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Reviews
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1962)
Interesting though lacking the necessary passion
The 1962 remake of THE FOUR HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE is remembered as a major misstep. Riding on the coattails of the successful 1959 remake of BEN-HUR, MGM hoped dusting off another hit from the silent era would reap gold. Instead it reaped bad reviews and red ink.
I won't argue FOUR HORSEMEN is a great movie. Glenn Ford is way too old and passionless in a role a 26-year old Rudolph Valentino made iconic in the 1921 original. Ford also shares no chemistry with Ingrid Thulin, who is also overly reserved in a role that should sparkle more. That the forbidden love between these two is a major part of the film when it fails so badly is not ideal. The ending is abrupt and the story seems to run out of steam by the end,
However, director Vincente Minnelli still brings a lot of strong visual interest to the film and the epic family drama is still handled well. In some cases, there is more depth and nuance to the supporting characters than in the 1921 film. Julio's German cousin is as motivated by jealously of Julio's lifestyle as he is by nationalism. Chi Chi is now a resistance fighter. The Andre Previn score is glorious, often supplying the passion Ford and Thulin don't provide.
It's a decent epic, though it could have been a stellar one with stronger casting and a tighter script.
The Drums of Love (1928)
Long-forgotten Griffith melodrama
I've been wanting to see THE DRUMS OF LOVE for years now. It's one of DW Griffith's more obscure features and a very late one in his career. From what I have read, it didn't make much of a hit at the time and it's never received a major home media release. The only copy I could track down looked like it was taped from a TV broadcast and the intertitles were in Spanish. Some jumpy editing towards the end also suggests some footage is missing.
As it is, DRUMS OF LOVE doesn't much feel like a Griffith film. It eschews his usual tropes, save for Mary Philbin skipping about with a puppy in her introductory scene. The story is essentially a South American riff on the Francesca de Rimini incident, with a beautiful woman being killed by her jealous husband after he discovers she's been carrying on with his handsome brother. Here the husband is a hunchbacked Lionel Barrymore and the brother is played by Don Alvarado, who comes off like a Valentino lite in this.
Barrymore steals the show from his co-stars, who do little more than look pretty and paw each other. Philbin was a limited actress, but she's smolders a bit here in a way I've never seen her do in any other role.
Really, Griffith's style is nowhere to be seen. I see all these reviews calling the film dated for the period, but it just feels very handsome but by the numbers. If I hadn't known this was a Griffith film, I would not have been able to tell it was. The story is thin and drags a lot. The characters are uninteresting and the best I can say is that some of the visuals are striking.
I do have to wonder if a clearer, more complete print and not having to stop the movie to put the Spanish intertitles into Google Translate would make for a better experience though. Silent films can live or die on their presentation. I can imagine this going from meh to mildly pleasant under better viewing circumstances.
The Girls and Daddy (1909)
A bizarrely titled home invasion thriller
With a title like THE GIRLS AND DADDY, you would probably expect a heartwarming, gooey family film and not a home invasion flick with racist overtones, but here we are.
THE GIRLS AND DADDY is about two teenage girls left home alone who find themselves at the mercy of two burglars, one white and one black. The white one is moved by their fresh innocence and ceases his attempted robbery. The black one (played in blackface) is not so swayed and seems to have more than burglary on the brain, in the usual DW Griffith villain fashion.
The fine details of the story are unclear from the surviving print. I had to consult the short's entry in The Griffith Project to see what I missed-- apparently the girls are reaching out to their grandmother to help their impoverished father. The money coveted by the crooks was from the grandmother.
Visually, the film has some striking moments. Rather than cross-cutting between the villains and would-be victims, Griffith keeps all the action in single frames. The one moment that stands out involves the teen girls hiding behind a door while the black burglar tries breaking it down. Rather than cutting from one side of the door to the other, both are kept in frame, creating a split screen effect.
