts: 1352
Location: Detroit (where the slow are run over)
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Young Raja - Why was it lost? Who lost it?
Inquiring minds!  |
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| Marilyn |
| Posted: Thu Feb 23, 2006 10:12 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 8210
Location: Skokie (not a bad movie, btw)
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This is going to be fun:
The recently restored Beyond the Rocks, starring Gloria Swanson and Rudolph Valentino, will be presented in two afternoon matinees at the Music Box Theatre on March 18 and 19. Show time on both days is 2 p.m. Jay Warren will provide live photoplay accompaniment for both programs. |
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| Nancy |
| Posted: Thu Feb 23, 2006 5:44 pm |
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Marilyn,
I am SOOO envious! I'm waiting for it to come out on DVD, since I know it won't play anywhere around here. Hope you give us a review. |
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| Marilyn |
| Posted: Thu Feb 23, 2006 5:48 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: Skokie (not a bad movie, btw)
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| You'll see one you-know-where. Did I tell you that my cubicle at work is a shrine to Valentino, with photos and a Rudolph Valentino Paper Dolls book Shane bought me? |
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| Nancy |
| Posted: Thu Feb 23, 2006 6:04 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: Norman, OK
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Marilyn wrote: You'll see one you-know-where.
Yes. I'll watch for it.
Quote: Did I tell you that my cubicle at work is a shrine to Valentino, with photos and a Rudolph Valentino Paper Dolls book Shane bought me?
No! How cool! |
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| Nancy |
| Posted: Thu Feb 23, 2006 6:17 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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dlhavard wrote: Young Raja - Why was it lost? Who lost it?
Inquiring minds!
Well, it doesn't seem to have been very good. It's possible that the studio didn't think it was worth preserving. One source indicates that there are a few reels suriving in a private collection. I'd like to see them, even if it's godawful. If I can find out anything more, I'll post. |
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"All in all, it's just another feather in the fan."
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| Nancy |
| Posted: Thu Feb 23, 2006 6:22 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: Norman, OK
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| Of course, the other lost Valentino I'd like to see is A Sainted Devil. Only a few minutes survive of that one. The stills look fascinating. (I'm still trying to catch up on his existing films.) |
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"All in all, it's just another feather in the fan."
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| Nancy |
| Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2006 5:10 pm |
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| Have ordered a copy of Beyond the Rocks, the Elinor Glyn novel on which the formerly-lost Valentino film is based. (At this rate, I might have to break down and actually read Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse someday.) I'll let y'all know how it is. |
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"All in all, it's just another feather in the fan."
Isaacism, 2009 |
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| Marilyn |
| Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2006 6:27 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: Skokie (not a bad movie, btw)
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2006 6:31 pm |
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| I saw it on TV around '58. It was a Saturday afternoon and we only had two channels then. I stuck with the one that kept showing the galloping four horses with the four deadly riders. I think the subtitles were in french. I guess it was the french channel. |
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