The Shining Adventure (1925) User Reviews

"Shining"? You've got to be kidding! "Ridiculous" would be far more accurate,

[JohnHowardReid · 3/10 · 24 December 2014]

This movie was obviously aimed at very unsophisticated audiences who would not for example question the heroine's gross incompetence in leaving a small child alone in a room with a lighted stove next to an open window with curtains waving in the wind. And this alas is by no means the full measure of our heroine's stupidity. She makes no attempt whatever to get her fair share of the family fortune and is content to work at a menial job while living and bringing up a small child in the slums. So what aspect of this movie is the worst? – that is the question that will test most viewers. Most will probably pick the ridiculously corny, strong on co-incidence and laughably old-hat plot with its sneering villains (both male and female) and admirably noble-hearted good guys (both young and old), but I would put the spotlight on director Hugo Ballin whose studiously old- fashioned direction does nothing to disguise or even distract attention from the script's stalwart heroes (one wonders whatever possessed Percy Marmont to sign up for such a ridiculous role), plus its not over-bright but risk-taking heroine and its equally stupid, totally one-dimensional villains. Available on a very good Grapevine DVD, coupled with Children of All Lands.