Thanks to Alpha, a really good DVD is now available in which nearly all the acting seems both lively and convincing, and where it can now easily be seen that Clara's magnificent performance is by far her best work in her entire career. We no longer have to rely on a murky, fair-to-middling print of this moody melodrama in which director Frank O'Connor pulls out all the stops to give ALL his players a free hand to connect with the audience. Raymond McKee (soon to achieve fame in Mack Sennett shorts as Jimmy Smith), over-acts and chews up the scenery a bit. Hallam Cooley runs him a close second, whilst Charles Hill Mailes and Winter Hall (and even the actor who plays the police captain) are not far behind. As for Donald Keith, he plays a wet character—and acts accordingly. But it all fits together. That Miss Bow manages to hold her own under this combined assault is a tribute not only to her skill, but her charisma. She has only to look into the camera with her soulful, flashing eyes to quickly register whatever emotions the script requires.
Whatever else, the title "Free to Love", has not a great deal to do with the fast-moving, gloriously melodramatic, expensively produced, cops-and-robbers plot which even contrives at least two or three genuine surprises.
Whatever else, the title "Free to Love", has not a great deal to do with the fast-moving, gloriously melodramatic, expensively produced, cops-and-robbers plot which even contrives at least two or three genuine surprises.