Historically-- both as a document of early cinema and as a snapshot of the casual racism of the era-- THE GIRLS AND DADDY is fascinating, but it's certainly no masterpiece. But if you're a student of film history, definitely check it out.
The Usurer's Grip (1912)
A solid social drama
I just heard about this Edison produced social drama this morning while reading film historian JB Kaufman's Movie of the Month column. THE USURER'S GRIP is a socially conscious melodrama about a family fallen on hard times who find themselves preyed upon by the money lenders they went to for financial salvation. There's a fair amount of Griffith influence in the staging of the scenes, as well as the more subtle style of playing by the actors.
The standout performance is Charles Ogle (of Frankenstein 1910 fame) as the wicked moneylender. He plays his nasty role with relish. I particularly love how he keeps up the contemptuous attitude even when he loses. Forced to return the money he wrongfully took from the heroes, he flings the dollars at his victim's face.
Nana (1934)
Sten was better than the material Goldwyn gave her
Having seen two Anna Sten vehicles during her brief collaboration with Samuel Goldwyn, I've come to the conclusion that Sten's Hollywood sojourn was horribly mishandled. Sten herself is charming, particularly in comedic scenes. She was undeniably beautiful too. She does handle a few dramatic scenes awkwardly, though this could have been from discomfort in the English language.
The big problem is the films themselves. NANA and WE LIVE AGAIN are glossy, tame versions of 19th century novels. NANA in particular has a patchwork script, a case of parts being better than the whole. The best scenes involve Nana and her fellow ladies of the night interacting, or her misadventures in wooing foolish men. The moment the serious love plot rears its head, the movie clomps. Sten is also called upon to do her best Dietrich impression in the film's one musical number and it's okay-- but it's better to be a first rate version of yourself than a second rate Dietrich.
Poor Things (2023)
Offbeat comedy with style to burn but little else going on
POOR THINGS is exactly the kind of movie that attracts Oscars. Big and showy performances and production design. Pays lip service to deeper themes like feminism and socioeconomic inequalities while not offering up anything genuinely challenging or thought-provoking. Basically cinematic fireworks: all flash, nothing lasting.
Parts of the movie are superficially entertaining. The costumes and production are gorgeous all around. However, the film's "feminist" themes are incredibly shallow, more or less limited to "women also deserve sexual pleasure" and "the patriarchy devalues women." Interestingly, for such an empowering film, the movie largely limits Bella Baxter's journey to the realm of the sexual, with any focus on her ideas about society relegated to the margins. We get told she's entertaining socialistic ideas and bigger philosophical ideas about human nature, but nothing is ever delved into, lest we spend time away from the film's bizarre, unerotic sex scenes.
I don't know. I struggled to finish this thing. It's overlong and completely fails to justify even half its own runtime. Considering how much I adored the director's 2018 film THE FAVOURITE, I expected much more from POOR THINGS.
Something to Think About (1920)
DeMille at his most sanctimonious
Wow, was this bad. The plot itself is a no-frills melodrama about a young woman torn between a kindly but rich older man she owes her education to and the young virile man she really wants. DeMille tackles the story with a biblical flair, smiting characters and having them reap overwhelming punishments for their sins. The ending has everyone proclaiming their faith in the Christian God and reuniting in the sunshine.
Anyone who's ever seen a DeMille film knows how preachy he can get. Most of the time, I can indulge it, so long as the film's entertainment value is sufficient. But WOW, this film is so flimsy and so sanctimonious in its endless proselytizing that it sets the teeth on edge. Gloria Swanson and Elliott Dexter are game, but they really have nothing to work with. What a pity.
Avatar: The Last Airbender (2024)
No, it's not that good and don't even compare it to the Netflix One Piece
I'm too exhausted with these pointless live action remakes of animated classics to get angry anymore. This Netflix redo of AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER is at best competent, with handsome production design and costuming. Storywise, it strips out the humor of the original, leaving us with grim imitations of the characters we so loved. The sadsack reimagining of the feisty Katara is particularly horrid.
