Complete credited cast: | |||
Gilda Gray | ... | Mabel Greenfield | |
Anna May Wong | ... | Shosho | |
Jameson Thomas | ... | Valentine Wilmot | |
Cyril Ritchard | ... | Victor Smiles (as Cyrill Ritchard) | |
King Hou Chang | ... | Jim (as King Ho Chang) | |
Hannah Jones | ... | Bessie | |
![]() |
Gordon Begg | ... | Coroner |
Harry Terry | ... | Publican | |
![]() |
Debroy Somers and His Band | ... | Band at the Piccadilly Club |
The star attraction of the Piccadilly Club is the dancing team of Mabel and Vic. Victor is infatuated with Mabel, but she rejects his advances, since she is in love with Valentine Wilmot, the club's owner. One night, as Mabel and Vic perform their act, there is a disruption caused by a customer who is unhappy about a dirty plate. When Wilmot goes back to the kitchen to investigate, he finds several employees in the scullery watching Shosho, one of the dishwashers, dancing on a table. That night, Wilmot fires both Shosho and Victor. But the club's sagging fortunes soon lead him to re-evaluate Shosho's talent. Written by Snow Leopard
Piccadilly is one of the most underrated films I have seen and one of the best kept secret of the silent era. Many praise Anna May Wong for her performance, and justifiably so. She steels the scenes from the main actors (Jameson Thomas and Gilda Gray) and turns the film about a story about her character.
But, and this is a big BUT. I think the main star of the film is the Cinematography (by Werner Brandes). It's simply breathtaking and unbelievable "modern". There is a lot of influence from German expressionism (and understandably so since Werner Brandes is German) but it's much more than that. The shots are quite long, for a silent film and the movement of the camera resembles what one would see in films a decade later (It even reminded me in many ways of Tarkovsky). The same goes for the subject but the stile of the film resembles Film Noir.
See this if you like beautiful cinematography. It left me speechless! What a pearl!!!