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Prince Wolfram is the betrothed of mad Queen Regina V of Kronberg. Supreme ruler, her word is law and he is a playboy. On maneuvers as punishment for partying with other women, he sees ... See full summary »
After opening a convent in the Himalayas, five nuns encounter conflict and tension - both with the natives and also within their own group - as they attempt to adapt to their remote, exotic surroundings.
When three thuggish men are responsible for the death of his father and the crippling of his brother, young David must choose between supporting his family or risking his life and exacting vengeance.
Director:
Henry King
Stars:
Richard Barthelmess,
Gladys Hulette,
Walter P. Lewis
Henriette and Louise, a foundling, are raised together as sisters. When Louise goes blind, Henriette swears to take care of her forever. They go to Paris to see if Louise's blindness can be... See full summary »
Director:
D.W. Griffith
Stars:
Lillian Gish,
Dorothy Gish,
Joseph Schildkraut
A stenographer who works for a lawyer falls in love with and marries a wealthy young man. His family has the marraige annulled, after which she gives birth to a child. Her former boss helps... See full summary »
Cary, Shep, Bill, and Francis are pilots during World War I. Cary and Shep's plane is shot down, and they barely survive; they're released from the hospital on Armistice Day... See full synopsis »
Director:
William Dieterle
Stars:
Richard Barthelmess,
David Manners,
Johnny Mack Brown
A young woman comes to Hollywood with dreams of stardom, but achieves them only with the help of an alcoholic leading man whose best days are behind him.
At the wedding of Albert and Anna, Karl, the new chauffeur, arrives. Albert is the head butler, second generation to the Baron. Karl soon seems out of place as a servant, and Albert tells ... See full summary »
Sadie Thompson arrives in Pago-Pago to start a new life, but when extremist missionary Davidson lashes out against her lifestyle and tries to force her back to San Francisco, she may lose her second chance. Written by
Mike Myers <mmyers@ucsd.edu>
Stills from the original shoot had to be used to approximate the eight-minute last reel because it had decayed while in storage. See more »
Quotes
Sadie Thompson:
[screaming at Alfred Davidson]
Who gave you the right to pass judgement on me? You psalm-singing louse! You'd tear out you own mother's heart, if she didn't agree with you, and call it saving her soul!
See more »
Gloria Swanson takes hold of the screen and does not for one minute let it go in this adaptation of a W. Somerset Maugham novella about a free-wheeling firecracker (read: prostitute) who comes under the tyranny of a self-appointed reformer (a frightening Lionel Barrymore) in a battle of wills over her salvation. Swanson received a Best Actress Academy Award nomination for her work in the very first year of Oscar's existence. She lost to Janet Gaynor, who was nominated for a trio of performances that first year, but I'm not so sure she shouldn't have won. Raoul Walsh, tough-guy director of later films like James Cagney's "White Heat" (1949), directed "Sadie Thompson" and stars in the film as Sadie's love interest. The whole thing unfolds in a tropical location during a downpour, and it captures the over-heated exotic atmosphere perfectly.
The film's impact is somewhat blunted because of its missing last moments. The version I saw reconstructed the final 10 minutes or so using still shots and title cards; one can only imagine what the actual footage was like. The film has a rather startling conclusion, not because I don't agree with it but rather because a mere ten years later (after enforcement of the Production Code) and for decades after, it wouldn't have been allowed to end the way it does, with Sadie exposing religion as a hypocritical sham and not changing her own racy tendencies one bit.
Grade: B+
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Gloria Swanson takes hold of the screen and does not for one minute let it go in this adaptation of a W. Somerset Maugham novella about a free-wheeling firecracker (read: prostitute) who comes under the tyranny of a self-appointed reformer (a frightening Lionel Barrymore) in a battle of wills over her salvation. Swanson received a Best Actress Academy Award nomination for her work in the very first year of Oscar's existence. She lost to Janet Gaynor, who was nominated for a trio of performances that first year, but I'm not so sure she shouldn't have won. Raoul Walsh, tough-guy director of later films like James Cagney's "White Heat" (1949), directed "Sadie Thompson" and stars in the film as Sadie's love interest. The whole thing unfolds in a tropical location during a downpour, and it captures the over-heated exotic atmosphere perfectly.
The film's impact is somewhat blunted because of its missing last moments. The version I saw reconstructed the final 10 minutes or so using still shots and title cards; one can only imagine what the actual footage was like. The film has a rather startling conclusion, not because I don't agree with it but rather because a mere ten years later (after enforcement of the Production Code) and for decades after, it wouldn't have been allowed to end the way it does, with Sadie exposing religion as a hypocritical sham and not changing her own racy tendencies one bit.
Grade: B+