The acting is spotty. Some of the performers are pretty good, but so many of the line readings come off like community theater. Where's the passion?
While not the fiasco the previous live action feature was, this new AVATAR is just pointless. Yeah it's not bad, but why settle for not bad when the original show was great? I'd rather just rewatch the old one for the hundredth time.
Two Rode Together (1961)
Unfocused and underwhelming western
In some ways, TWO RODE TOGETHER is among John Ford's most cynical work. People are either motivated by greed or mad despair. Both the whites and the Comanche are shown to be conniving, valuing materials over people. Ford touches on misogyny and racism, with the captives returning home only to find themselves branded as harlots (if you're a woman who dared not kill herself rather than be a Comanche's concubine) or "mad dogs" (if you're a young man who, after years of being raised as a Comanche, would rather be with the tribe than back with people who are total strangers to you). Human beings overall come off quite badly and the film's ending suggests that keeping away from society might be preferable to trying to adapt to its pressures and hypocrisies.
Unfortunately, TWO RODE TOGETHER lacks both focus and a cohesive tone. Broad comedy deflates the drama each time and not in a good, cathartic way. We literally follow a lynching with a goofy comic scene, and the only effect is mood whiplash, not any interesting juxtaposition. The plot meanders often. It's a shame, because there's interesting stuff in the film, but it never gels into a satisfying whole.
Daughter of Shanghai (1937)
Fabulous thriler
One of the most frustrating things about being a classic film fan is keenly knowing how many talented people's careers were inhibited by the racism of the period. Anna May Wong was a gifted actress with a unique, beautiful face, and yet her roles were often limited due to her Chinese heritage. DAUGHTER OF SHANGHAI was allegedly her favorite of her films because for once the Chinese characters were the heroes-- and they were actually played by Asian characters rather than white actors in yellowface.
DAUGHTER OF SHANGHAI is a better than average potboiler. It's fast-paced like a serial and the atmosphere is one of heady adventure. But it is Anna May Wong who is the central attraction, outthinking her enemies and kicking ass. I really loved her character and am so glad this film still exists. It's such a shame opportunities like this were so few for Wong.
La fiancée du château maudit (1911)
Great early gothic drama
Early cinema is full of gems beyond Melies fantasies and Griffith potboilers. THE MISSING BRIDE is an elegant little gothic drama about a young woman who falls into an ancient death trap. You've got skeletons in medieval gowns and dusty vaults and fainting maidens, all the traditional gothic trappings... though admittedly, few gothic classics end with a cat coming to the rescue!
The most notable technical aspect of this film is the lovely hand-tinted coloring. It gives the movie the feel of an old storybook. I really enjoy the way it looks.
You can easily find this film in fantastic quality on YouTube. It really is ideal to see these older films in as clear a quality as possible-- it's hard to appreciate these nickelodeon era gems in blurry transfers.
Smooth Talk (1985)
A glorified Lifetime movie
I love the original short story by Joyce Carol Oates, however, I knew going into SMOOTH TALK that it would have to make a lot of changes to stretch this story out to feature length. I didn't expect how much of it would just be hot air.
Parts of the film are compelling and vivid. I was on board for the first half hour, which had a docudrama feel as the teenage girls went goofing about the mall, laughing to themselves and flirting with teenage boys. I was a teen in the late 2000s but this all felt very on point-- I guess teen behavior never really changes. I also think the film depicts the inescapabale adolescent tension between childish innocence and adult yearnings very well.
Unfortunately, much of the film just meanders and the family drama feels like a Lifetime movie of the week in its over the top execution. I was especially let down by the final third, which actually adapts the short story's central showdown between Connie and the sinister Arnold Friend. In the short story, this is a disturbing scene and the ending is bleak. Here, the dramatization of the same scene falls flat: it goes on for-ever, and never really reaches a boiling point. It doesn't feel like a natural development either-- SMOOTH TALK is like two movies lashed together, an aimless teen drama and a bloodless thriller.
