| Nottingham Silent Film Festival (pt1) : The Constant Nymph [8/10], The Alley Cat [7/10], etc |
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 DAY ONE : Thursday 6th April : The Constant Nymph, Weekend Wives DAY TWO : Friday 7th April : The Skin Game, The Alley Cat (nb: coverage of final two days can be found here) THE CONSTANT NYMPH : [8/10] : UK 1928 : Adrian BRUNEL* : 110mins (timed) : projected on video; accompanist Philip Carli (piano) STORY : Mildly melodramatic tale of gifted composer Lewis Dodd (Ivor Novello), who has learned his craft from forbidding, vaguely Wagnerish genius Sanger (Georg Heinrich). Sanger's spirited daughter Tessa (Mabel Poulton), who was Lewis's "playmate" in their youth, realises she has fallen in love with him when he pays an extended visit to the family's elaborate, secluded residence in the Tyrol (during which Sanger unexpectedly expires.) Lewis, however, is too caught up in his own creative processes to recognise Tessa's passion. Indeed, he even goes so far as to marry another woman: Florence (Frances Doble), a bourgeois Londoner who, we're told resides in a 'tasteful' Chiswick abode, and is determined to make Lewis a star. Lewis duly achieves success - but realises, perhaps too late, that he can find true happiness only with Tessa.. PLUSSES : Poulton is simply terrific - expressive, sympathetic, glowing with joie de vivre. Very easy to see why she was considered one of the two biggest female draws in 1920s UK cinema (vied with Betty Balfour for the title of 'Britain's Mary Pickford'). While outshone by his co-star, Novello shows why he was such a major matinee idol: persona here is quite close to the Jeremy Northam portrayal in Gosford Park, especially a scene in which he escapes a stuffy soiree (whose guests include a vivacious Elsa Lanchester, her red-haired effervescence evident even in silent monochrome) to hang out with and entertain the servants below stairs. Broad but enjoyable turn from Mary Clare as Sanger's blowsy, trampy gold-digger of a wife, who wastes no time making a new start (with a new man) after her husband's untimely demise. Director Brunel skilfully negotiates the niftily-structured screenplay's shifts between comedy, drama and final-reel tragedy - the latter perhaps predictable, but still quite stunningly moving (especially after the light-heartedness of so much of what's gone before). Brunel contributes some nice artistic flourishes - dollied camerawork, an imaginative use of intertitles (some of which 'fade' onto the image). Script (see below) is packed with amusing and intelligent dialogue, draws convincing portrait of artistic/bohemian milieux - and how the correct environment is crucial for the development of the human spirit (we begin in the wide-open expanses of the mountainous Tyrol; conclude in a claustrophobically Stygian Low-Countries hotel). Picture is very strong on how true artists must reject the trappings of comfort (the "silver sty" as Lewis puts it) in order to be true to themselves and their creative vision. Respectability is presented as the foe of genuine Art - which is much more likely to thrive among irreverence, humour and a general puncturing of pretentiousness. Daringly, film also indicates that artists aren't necessarily nice people, their callousness in human relations exacting a huge price from their those who (foolishy?) love them. MINUSES : Minor quibbles. Although the focus of the picture, short-sighted Lewis comes across as a bit of a clod - perhaps even a cad - undeserving of the affections of his 'constant nymph' Tessa. Or should that be 'nymphet'? 21st century audiences may look askance at the age-gap between Lewis (clearly an adult) and Tessa, who in the second half of the picture is shown attending school - but her precise age is kept (deliberately) vague, sufficiently so to dilute any hint of 'impropriety.' NOTES : Sanger's Tyrolean residence looks - appropriately enough - rather like artist Balthus's 'Grand Chalet'. Novello resembles Gabriel Byrne from certain angles; more like Harold Lloyd when he puts his glasses on. Material started off as a novel by Margaret Kennedy, who then collaborated with Basil Dean on the very successful play adaptation - in turn adapted for the screen by director Brunel, along with Kennedy and Alma Reville (later famed for her collaborations with Alfred Hitchcock). Some sources list Dean as co-director. ----- WEEKEND WIVES : [7/10] : aka Week-End Wives : UK 1928 : Harry LACHMAN : 86m (timed) : projected from celluloid; accompanist Neil Brand (piano) STORY : French-set bedroom-farce: convoluted, high-speed chronicle of marital deceptions and false identities as two Parisian couples decamp (though not with their own 'other halves') to 'naughty' seaside resort of Deauville where all manner of complications ensue. Convoluted, but just about followable if audience is on their toes: tangles are enjoyable rather than baffling. PLUSSES : Tone of amiable daftness prevails, as when a vengeful-husband (who happens to be a bit of a sharpshooter) proves able to plug the three clubs on a playing-card tossed high into the air. Broad stuff, but the dialogue and double-entendres retain their sparkle ("What's the double meaning of this?" is the script's key line). Directed with a light, confident touch from the full-tilt, storm-and-argument-in-full-swing opening sequence (capped with a zinger of a line: " - and that's how he treated me" - which reveals the sequence to have been a subjective flashback). Cast uniformly get what director Lachman is after, with jovial satyr-like turn from star comic Monty Banks as randy chap-about town. Nicely contrasted with Jameson Thomas as long-suffering patrician lawyer - he gets a running gag about fried eggs (including a priceless dissolve-shot into his eyes) that underlines the British feel of this supposedly Gallic romp. The men have most to do, but this is really a woman's world: opulent boudoirs, chauffeur-driven cars, a fancy fashion-shop complete with floor show (not to mention a cameo from Ernest Thesiger - sporting black hair!) Risque camerawork in the fashion-show including one voyeuristic shot from under the floor through a glass panel on which the model stands - any erotic charge instantly defused by the jaded yawn of the revolve-operating mechanic. Cheerfully 'naughty' atmosphere: bouncy, savvy, sexy stuff, carried off with a nudge and a wink MINUSSES : You'd need a hard heart to cavil. Frothy fare, undeniably insubstantial as nourishment ... but very tasty as entertainment. NOTES : Monty Banks later became best known for his real-life role as 'Mr Gracie Fields'. ------------------- THE SKIN GAME : [5/10] : aka Hard tegen hard : UK (UK/Neth) 1921 : B E DOXAT-PRATT : 105m (timed) : projected from celluloid; accompanist Gunther Buchwald (piano) STORY : Post-WWI clash of old money and new is played out in a small town (or is it a large village) on the Worcestershire/Staffordshire border. Potteries are expanding, and the owner Hornblower (Edmund Gwenn) has his eye on land abutting the local squire's manor as the next location for his smoke-belching chimneystacks. The squire, Hillcrist (Dawson Millward), discovers that Hornblower's daughter-in-law (Mary Clare) has a very shady past - and must decide whether the protection of his ancestral home is more important than his own morals... PLUSSES : Intriguing dramatisation of a historic "moment," when the old order of British society was coming under increasing pressure by the forces of 'modernity'. In effect: benevolent feudalism vs brutish capitalism (the Squire's tenant-farmers the Jackmans are caught in the middle, hapless pawns). Hillcrist is tall and distinguished-looking, but ailing and visibly knackered - Hornblower is all impish energy, willing to bend the rules in order to grab what he wants. Moral: "new money" doesn't know how to "play the game" - their rough tactics bring the gentry down to their level. But relations between the two men's children are rather more pleasant - hinting that Old and New might soon be able to work (and live) together rather than feuding. Gwenn adds much-needed pep, though the most screen-dominating turn comes from Clare (a neat counterpoint to her rather more assertive work in The Constant Nymph - see above). MINUSSES : Neither 'side' seems especially sympathetic. Picture is way too long at 100 minutes - director Doxat-Pratt seems content to simply film the play, with minimal "opening-out". Result is an excess of talky indoor scenes, with only brief excursions to the scenic environs. Actors position themselves in a 'stagey' fashion beneath an invisible proscenium arch. Creaky development, heavily reliant on intertitles to tell the tale. Unsatisfactory, typically-protracted, melodramatic conclusion with a key character throwing self off high precipice. Heavy going all round. NOTES : First filming of 1920 play by John Galsworthy, later adapted for the screen several more times including a 1931 version by Alfred Hitchcock in which Edmund Gwenn and Helen Haye reprise their roles as Mr Hornblower and Mrs Hillcrist. Title (which repeatedly crops up in the dialogue) is nothing to do with golf - it's archaic slang for a swindle or a no-holds-barred, lawless encounter, though this is (unfortunately) never spelled out in the picture itself. ----- THE ALLEY CAT : [7/10] : aka Nachtgestalten : UK (UK/Ger) 1929 : Hans STEINHOFF : 79m (timed) : projected from celluloid; accompanist Stephen Horne (piano) STORY : Comedy-crime-thriller-melodrama-musical hops between London's East End (Limehouse) and West End (Theatreland). Songwriter Jimmy Ryce (Jack Trevor), believing he has killed a man in a scuffle, hides out in the opium dens of Whitechapel where he befriends a plucky Cockney-sparrer (Mabel Poulton, from The Constant Nymph). PLUSSES : Enjoyably berserk stuff - feels like actors are just making it up as they go along. Another outstanding turn from Poulton, here playing a character rather close to herself (career hit the skids when sound exposed her East End accent to public scrutiny): impresses with her range, which includes physical comedy (a dance up an on-stage flight of steps a particular highlight - all the theatre stuff is eyepoppingly opulent). Great spirit from the petite actress, who here resembles a very young Queen Mum. Proto-Hitchcockian transference-of-guilt theme. Economic, efficient direction from Steinhoff: begins in rousingly torrid fashion mid-fight. Plenty of brio as various plots and characters entangle - nearly everyone on view a vivid personality in some way, including a Patrick MacGoohanish turn from Clifford McLaglen (brother of the more famous Victor) as the brutal, hulking Beck. Even the dog who regularly pops up is frenziedly hyperactive - whatever the canine (a 'mutt' witness to the central homicide) had been eating, it seems the scriptwriter supped from a similar bowl. Full of agreeably abrupt cuts (and shifts between High Life and Low Life). Ends with thrillingly full-tilt Limehouse shootout. Great fun from start to finish. MINUSSES : Trevor a somewhat colourless 'hero.' Plot relies perhaps a fraction too heavily on crazy coincidence. Racial dodginess (see below). NOTES : Steinhoff later blotted his copybook in rather spectacular fashion by becoming an enthusiastic Nazi - his reputation (understandably) never recovered. Little sign of such tendencies here, although in the light of his later activities the presentation of the Limehouse "Chinks" is somewhat iffy - several scenes of their leering faces, sinisterly lit from below. Prefigures (kind of) legendary Dr Who adventure The Talons of Weng-Chiang. Pic was at one point set to be Britain's first talkie, but this plan was abandoned allowing Hitchcock's Blackmail to claim that honour. Neil Young 15th May 2006 all films seen at the Broadway Cinema, Nottingham, at the 2006 British Silent Cinema Festival. Click here for roundup of the event written for Tribune magazine. |
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