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I cannot comment on the film as a whole, but having viewed a surviving trailer I can't say I am anything short of impressed by the technical quality of this very first adaptation of F. Scott Fitsgerald's novel.Bits of scenes are shown, mostly very briefly, intercut with witty and beautifully animated titles. The first scene we get is apparently from the Wilson home, a squalid shack. A long shot shows Myrtle walking in, with a man, presumable William Powell as George, already there. A closer shot shows Myrtle in more detail, and one sees that people other than Chaplin could get a good performance out of the Gold Rush beauty Georgia Hale.Other scenes appear to show the confrontation at the pool, a shot of Lois Wilson (Daisy) and a male actor, undoubtedly one of the two leads, speaking in front of a hedge, and an interior where several people are clearly arguing. There are also numerous shots of Gatsby's pool party, where gaggles of girls (and a few boys) in bathing suits run around outside (and inside) and go diving into the pool. At least the film's most expensive sequence has survived the ravages of time.The casting seems perfect. The male players might sound a little odd to modern viewers (the beloved Thin Man and George Wilson, for instance) but Hale and Wilson, both marvelous and hugely under-appreciated actresses, undoubtedly fit their parts like gloves. The direction and camera placement comes off as stagy. Wardrobe is lush and the interiors of Gatsby's home are superb, as are the beautiful extras populating them.All I want now, providing we can't have the whole film, is a shot of Carmelita Geraghty as Jordan. The casing there seems perfect too. On the whole, a fascinating glimpse at an absent piece of film history.
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