Weekend of Rare Films Draws Crowd

As snow cover continued to melt and river levels rose, film buffs, historians, and collectors from across the U.S. and Canada descended upon Syracuse NY for the 29th consecutive year last weekend to watch movies at the “Cinefest” film convention. In all, there were 32 features, 19 shorts, and several trailers screened (and I managed to see all of them!). Original release dates ranged from 1915 to about 1963, with most from the 1920s and 30s. Very few are available on video or even on cable TV.

As usual with this many films, whether intentionally or unintentionally, several recurring themes emerged, as well as many repeat appearances by several stars and directors. More than one film had a parent requiring a daughter to marry a rich man she didn’t love to save the family fortune, and class conflict in various other forms. Two films were set in colonial India. There were three films directed by Frank Borzage and three by Michael Curtiz. Several features were unfortunately missing one or more reels due to decomposition, but surviving footage was screened due to their interest and rarity.

One of the most entertaining films on the schedule was “The Perfect Specimen” (1937), a fun screwball comedy starring Errol Flynn as a sheltered rich boy who decides to go wild with working-class Joan Blondell. Two silents by Frank Borzage were other highlights of the weekend. “Back Pay” (1922) is a well-done if somewhat drawn-out tearjerker of a small-town girl who leaves her loyal but poor boyfriend for the fast life and rich lovers of the big city, but has regrets after he is severely wounded in the war. “The Circle” (1925) is a slightly watered-down but still effective version of a Somerset Maugham play dealing with the parallel affairs of two generations in a wealthy family, in which a young wife prefers a more free-spirited boyfriend to her stuffy, traditional husband (and the wife of their son has similar tendencies).

“Less than the Dust” (1916) is an unusual variation on superstar Mary Pickford’s plucky young girl formula, casting her as an orphan raised as the daughter of a native sword-maker in India, falling in love with the dashing British officer who is charged with putting down the Hindu revolutionaries led by her stepfather. Unfortunately the ending is lost, but at least the major plot conflicts are resolved in the surviving version.

Pickford’s sister Lottie proved herself an effective actress in her own right in “They Shall Pay” (1921), a well-plotted (and eerily timely) revenge melodrama of a girl who sets out to destroy the three former business partners that had swindled her father on Wall Street and unjustly sent him to prison.

“One More River” (1934) is a handsomely mounted and sensitively acted screen version of the John Galsworthy novel, directed by James Whale (whose “Bride of Frankenstein” used the same sets the next year). Whale makes the very talky story into compelling cinema with a blend of powerful camera compositions, moving camera, and relatively rapid cutting for the period.

Michael Curtiz’s second American film, “A Million Bid” (1927) is even more impressive for its amazing use of the camera, including numerous subjective point of view shots, multiple-exposures, and artfully distorted images. To please her mother (Betty Blythe), beautiful Dolores Costello reluctantly marries domineering millionaire Warner Oland, though she loves struggling doctor Malcolm McGregor. When Oland is lost in a shipwreck, she marries the doctor, only to discover Oland has survived with amnesia and her husband, not knowing who he is, is anxious to cure him with experimental surgery.

“Safety in Numbers” (1930) is a breezy, enjoyable “precode” romantic comedy with songs starring Charles “Buddy” Rogers as the soon to be heir to a fortune who would rather pursue a career as a Broadway songwriter. His wealthy uncle allows him to learn the ropes in New York if he’ll stay in the penthouse of three female “friends” of his under their guardianship. He’s shocked to discover that instead of stuffy old maiden ladies, they turn out to be beautiful chorus girls well-schooled in the ways of the world and how to live luxuriously during the Depression. Of course he falls in love with one of them and all three are attracted to him. The film is also notable for a prominent bit role by Fargo’s own Virginia Bruce, and as the picture that reopened Grand Forks’ Empire Theatre after it was remodeled into the “Paramount” in 1930.

“Paddy, the Next Best Thing” (1933) is a nice romantic comedy set in Ireland and starring sprightly Janet Gaynor as the younger sister of Margaret Lindsay, both of whom have trouble deciding whether they love or hate rich Warner Baxter for his ability to save their debt-ridden father (Walter Connolly).

“The Boys from Syracuse” (1940) is a delightful musical-comedy version of Shakespeare’s “Comedy of Errors” but loaded with intentionally anachronistic and very topical socio-political satire on government, democracy, and international relations.

“White Gold” (1927) is a very slow starting but ultimately powerful drama of a young sheep rancher whose city girl wife is despised by his narrow-minded father and lusted after by a new hired hand.

“The Desert Song” (1929) was originally a huge hit as one of the first “all-talking, all-singing, all-dancing” films of the sound era, but the far-fetched Sig Romberg operetta is now high camp that is equivalent to “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” in its ridiculous plot, dialogue, and performances. Still, it has some catchy music and striking outdoor photography.

Closing out the festival was “Westbound Limited” (1937), a predictable but wonderfully made railroad melodrama about a telegraph operator whose valiant attempt to foil a robbery results in a missed train message that causes a disastrous collision. Convicted of manslaughter, he escapes to live as a wandering hobo with a bitter attitude towards the railroad, until coming across an ailing old telegraph operator and his beautiful daughter.

Festivals like the Syracuse Cinefest are often the only way to see most of the films screened, and are held periodically throughout the year in various cities. Memorial Day Weekend is the next major one, the “Cinevent” in Columbus, OH, with others scheduled in the summer and fall. They are well worth the expense to attend for anyone interested in the golden years of moviemaking.