The film also tacks on a happy conclusion, in which Connie-- despite almost certainly having been raped by Arnold-- returns home and better learns to get along with her family. Everything just felt trite and corny in the end, as cheesy as the film's synth soundtrack. The short story haunts, the film just flops.
Our Town (1940)
Much better than I expected
I was skeptical going into this film version of OUR TOWN, Thornton Wilder's famously minimalist play about the transience of human life. Hollywood has never been one for abstractions, so the bare stage of Wilder's play becomes a fully realized turn of the century town on film. I wondered if this change would corrupt the show's effect and messaging, and surprisingly, it didn't.
The play's bittersweet tone and nostalgic longings are kept intact. Not all of the theatrical conventions are eliminated. Some work (the narrator), some don't (a scene where the "audience" asks a character questions), but generally, everything works well. The actors are all in fine form, even if Martha Scott is not a convincing teenager in her early scenes (she'd fit right in at the Bedford Falls high school dance from IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, populated by downright geriatric "teens").
The controversial ending isn't as contrived as is commonly said. You still get Emily realizing life is precious and we don't appreciate normalcy and the people we love until they're gone, only without the tragic edge of the play. However, the theme is still there and the bittersweet feeling is still there too, so the change doesn't bother me much.
Alice (1990)
Alice > Juliet of the Spirits
I'm not a Woody Allen fan and only watched ALICE because of its description as a loose remake of Fellini's JULIET OF THE SPIRITS. I found the Fellini film beautiful but tedious and one-note, whereas ALICE is less flashy but far richer in characterization and far better at pacing.
Mia Farrow is a woman reaching a midlife crisis. Married to a rich man, she spends her days shopping and gossiping, while a potent sense of dissatisfaction creeps into her days and then manifests as back pain. A trip to herbalist Dr. Yang starts her on a journey of self-discovery, in which she comes back in touch with the compassionate, daring woman she used to be via a love affair with a musician, Yang's bizarre herbalist treatments, and encounters with figures from her past.
I mentioned earlier I'm not really an Allen fan and this film does feature some of the things that grate for me in his work. The dialogue is sometimes on the nose and the neurotic protagonist schtick is annoying-- though Farrow's character is sympathetic enough that I was able to stomach it this time around. However, this movie is so human and warm, and the way it ended surprised me a little bit. I enjoyed it very much though and could see myself revisiting it someday.
Confessions of a Queen (1925)
Would like to see the rest, even if it doesn't look like it was a drama for the ages
The surviving reels of CONFESSIONS OF A QUEEN do not suggest some lost masterpiece, but they do seem to indicate this was melodramatic fluff of the highest order. Jazz Age Hollywood was fascinated by the inherent drama of the Russian Revolution and the fall of the Romanovs. The complicated history and political reality behind it, not so much. This film is more interested in the romantic lives of the royals and the revolution seems to only be a deciding factor in the love triangle between the lovely Alice Terry (in one of her few appearances in a film not directed by her husband Rex Ingram), Lewis Stone, and John Bowers.
Hôhokekyo tonari no Yamada-kun (1999)
The most underrated movie from one of the most underrated directors
In the west, I feel like knowledge of Isao Takahata exclusively extends to GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES, and yet he has one of the richest bodies of work in cinematic history. Takahata had that rare ability to surprise with every new film. It was always hard to know just what he would do next. Following the tragedy of FIREFLIES and the heartfelt meditation of ONLY YESTERDAY, he made this goofy little slice of slice comedy and it's among the best comedies I've ever seen.
