BY JOHN M. WHALEN
Kino Classics and the film preservationists at France’s
Lobster Films have dug up three interesting, if obscure, old “classics†that,
if nothing else, definitely would have qualified for presentation on Art Fern’s
old Tea Time Movie skits from Johnny Carson's "Tonight Show". Names like Helen Twelvetrees, William Farnum, J. Farrell
MacDonald, Lowell Sherman, Wade Boteler, Louis Wolheim, and Evelyn Brent appear
in the films gathered together here on one disc under the title, “RKO Classic
Adventures.â€
The first is “The Painted Desert†(1931) starring Helen
Twelvetrees and Bill Boyd (who at this early date had not yet played Hopalong
Cassidy, and went by Bill rather than William). The story starts out as a cross
between John Ford’s “3 Godfathers†and Sam Peckinpah’s “Ballad of Cable Hogue.â€
Cash Holbrook (William Farnum) and Jeff Cameron (J. Farrell MacDonald) are two
cowboys who discover an abandoned wagon in the Arizona desert containing a baby
boy. The two argue over who will take care of him, with Holbrook pulling a gun
on his partner and riding off with the infant. Cameron intends to stay put on
the spot where he found the boy because it’s got the only water between town
and the railroad. Years go by and the two men become bitter enemies. Cameron
married and had a daughter, Mary (Helen Twelvetrees), while Holbrook raised the
boy, now called Bill. You don’t need much imagination to figure out what’s
going to happen with this set up. However, a complication arises, when Clark
Gable, in his first talkie appearance, shows up as a drifter named Rance Brett and
takes a job on Cameron’s spread. He has eyes for Mary. There’s an interesting
subplot regarding a mining operation that unites the two old enemies
temporarily only to have it blow up in their faces, literally.
“The Pay-Off†(1930) is, as Kino’s liner notes say, “a cool-minded
gangster movie directed by and starring Lowell Sherman as an honorable mobster
in a dishonorable racket.†Sherman was a popular star in the silent era and on
stage, often playing suave villains. He directed films starring Katharine
Hepburn and Greta Garbo. In “The Pay-Off,†he’s Gene Fenmore, the head of a
jewelry heist ring. His main problem is keeping control of his gang. His
leadership is being challenged by younger and ruthless rival, Rocky (Hugh
Trevor). Rocky has no scruples about robbing a young couple he accosts in a
park when he learns they have $250 they intend to use to get married. The kids
turn the tables on him however because they recognize him and follow him to
Fenmore’s apartment where the gang is meeting (Pretty nervy of them, I’d say!) The kids bumble the attempt to get
their money back and Rocky wants to waste them but Fenmore has a soft spot for
the youngsters and takes them under his wing. Things go bad when Rocky, unknown
to Fenmore, turns the young couple into the fall guys in a jewelry store heist.
It’s a lot of sentimental hooey from there, but has a certain charm.
“The Silver Horde†takes place in Robert Service
country-- Alaska. There isn’t any one mucking for gold in the Yukon and no Dan
McGrew or a girl named Lou, but there is a girl named Cherry Malotte (Evelyn
Brent), a lady of questionable virtue who has the obligatory heart of gold. She
befriends innocent naif Boyd Emerson (Joel McCrea), a young man who has so far failed
to find his fortune in the North Country. After he and his pard, Fraser
(Raymond Hatton), make their weary way by dog sled to her town where she takes
them in and decides to help them. She sends Boyd and Fraser to Seattle to meet
with a banker friend to obtain the money she and her brutish partner George
Balt (Louis Wolheim) need to start up a Salmon fishery. The big conflict here
comes from the fact there already is a fishery in operation and they don’t want
any competition. There’s also a romantic rivalry between Emerson and Fred Marsh
(Gavin Gordon) the owner of the fishery. The plot of “The Silver Horde†is
devoid of any logic or coherency, since it evolves around the dim-witted
innocence of the McCrea character. Nobody could ever possibly be as dumb as he
is, mistaking the intentions and characters of the two females he becomes
involved with. The best thing about the movie is the Alaskan setting and scenes
showing how a fishery is built as well as the first appearance from the depths
of the ocean of the first Salmon of the season—The Silver Horde.
The films in “RKO Classic Adventures,†have their flaws –
clunky direction, uninspired scripts, and stiff deliveries of the actors still
not quite used to making talkies. In one scene in a nightclub in “The Pay-Offâ€
I’m pretty sure they had the mic hidden in the floral arrangement in the center
of the table. But there is something unique about watching movies nearly 90
years old. They’re not only windows into the world as it was, they’re a tribute
to the pioneers who made them. Kino and Lobster have done a great job of transferring
them to Blu-ray in 1080p and 2.0 Stereo. The picture and sound are much better
than you would expect. If you are interested in the early days of the talkies, it’s
worth checking out.
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John M. Whalen is the author of "Tragon of Ramura".
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