I've viewed the reconstructed print of 'Curses!'. It's a brilliant effort of reconstitution and detective work, a true labour of love. Still, I wish I'd seen an original print of this film, with its original titles. Why? Because 'Curses!', filmed in 1925, is a parody of those old-style curses-foiled-again melodramas that were lampooned so brilliantly (40 years later) by Dudley Do-Right and his friends. There's a modern tendency to regard the films of the 1920s as hopelessly old-fashioned and clichéd. But 'Curses!' proves that those mossy clichés were already ripe enough to be lampooned in 1925, which makes me wonder precisely how far back they originated.
Al St John (brilliant!) is the Snidely Whiplash-style lip-curling villain who is determined to steal 'the papers' (says an intertitle) from the fair heroine and her elderly father. A handsome swashbuckling hero, who rejoices in the name Rodney Hemingway, is determined to stop him. I regret that I can't identify the actor who plays the hero, whose original billing appears to be lost. He's very nearly as good as St John. At one point, St John calmly ties Rodney to a tree at the bottom of a hill, then gleefully rushes uphill to pester the heroine. No problem: Rodney manfully uproots the tree, then (still tied to it), he calmly trudges uphill, bringing the tree with him!
Of course the villains bring the fair damsel to a sawmill, and tie her to a log on the conveyor belt. 'Now we'll find out what little girls are made of,' cackles St John gleefully. The only surprise here is that they tie her crosswise, when the cliché leads us to expect her to be tied longitudinally. Rodney Hemingway, of course, shows up in the nick of time ... and he manages to free her by a genuinely intelligent ploy.
SPOILER COMING. After such a great build-up, the payoff gag is weak, so I'll give it away. Hero and heroine confront the defeated villain, demanding that he hand over 'the papers'. Reluctantly, he concedes ... and gives them a packet of Rizla cigarette papers! This is likely to elicit a big laugh from any audience members left over from the last 'Reefer Madness' matinée. However, the next shot establishes that St John uses the rolling papers for TOBACCO. Sorry if that disappoints anyone.
The rebuilt version of 'Curses!' is brilliantly funny, and I congratulate the old-time movie lovers who worked so long and hard to fix it up for us. Well done, all! Ten out of 10!
Al St John (brilliant!) is the Snidely Whiplash-style lip-curling villain who is determined to steal 'the papers' (says an intertitle) from the fair heroine and her elderly father. A handsome swashbuckling hero, who rejoices in the name Rodney Hemingway, is determined to stop him. I regret that I can't identify the actor who plays the hero, whose original billing appears to be lost. He's very nearly as good as St John. At one point, St John calmly ties Rodney to a tree at the bottom of a hill, then gleefully rushes uphill to pester the heroine. No problem: Rodney manfully uproots the tree, then (still tied to it), he calmly trudges uphill, bringing the tree with him!
Of course the villains bring the fair damsel to a sawmill, and tie her to a log on the conveyor belt. 'Now we'll find out what little girls are made of,' cackles St John gleefully. The only surprise here is that they tie her crosswise, when the cliché leads us to expect her to be tied longitudinally. Rodney Hemingway, of course, shows up in the nick of time ... and he manages to free her by a genuinely intelligent ploy.
SPOILER COMING. After such a great build-up, the payoff gag is weak, so I'll give it away. Hero and heroine confront the defeated villain, demanding that he hand over 'the papers'. Reluctantly, he concedes ... and gives them a packet of Rizla cigarette papers! This is likely to elicit a big laugh from any audience members left over from the last 'Reefer Madness' matinée. However, the next shot establishes that St John uses the rolling papers for TOBACCO. Sorry if that disappoints anyone.
The rebuilt version of 'Curses!' is brilliantly funny, and I congratulate the old-time movie lovers who worked so long and hard to fix it up for us. Well done, all! Ten out of 10!