If you need a main dramatic throughline, then MY NEIGHBORS THE YAMADAS will disappoint. This is an episodic piece, unashamedly adapted from a newspaper strip, and to be honest, the film benefits from it. I like the episodic approach because a single throughline would likely end up being cliched and sappy in this instance. However, there is depth to the gag parade and moments of poignancy that never feel unearned or out of place. It's a very real movie with flawed characters in an everyday setting. If I had seen it as a teenage weeb, i would have dismissed it, throwing on PRINCESS MONONOKE immediately after. As an adult, it all rings very true.
Giulietta degli spiriti (1965)
A feast for the eyes, but no food for thought
I love surrealism and stories about mid-life turning points, so I expected to enjoy JULIET OF THE SPIRITS. I ended up feeling very conflicted about the whole thing. Giulietta Masina is the best part of the film, overshadowing even the dazzling color cinematography and psychedelic set design. Her expressive eyes say more than any dialogue-- you can easily tell why she was Charlie Chaplin's favorite actress. The scene where she tries to hold it together as the detectives screen footage of her beloved husband and his mistress cavorting together is truly heartbreaking.
However, the movie itself is a strangely hollow experience and at almost two and a half hours, it's a long one at that. Unlike other unimpressed reviewers, I'm not going to claim the movie isn't saying anything. The religious imagery and satire suggests Juliet has made her husband into a god and she's been continuously martyring herself and denying her own pain to keep this awful man in her life. Good point, Fellini. Did it need to take 137 minutes to say that? You get to the point where you just don't care anymore and the movie never goes beyond the surface of Juliet's psychosexual troubles, so there's nothing especially compelling present.
Hot Water (1924)
Au contraire, this is Lloyd's most underrated work
HOT WATER has a dismal reputation among silent film scholars. It's seen as a stylistic regression from the more sophisticated likes of SAFETY LAST and GIRL SHY. Its plot is episodic, little more than three two-reelers strung together loosely.
Episodic it may be, but the film is still hilarious and the characters are all incredibly vivid and enjoyable, particularly Josephine Cromwell as the moralistic, overbearing mother-in-law from hell. Lloyd's mounting irritation at having to host his in-laws is amusing. Some of his more subtle reactions, such as a slight stiffening of the jaw or the glee slowly fading from his eyes, are particularly funny.
(This movie has me wishing Lloyd had made a silent film equivalent of the National Lampoon Vacation films. That's the kind of vibe the characters gave me here.)
Du Barry, Woman of Passion (1930)
Not as bad as I'd been led to believe--
-- which is like saying, "It was more like a train wreck than being caught in a nuclear blast."
DU BARRY, WOMAN OF PASSION is a badly paced early talkie with the kind of melodramatic, declarative dialogue that got John Gilbert laughed off the screen in his sound debut. Norma Talmadge is certainly not braying out lines in a Brooklyn accent as Hollywood myth has it, but she is miscast as the enchanting yet vulgar Du Barry. It's hard to see how king or commoner could become so obsessed with her, and this goes beyond Talmadge being a bit long in the tooth to play a frivolous young thing. She does not exude sex appeal in the least nor the earthy sensuality the script demands.
Story-wise, the film is standard romantic sop: Talmadge is torn between the honest love of a good man and the wealth of a king. Oh, and the French Revolution happens. Honestly, you could change the character names and set this in Fantasy Land, and it would be about the same as setting it in 18th century France.
One gets the sense that Talmadge's heart wasn't in the work. Her performance is flat, with only flashes of the lovely expressiveness that made her name in silent pictures. This would be her last movie altogether-- she was not interested in a vain struggle against new technologies and younger stars, and to be honest, I empathize.
At the very least, the film opens with an intertitle declaring none of this is historically accurate. If only certain modern filmmakers could be so honest (side-eyes Ridley Scott).
