Flesh and Blood (1922)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Irving Cummings

Writers:

Louis D. Lighton (story)
Louis D. Lighton (scenario)

Release Date:

27 August 1922 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A convict hiding in Chinatown assumes the identity of a cripple to track down a businessman who framed him 15 years previously. He discovers that his daughter has fallen in love with the businessman's son. |

Cast

Lon Chaney	...	David Webster
Edith Roberts	...	The Angel Lady
Noah Beery	...	Li Fang
DeWitt Jennings	...	Detective Doyle
Ralph Lewis	...	Fletcher Burton
Jack Mulhall	...	Ted Burton
Togo Yamamoto	...	The Prince
Kate Price	...	Landlady
Wilfred Lucas	...	The Policeman

Runtime:

74 min

Country:

USA

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Certification:

USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Company:

Irving Cummings Productions

Trivia:

A brief sequence in the middle of the picture is been said to have sown with color tints. This effect has not survive in existing prints.

David Wester's Mild Vengeance

It is well-know for centuries that the aristocracy have little moods and bouts of indecisiveness; characteristics that are even more pronounced if those aristocrats are Germans (like this Count who besides being German is also Teutonic). Anyway, these contradictions assaulted this German Count while watching "Flesh And Blood," a film directed by Herr Irving Cummings in the silent year of 1922, starring the great Amerikan actor Herr Lon Chaney.

The film depicts the story of a poor lawyer ( first contradiction or a German pun? ), David Wester ( Lon Chaney ) wrongfully incarcerated for a crime he didn't commit, his conviction being the fault of a businessman, Fletcher Burton ( Ralph Lewis ) Wester escapes from jail to seek revenge on Burton.

However, aristocrat David Wester's vengeance is very soft and mild ( the convict will back down from his purpose for the sake of his daughter who is engaged to his enemy's son ) and because finally the stolen money will be used to build one of those Catholic ( not Lutherans ) missions and what's more, Wester's daughter does good works there!!… isn't that enough punishment?...

Another German contradiction for this German count is that even though Wester spent 15 years in jail unjustly, he finally will not be able to clear his name and will passively return to prison; This means the bad ones wins over the honest people; of course that's what may happen in real life, even in the aristocratic life… Herr Lon Chaney plays one of those villains with a noble heart, a good and sensitive man, certainly but not very ingenious, because when he was hidden in Chinatown in order to go unnoticed he disguises himself as a cripple, a kind of contortionist in crutches instead of wearing one of those typical Chinese garments. The last German contradiction: the detective Doyle ( DeWitt Jennings ) only seems able to spot Chaney's accomplice, Herr Li Fang ( Noah Beery ).

And now, if you'll allow me, I must temporarily take my leave because this German Count feels contrary.

Herr Graf Ferdinand Von Galitzien http://ferdinandvongalitzien.blogspot.com/