I'm In Love With Illusions

Summary: Jerry Seevers comes back from WWI injured physically (doctors offer him a bleak long-term prognosis) and emotionally (his fiancee gets cold feet). And so he decides to spend his last few months drinking and bonding with escorts. He hits it off with one of these women and, on a particularly drunken night, decides to marry her. The light of day shows him what a horrible idea that was and he tries to convince her to annul. She loves him and refuses to do so. He flees out to the family ranch in Arizona. She is right on his tail, ready to make this marriage work.

Starring: John Gilbert, Lois Moran, El Brindel, Ralph Bellamy, Madge Evans, Frank Conroy, Hedda Hopper, Willie Fung
Directed by: Harry Beaumont

Viewed Via: TCM/DVR
Current Commercial Availability: Unavailable

( Of course I want a divorce. Everybody wants a divorce. That's what marriage is for. )

Should you see this movie? No. It would help you understand the kind of parts that aided in the destruction of John Gilbert's career, but you'd be better off just hearing about how much it sucked than actually witnessing it for yourself.

Summary: A tale of two families - one who wasted away their money and another who held on to it with an iron grip. Lives are shaken when the suddenly poor cousin moves in their home from the city. An unlikely romance blooms between the two young cousins as the father uses the young man's situation to his own benefit.

Starring: Alice Terry, Rudolph Valentino, Ralph Lewis, Edna Demaurey,
Directed by: Rex Ingram

Viewed Via: TCM/DVR (soon to be a tag of the past)
Current Commercial Availability: Unavailable

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Summary: Dumas' story is transposed to the Paris of the roaring 20s. Marguerite is still the tubercular belle of the party and Armand is still the lovelorn puppy who longs to save her. While they find happiness for a time, forces outside of their control threaten to tear their bond asunder.

Starring: Alla Nazimova, Rudolph Valentino, Rex Cherryman, Arthur Hoyt, Zeffie Tilbury, Patsy Ruth Miller, Elinor Oliver, William Orlamond, Consuelo Flowerton
Directed by: Ray C. Smallwood

Viewed Via: TCM/DVR
Current Commercial Availability: Camille (1937) (as an extra feature)(Warner Home Video R1)

( OMG OMG OMG )

Don't go into this movie looking for romance. Don't go into this movie looking for classic performances. Check it out for the excellent design sensibility and the out-there end.

First Impressions Master List

Summary: Two families in Argentina - one with a German parent and the other with a French parent - return to the fathers' homelands after the death of the patriarch. One succeeds in the interim and one bumbles along on caprice. But World War I forces the families to take sides.

Starring: Pomeroy Cannon, Josef Swickard, Bridgetta Clark, Rudolph Valentino, Virginia Warwick, Alice Terry, Alan Hale, Mabel Van Buren, Stuart Holmes, John St. Polis, Derek Ghent, Nigel de Brulier, Wallace Beery
Directed by: Rex Ingram

Viewed Via: TCM/DVR
Current Commercial Availability: Unavailable

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It's a good looking film with fine performances. But don't be surprised when you can't buy into the much praised anti-war themes.

Master List of Posts on Silent Films

Summary: A law student becomes an outlaw French revolutionary when he decides to avenge the unjust killing of his friend (swiped from the IMDB write-up).

Starring: Ramon Novarro, Alice Terry, Lewis Stone, Julia Swayne Gordon, Lloyd Ingraham, William Humphrey, Otto Matieson, George Siegmann, James A. Marcus, Edith Allen
Directed by: Rex Ingram

Viewed Via: TCM/DVR
Current Commercial Availability: Warner Archive DVD-R Program

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Overall, I really loved it. It looked good and it was well acted.

Summary: Young Gwen feels neglected by her wealthy parents and constrained by her unfeeling supervisors. When disaster strikes, everyone must decide what does and doesn't matter in their lives.

Stars: Mary Pickford, Madlaine Traverse, Charles Wellesley, Gladys Fairbanks, Frank McGlynn, Sr.
Directed by: Maurice Tourneur

Viewed Via: TCM/DVR
Current commercial Availability: Currently unavailable

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I had my issues with the film but I still enjoyed it. If you can get over one little detail, you might as well.

Summary: Arden Stuart wants to live an honest life. But that honesty couldn't save a lover from death by his own hand. Her next strike at love ends when the man in question insists they break up to preserve their moment of pure bliss. So Arden settles for the dependable Tommy. But can Arden resist when her previous love comes back into the picture?

Stars: Greta Garbo, Nils Asther, Johnny Mack Brown, Dorothy Sebastian, Lane Chandler, Mahlon Hamilton, Kathlyn Williams, Zeffie Tilbury
Directed by:John S. Robertson

Viewed Via: TCM/DVR
Current Commercial Availability: Warner Archive DVD-R Program

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Skip it...just skip it.

Summary: Willie McKay returns to his ancestral abode to claim his inheritance. But before leaving, his aunt tells him of the Canfield/McKay family feud and warns him to stay away from the Canfield family. As luck would have it, Willie happens to (unintentionally) fall head over heals for their daughter. While inside their home, the Canfields treat Willie to their Southern hospitably. But the feud threatens to start up again the moment he steps outside. And Willie will do whatever it takes to woo the girl and stay alive.

Stars: Buster Keaton, Natalie Talmadge, Joe Roberts, Ralph Bushman, Craig Ward, Monte Collins, Joe Keaton, Buster Keaton Jr.
Directed by: Buster Keaton and John G. Blystone

Viewed Via: TCM/VCR
Current Commercial Availability: Sherlock Jr./Our Hospitality (R1 - Kino International); Soon to be released on Blu-Ray (Kino International)

( Let's Talk )

While not my favorite Keaton, I enjoyed it.

Summary: John Woolfolk lost his wife in a freak accident. Afterwards, he decides that he will never fall in love again. But he, by chance, drops anchor off a secluded Southern island and is drawn into the travails of a paranoid old man and his beautiful granddaughter.

Stars: Frank Mayo, Virginia Valli, Ford Sterling, Nigel De Brulier, Charles A. Post
Directed by: King Vidor

Viewed Via: TCM/DVR
Current Commercial Availability: Warner Archive DVD-R Program

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It is, generally, a lovely film, but try to forgive the undercranked end.