Kimitachi wa dô ikiru ka (2023)
Rich and brilliant, but not easily digested
THE BOY AND THE HERON has been described as Miyazaki's closest foray into horror, as a confusing exercise in self-indulgence, as a Miyazaki's greatest hits album, and more. Leaving the theater, I definitely think this is a movie that demands repeat viewings and becomes richer the more familiar you are with the full scope of Miyazaki's career, going back to his earliest work in the 1960s on Toei works such as HORUS PRINCE OF THE SUN and PUSS IN BOOTS.
On the shallowest level, such familiarity means you'll notice the visual references to Miyazaki's oeuvre throughout. SPIRITED AWAY and THE WIND RISES are the most obvious, but there were moments that reminded me of NAUSICAA, PRINCESS MONONOKE, HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE, and CASTLE IN THE SKY as well. PUSS IN BOOTS (a film on which Miyazaki did storyboards and key animation) gets a notable quotation towards the end, when the parakeet king strides up the daunting spiral staircase of a medieval tower-- a direct reference to the memorable climax in PUSS IN BOOTS, from the setting itself to the king's physical resemblance to Lucifer in the 1969 film.
However, the most fascinating autobiographical element of the film is the relationship between Mahito and the Great Uncle character. The Great Uncle wants a successor to keep his magical otherworld alive and to protect it from the callow interests of the Parakeet King. And yet, Mahito-- despite all the trauma and foolishness he's experienced in our world-- opts to return home and live as best he can amidst chaotic brokenness. The otherworld is ultimately destroyed-- could this be Miyazaki sharing his view of what will become of Ghibli once he is gone, since no proper "successor" to himself and the late Isao Takahata has ever been found?
This all makes the film sound like an impenetrable puzzle for hardcore nerds, but rest assured, it isn't. It's only one way you can understand the film because there is just so much packed in there. There's a lot about wartime horror and grief, but also beauty and forgiveness. There's surrreal imagery and moments of horrific menace, but also a lot of humor. I haven't even scratched the surface of all this movie made me feel. It just might overtake HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE as Miyazaki's most polarizing film. Count me in as a fan.
Gojira -1.0 (2023)
The best movie I've seen in the theater this year
I would not call myself a huge Godzilla fan by any means and I mainly went to see this one at the urging of a friend. Holy heaven, I was so surprised by GODZILLA MINUS ONE. In a year where both of my most anticipated movies turned out to be crummy disappointments (BARBIE and NAPOLEON), this movie-- a film I had no initial plans of seeing and had little enthusiasm for going into it-- blew me away.
Godzilla is actually terrifying in this. The post-WWII setting was well-realized, with the characters exhausted after years of violence, destruction, and struggle. The characters were all relatable and interesting-- unlike other Godzilla movies I've seen, I cared intensely about their fates and was emotionally invested in the little found family they formed. And thank God for the lack of ironic jokes undercutting emotional scenes-- after so many trash Hollywood movies, I didn't even know it was possible for a blockbuster to be sincere like this anymore.
Most of all, I love how life-affirming this film is. The cautious but persistent optimism is such a breath of fresh air. About my only criticism is that the ending twist is a little hokey... but to be honest, I can forgive that. The movie is too good for me to complain about a happy ending.
The Invisible Woman (2013)
Handsome period piece
While a little long and plodding, THE INVISIBLE WOMAN is a handsome, melancholy film about the mysterious relationship between Charles Dickens and his much younger mistress Ellen "Nelly" Ternan. Much of the film is concerned with the gender dynamics of Victorian society, in which Nelly is forced into the shadows to keep the relationship a secret and salvage both her reputation and Dickens'. The unfairness of this is subtly highlighted throughout, as Nelly experiences both disgust over having to occupy such a socially derided role and love for Dickens, a man she can never be with legally.
Felicity Jones is soulful as Ternan, but I have to be honest, Ralph Fiennes as Dickens is the best thing in the movie. He really brings the man to life in all his complicated glory: witty, charming, and energetic, while also being selfish as hell when it comes to his wife and girlfriend. I found myself wishing that Fiennes had played Dickens in a miniseries biopic-- he was that good.
