quiet_curiosity (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
quiet_curiosity) wrote2009-04-17 05:02 pm
quiet_curiosity) wrote2009-04-17 05:02 pm
Entry tags:
Piccadilly (1929)
Summary: Mabel, with dance partner Victor, was the toast of the Piccadilly Club. But with Victor gone and the club languishing, her boss/lover, Wilmot, hires on former scullery worker Shosho to dance. Shosho's eventual performing acclaim sends everyone's life into tailspin, particularly Mabel as she feels the immanent loss of her job and lover.
Stars: Gilda Gray, Anna May Wong, Jameson Thomas, Cyril Ritchard, King Hou Chang
Director: E.A. Dupont
Viewed Via: DVD/Netflix
Current Commercial Availability: Piccadilly (R1 - Milestone/Image)
1) You will not watch the dancing, particularly from Mabel and Victor, and believe that the club was able to pull in customers on the dancing alone. My god were they terrible. They were mostly out of step and randomly flailing around in clothes that were much too loose (more about this later). When Victor said that he and Mabel could make it on Broadway, I laughed out loud. There were/are nameless dancers in the chorus line with more talent and certainly more deserving of a shot at more glowing career than two hacks who can barely keep from falling over.
2) The pacing is terrible. It takes much too long for the story to get going. The first thirty or so minutes is spent setting up the characters and giving a bit of local color. And this would have been fine if it didn't feel like it was dragging. Most of the characters end up seeming very dull and uninteresting. Some things are set up to pay off later in the movie but I couldn't help but feel that a better director/tighter script would have been able to keep those things in without having the move bog down in boredom.
3) The acting, for the most part, is neither particularly good or bad. It just sort of exists. The main exception, and, if we're honest, the main reason anyone watches this movie, is Anna May Wong. She is occasionally able to rise out of the movie's malaise and give an interesting performance. But I couldn't help but watch her and feel as if the movie was holding her down. While this film isn't as bogged down by the racial stereotypes that pigeonholed Wong for most of her film career, it doesn't offer her a great deal of complexity with which to work either.
4) The score is somewhat monotonous and, on occasion, feels inappropriate (ex: Shosho's performance). It didn't engage the movie at all.
5) The clothing, especially on the women, didn't seem to fit well. Wong makes out better in this department with only a few outfits appearing to be off (too loose or too tight). But Gilda Gray (Mabel) is often hampered by clothes that just seemed to hang off of her in weird places. It made her look more sloppy and ragged than her character would lead you to believe.
Overall, I found the movie disappointing and agitating.
Stars: Gilda Gray, Anna May Wong, Jameson Thomas, Cyril Ritchard, King Hou Chang
Director: E.A. Dupont
Viewed Via: DVD/Netflix
Current Commercial Availability: Piccadilly (R1 - Milestone/Image)
1) You will not watch the dancing, particularly from Mabel and Victor, and believe that the club was able to pull in customers on the dancing alone. My god were they terrible. They were mostly out of step and randomly flailing around in clothes that were much too loose (more about this later). When Victor said that he and Mabel could make it on Broadway, I laughed out loud. There were/are nameless dancers in the chorus line with more talent and certainly more deserving of a shot at more glowing career than two hacks who can barely keep from falling over.
2) The pacing is terrible. It takes much too long for the story to get going. The first thirty or so minutes is spent setting up the characters and giving a bit of local color. And this would have been fine if it didn't feel like it was dragging. Most of the characters end up seeming very dull and uninteresting. Some things are set up to pay off later in the movie but I couldn't help but feel that a better director/tighter script would have been able to keep those things in without having the move bog down in boredom.
3) The acting, for the most part, is neither particularly good or bad. It just sort of exists. The main exception, and, if we're honest, the main reason anyone watches this movie, is Anna May Wong. She is occasionally able to rise out of the movie's malaise and give an interesting performance. But I couldn't help but watch her and feel as if the movie was holding her down. While this film isn't as bogged down by the racial stereotypes that pigeonholed Wong for most of her film career, it doesn't offer her a great deal of complexity with which to work either.
4) The score is somewhat monotonous and, on occasion, feels inappropriate (ex: Shosho's performance). It didn't engage the movie at all.
5) The clothing, especially on the women, didn't seem to fit well. Wong makes out better in this department with only a few outfits appearing to be off (too loose or too tight). But Gilda Gray (Mabel) is often hampered by clothes that just seemed to hang off of her in weird places. It made her look more sloppy and ragged than her character would lead you to believe.
Overall, I found the movie disappointing and agitating.