The Oscar Project

Sadie Thompson (1928)

A Gloria Swanson Pictures Film. Distributed by United Artists.

Sadie Thompson was a bit of a revelation for me. I went in with little knowledge of the film, bar a flimsy familiarity of the concept (one which is really quite dated). Sadie Thompson, played spectacularly by Gloria Swanson, a woman of questionable background, arrives on the island of Pago-Pago to start a new life. As a base for military men, Sadie enjoys the attentions until local extremist missionary, Davidson, played by Lionel Barrymore, takes issue with it. He lashes out at her with a little too much relish, in a desperate attempt to send her back to San Francisco. It all culminates into a series of pretty intense confrontations.

There’s a lot to like about this film. It deals with some controversial issues for the time – particularly corruption in the church which, at the time, was a pretty big no-no cinematically. Male dominance, patriarchy and controlled sexuality are also portrayed in a negative light. This is done particularly through Davidson’s extreme efforts to quash Sadie, but also in the effect it has on the slew of strong supporting characters, particularly Dr. McPhail (Charles Lane) and Sergeant Tim O’Hara (Raoul Walsh).

The film is held up by some pretty wonderful performances. Gloria Swanson as the title character is a powerhouse performer. She’s alternately flirty, seductive, feisty, angry and vulnerable (plus she has a pretty awesome swagger). She’s a total star in this film and steals every scene she’s in.

Lionel Barrymore as Davidson is great too. He plays a man who’s really on the edge, a missionary with old values in a new world, and Sadie’s provocation (intentional and not) pushes him over it. He becomes crazed, taking a little too much pleasure in his pursuit and then condemnation of Sadie. There’s a stand-out moment where he forces her to kneel in front of him which lends itself to a sexual charge from Barrymore’s Davidson. It’s both beautifully enacted, and really pretty creepy.

The whole film is beautifully shot too, with some wonderful uses of shadow and angles that works together with a pretty compelling script. The film is silent, so dialogue is done only through title cards, but, compared to other films I’ve watched so far, it relies in no small part on lip reading from the audience. Mostly in the fact that Swanson as Sadie swears quite a bit through the film, but as it wasn’t on the title cards, it didn’t affect the censorship during the release.

Unfortunately, the last 8-minute reel of the film is now lost, but the restoration company did a pretty good job piecing it together with remade title cards and stills from the film. You do lose some of the dramatic impact though, because the climactic confrontation is lost. That being said, I could write essays on this film. It’s wonderful and has so much happening for it that makes it feel ahead of its time. It’s a highlight for me from this year.

Rating: 8 / 10

Director: Raoul Walsh

Writers: W. Somerset Maugham & Raoul Walsh

Cast: Lionel Barrymore, Blanch Friderici, Charles Lane & Gloria Swanson

Nominations: Best Actress in a Leading Role & Best Cinematography

The Crowd (1928)

A Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) Film. Distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

This was actually the first film I watched from this year’s Oscars, and I guess was in some ways the film that started me off on this whole thing. It was probably a good thing all in all too – The Crowd is largely regarded as one of the triumphs of silent cinema and, watching it back now, it really still stacks up.

The film wastes no time introducing us to John Sims, who we watch grow from infant to boy to man. As a boy, his father praises him without restraint, telling him that he’ll be something in life, whilst John preens under the praise and yet shows little skill at anything in particular. John’s father dies abruptly when John’s a boy, and the film flashes forwards to John as a young man moving to the city, equally idealistic and full of self-importance. He meets and marries Mary in the space of a few days, and together they have two children whilst John works at a menial job without promotion or recognition.

The film’s focus lies in John, but also in Mary, covering milestones across their lives together and the unravelling of his character from ambitious, big-dreamed and egocentric to ultimately another lost soul in a big city. It’s interesting because for a film pushing 85, it’s thematically still totally relevant. John’s desire to separate himself from the masses and his expectation that this would come to him without ever having to work for it is hugely reflective of society in any age. It embodies the average developed-world man who grows up being told he’s special only to realise, ultimately, that he’s not. Of course it’s not just that. The film is a study in loss and grief, of the turbulence of a marriage built on unsteady foundations; it’s about shifting self-image and changing self-worth, and in all of these ways thematically it succeeds.

It’s melodramatic, sure, but it’s got a lot going for it that kind of lets you forgive that. The cinematography for one is gorgeous and photographic; the performances all wonderful, and the score (created in 1981 by composer, Carl Davis) does wonderful things at capturing the shifting moods of the film. This one is definitely worth the watch.

Rating: 8.5 / 10

Director: King Vidor

Writers: King Vidor & John V.A. Weaver

Cast: Eleanor Boardman, James Murray & Bert Roach

Nominations: Best Director, Dramatic Picture & Best Picture, Unique & Artistic Production.