Old San Francisco (1927)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Alan Crosland

Writers:

Darryl F. Zanuck (story)
Anthony Coldeway (screenplay)

Release Date:

4 September 1927 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

A Romance of the Days When 'Frisco Was the Paris of America!---The Barbary Coast!---The Fire of 1906!---Massive!---Unprecedented

Plot Keywords:

Racial Stereotype | Male Female Relationship | Thief | Grandfather Grandson Relationship | 1890s

Cast

Dolores Costello	...	Dolores Vasquez
Warner Oland	...	Chris Buckwell
Charles Emmett Mack	...	Terrence O'Shaughnessy (as Chas. E. Mack)
Josef Swickard	...	Don Hernandez de Vasquez
Anders Randolf	...	Michael Brandon (as Anders Randolph)
Angelo Rossitto	...	Chang Loo - the Dwarf (as Angelo Rossita)
Anna May Wong	...	A Flower of the Orient
Lawson Butt	...	Captain Enrique de Solano Y Vasquez - in Prologue
Walter McGrail	...	Vasquez's Grandson Who is Shot - in Prologue
Otto Matieson	...	Vasquez's Second Grandson - in Prologue
Martha Mattox	...	Mother Vasquez - in Prologue
Tom Santschi	...	Captain Stoner - in Prologue

Runtime:

88 min (24 fps)

Country:

USA

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent | Vitaphone (music and sound effects)

Certification:

USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Filming Locations:

San Francisco, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Vitaphone production reels #576-585; 5th Warner Bros. full-length feature to be released with Vitaphone musical accompaniment.

Quotes:

Chris Buckwell: [threatening the heroine, via subtitles, just before the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire] You are the last of your line, my dear. Who will save a Vasquez now?

Movie Connections:

Featured in Thrills from the Past (1954)

Stale When It Was Made.......

This movie was probably a little stale when it was first released in 1927. Dolores Costello is beautiful, but doesn't seem to really be trying to act (from this effort, you can't tell whether she was a good or a bad actress). Oland is sinister but he is only going through the motions of his basic "sinister act". Charles Mack is a typical perky 1920's leading man, but appears just average and generic for the times.

In contrast, the old actor who portrays Costello's grandfather does a great job of overcoming the general flatness of the production and the other stars (in addition to being a very competent actor, he is really trying to emote and you can see the good result). His strong acting contrasts with Costello's no-effort, pretty-smile stroll and makes their scenes together noticeably out of sync for me.

The production values are as good as any high-quality "costume drama" of the era but somehow the writing and the general production has a staleness and lack of originality. Also, the racial slurs are uncomfortable to watch.