Within Our Gates (1920) Writer/director Oscar Micheaux brought to light racial inequities and concerns that were overlooked by mainstream Hollywood. One prime example, Within Our Gates exposes the myriad ways racism continued to shape and define American society in the early 20th century. Sylvia Landry (Evelyn Preer) a young African American woman, travels from the South (the location is never specified) to Boston in search of funding for a school for disadvantaged black youths. She finds support from an unlikely source. Micheaux strips bare the injustices inherent in a system designed to keep white people on top, but ends his film with hope for a better future.
Rating: ****.
Available on Blu-ray and DVD (in the Pioneers
of African-American Cinema box set)
and Kanopy
The Kid Brother (1927) Harold Lloyd stars as Harold Hickory, the diminutive youngest sibling in a household of lawmen. He discovers a golden opportunity to prove himself when a medicine show rolls into town, and money for a much-needed community project goes missing. While he’s in pursuit of the culprits, he finds the love of his life (Jobyna Ralston), while fending off his mean-spirited archrival (Frank Lanning). The Kid Brother is loaded with gags from start to finish, and features some nifty action sequences (including a confrontation with the crooks on a stranded sailing vessel).
Rating: ****.
Available on Blu-ray and DVD
The Ace of Hearts (1921) Lon Chaney stars as Farralone, a member of a secret anarchist group, intent on assassinating a prominent industrialist. Chaney plays yet another character who experiences unrequited love (but he does it so well). Farralone almost lets his jealousy get the best of him when Lilith (Leatrice Joy), the object of his affections, falls for another co-conspirator (John Bowers). He must reconcile his conflicted emotions over the woman he loves and his fealty to the group. This low-key thriller/romance stands on the strength of Chaney’s sympathetic performance and a tense restaurant scene.
Rating: ***½.
Available on DVD (included in the Lon
Chaney Collection)
The Cameraman (1928) Buster (Buster Keaton) makes a meager living, selling photos on the street corner. His career aspirations change when he meets Sally (Marceline Day) a young woman who works for a newsreel company. Trading in his portrait equipment for a movie camera, he decides to prove his worth as a reporter. Filled with gags aplenty, The Cameraman showcases Keaton’s gift for physical comedy (especially in a scene where he loses his swimsuit in a public pool).
Rating: ***½.
Available on Blu-ray and DVD
The Star Prince (1918) In this charming/creepy fantasy film from writer/director Madeline Brandeis (who was only 21 when she directed the film) The Star Prince (Zoe Ray) arrives on Earth, where he’s raised by a poor family. After he callously sends his birth mother away, a fairy turns the once handsome lad into an ugly wretch. He subsequently embarks on a quest to find his mother and make amends. In the midst of his adventure, he encounters a lonely princess (Dorphia Brown) and a hateful dwarf (John Dorland). One of the unique aspects of this production is that all the characters were played by children, lending to the film’s fairytale quality. Location shots and real animals add to the film’s ambitious scope, although I could have done without the “humorous” scenes featuring some baby bears tethered to a rope.
Rating: ***½.
Available on Blu-ray and DVD (included in the Pioneers: First Women Filmmakers box set)
The Mystic (1925) In this little-seen Tod Browning film, an American con-man (Conway Tearle) convinces a Hungarian traveling medium act, led by the lovely Zara (Aileen Pringle) to travel back with him to the United States. He concocts an elaborate scheme, using props and misdirection to hold phony seances to “reunite” wealthy people with their deceased loved ones. Predictably, his plan eventually backfires. An otherwise fascinating movie is only marred by a disingenuous happy ending.
Rating: ***½.
Available on Blu-ray and DVD (part of the Criterion box set, Tod Browning’s Sideshow Shockers)
