The Patriot (1928)

Directed by: Ernst Lubitsch

Starring: Emil Jannings, Florence Vidor, and Lewis Stone

Plot: An epic portrayal of political intrigue in Russia during the reign of Paul I.

Thoughts: Unfortunately, I can offer no thoughts on this film because I've never seen it. No one else in recent history has seen it either because The Patriot is more or less a lost film. The only parts left are a trailer and one reel (about six minutes of footage) that was found in Portugal back in 2001.

The story is an adaptation of three different plays: Paul I by Dmitri Merezhkovsky, Der Patriot by Alfred Neumann, and The Patriot by Ashley Dukes. Again, since there is no reference available (neither the film nor the plays), I have no idea which parts were lifted from where. Attempting to find detailed information has proven somewhat frustrating.

Based on some notes I found, evidently The Patriot was technically the last silent film nominated for Best Picture. Paramount added music, sound, and limited voices (mainly screams) to the film in post-production without Lubitsch's knowledge. This was done because talking and sound films were the new trend in film at the time. Despite the studios tampering, the finished product was still regarded as one of the best films of 1928.

If you want to see the trailer, it can be found on the More Treasures from the American Film Archives: 1894-1931. The set is a bit pricy, but contains a ton of forgotten film history.

The Patriot took home the Best Writing, Achievement award for Hanns Kraly's epic screenplay. Other nominations earned were Best Actor for Lewis Stone's portrayal of Count Pahlen, Best Art Direction for Hans Dreier (who had previously worked on Wings the previous year), and a Best Director nod for Lubitsch himself.

In Old Arizona (1928)

Directed by: Raoul Walsh and Irving Cummings

Starring: Warner Baxter, Dorothy Burgess, and Edmund Lowe

Plot: A duplicitous woman comes between a bandit and the Army man sent to catch him.

Thoughts: We begin our tour of the 2nd Academy Awards with the first talking Western. Westerns were a staple of the Silent Era so it only made sense for the genre to make the transition to talking films. Technically, In Old Arizona was considered a marvel at the time for being the first talking film photographed outdoors as having its entire soundtrack, talking and all, on film.

The film was based on the 1907 story, "The Caballero Way", which was the first of O. Henry's myriad Cisco Kid stories. "The Caballero Way" had already been adapted as a silent film in 1914, so this iteration could be considered one of the first remakes (a trend that continues today for better or worse).

Unfortunately, I didn't feel it held up very well as I felt the majority of the acting was on par with maybe a high school drama club. Warner Baxter as the Cisco Kid exuded charm and charisma in each of his scenes. Unfortunately, there are several scenes where he was not present and were instead "treated" to Edmund Lowe's bad Brooklyn accent while he mugged for the camera or the shrill Dorothy Burgess who never convinced me she was worth the attention of one of these guys let alone both of them. As I mentioned, Baxter was fun to watch and I have to admit that I liked the ending a lot.

Although nominated for Best Motion Picture of the Year, In Old Arizona only took home a Best Performance by an Actor Award for Warner Baxter. The film also earned nominations for Irving Cummings (Raoul Walsh had to cede the chair for nearly all of the film after a traffic accident) for Achievement in Direction, Tom Barry's script adaptation for Best Writing, and Arthur Edeson for Achievement in Cinematography.

The Racket (1928)

Directed by: Lewis Milestone

Starring: Thomas Meighan and Louis Wolheim

Plot: A battle of wits between a police captain and a mob boss in the backdrop of a corrupt city.

Thoughts: We have all seen the stereotypes of gangster movies: fedoras, pinstripe suits, square jaws, etc. These were all a product of the 1920s when national alcohol prohibition became responsible for the rise in organized crime. Despite the headlines, theatrical films on the subject weren't very common. When this film was released, it was barred from Chicago theaters due to the city's prominence as the center of the mob.

Lewis Milestone made an interesting film here, which was based on the 1927 play. The acting lent itself more to a talking film than a silent. Speaking of talking, there was much more dialogue here than in any of the silent films I've viewed thus far (on title cards of course). The Racket's strength was its good use of editing to move the story along without making it feel rushed.

Probably the prototypical film of the gangster genre that would go on to be very popular in the 1930s, The Racket was believed lost for a long time. However, a search through the vaults of Howard Hughes produced a single print, believed to be complete (given the late Mr. Hughes' obsessive nature, it's a pretty safe bet the print is complete). The film was restored in 2004 by the University of Nevada, Las Vegas using the best resources available to them at the time. Turner Classic Movies airs it every once in a while, but it has yet to be made available to the masses on any medium. The Racket was remade in 1951 and starred Robert Mitchum as the stalwart police captain McQueeg.

The Racket received a sole nomination, that for Best Production (which would become the Best Motion Picture award the following year). It and Seventh Heaven lost to Wings that year.

The Crowd (1928)

Directed by: King Vidor

Starring: James Murray and Eleanor Boardman

Plot: A man allegedly destined for greatness finds he's not.

Thoughts: The themes of this film remain timeless even if the film's setting is not. We all know someone with big dreams but never seems to make them happen. It's always something or someone else at fault and never that person. This is experienced firsthand through the life of one John Sims (as played by James Murray). Emotionally, this film is a roller coaster. We're presented with happiness only to visit tragedy shortly thereafter and then back again.

Vidor really used a number of long camera shots to convey the sheer scope of New York City and, in the process, made the everyman seem so insignificant. Silent films were truly visual exercises and it fell on the director and cinematographer to convey emotion and move the story along without any sound. Remember, orchestral scores were played live at the theater. Like Seventh Heaven, we're spared the histrionic flail acting which silent films are typically associated.

Turner Classic Movies was kind enough to show The Crowd earlier this week. It has not been released on DVD yet, but it was released on VHS (in 1989) and laserdisc (in 1991). A sequel of sorts was the film Our Daily Bread (also directed by Vidor), featuring an idealistic John Sims-esque character in a Depression-era farm community.

The Crowd was up against Chang and Sunrise for Best Production, Unique and Artistic Production and lost to Sunrise. King Vidor was nominated for Best Director, Dramatic Picture but lost to Frank Borzage for Seventh Heaven.