I enjoyed the movie overall, though it does feel like a one-and-done deal.
One Romantic Night (1930)
Not great, but it does have its modest charms
A common misconception about the decline of silent film stars at the dawn of the talkie revolution is that their subsequent unpopularity came from bad voices or an inability to recite dialogue. This idea ignores how much society in general was shifting during the late 20s and early 30s, what with the Great Depression puncturing Roaring Twenties decadence and optimism, as well as the usual shifts in audience taste that had always been occurring among moviegoers. These shifts had a lot more to do with the decline of old favorites than squeaky voices.
Lillian Gish's decline as a movie star was already in effect before moguls accepted sound was more than a fad. Her last few silent films had either underperformed or flopped. Gish was a phenomenal actress, but her tragic ingenue image was falling out of favor, even with attempts to complicate the persona with madness (THE WIND) or innocent sexuality (LA BOHEME and THE SCARLET LETTER). Stars rise and fall on the whims of their public, and the public was losing interest in Gish.
ONE ROMANTIC NIGHT is Gish's first talkie and it's often purported to be a showcase for how bad early sound filmmaking could be. I've seen it twice and honestly, there are way worse early sound films than this one. The acting is largely stiff and the action stagebound, but the script is a diverting trifle. Gish was too old to play the princess, but she had the proper patrician look and the ability to play girlish characters well. She's certainly better than Rod La Roque as the rakish prince, who comes off way too nasally and foolish to strike one as a properly enticing bad boy. Conrad Nagel, Marie Dressler, and OP Heggie all give Gish proper support and there's enough modest entertainment value in the whole affair to keep the film from being a bore.
Napoleon (2023)
My biggest disappointment this year
Ridley Scott's NAPOLEON feels like the highlight reel of a lengthy miniseries. Considering there's a 4-hour cut of this film, that explains it all.
NAPOLEON is certainly good spectacle. The battle scenes are breathtaking. Unfortunately, it's also shallow. I know Scott has sneered at viewers criticizing the historical inaccuracies in the film, but I'm more bothered by a total lack of interesting character psychology or even coherent storytelling. Characters pop in and out, leaving little impression in their brief scenes. Relationships between characters are barely fleshed out, including that of Napoleon and Josephine, which dominates the running time. Also, potentially unpopular opinion, I thought Joaquin Phoenix's performance was a one-note bore.
Perhaps the 4-hour version is a richer piece of work. As is, NAPOLEON is a let down, especially after Scott's brilliant 2021 period piece THE LAST DUEL, which had all the drama and psychological depth this movie lacked.
Monsieur Beaucaire (1924)
Not as good as it could have been, but still entertaining
Despite the popular narrative, MONSIEUR BEAUCAIRE was hardly a major disaster for star Rudolph Valentino. Critics were mixed to positive (some even thought it among the best films of the year) and the film drew audiences in the bigger cities. However, it is true that the Valentino fanbase was likely hoping for more of the torrid passion to be found in earlier Valentino vehicles like THE SHEIK and BLOOD AND SAND. MONSIEUR BEAUCAIRE is largely a comedy, the heat turned down to a minimum.
It's not a bad film, though it could have used a stronger director. Sidney Olcott's direction plods and feels stuffy when something more flamboyant would have served better. The first half of the story drags, with only Natacha Rambova's beautiful costumes and Valentino's energetic performance drawing interest. The supporting characters are almost indistinguishable from one another and the main romantic plot is undercooked.
Luckily, BEAUCAIRE picks up as it goes. In many ways, this movie is the first in which Valentino kids his own Latin Lover image, with the hero relieved he no longer has to deal with the pressure of being a great lover when he flees abroad. Valentino gets to tap into his sadly underused skill for comedy throughout this film, and he gets to swashbuckle a bit during the climax.
Not a great movie, but a visually sumptuous one and diverting enough. I would love to see it properly restored someday.