John Ford Retrospective - Upstream (1927)

UPSTREAM (1927)

Starring:  Nancy Nash, Earle Foxe, Grant Withers, Lydia Yeamans Titus, Emile Chautard, Raymond Hitchcock, Ted McNamara, Sammy Cohen, Jane Winton, Lillian Worth, Judy King

Writer:  Randall Faye (based on the story "The Snake's Wife" by Wallace Smith

Cinematography:  Charles G Clarke

Music:  SILENT (contemporary score by Donald Sosin)

B&W, 1h.  1.33:1 presentation

Released on:  January 30, 1927 by Fox Film Corporation

My experience:  YouTube

I had no idea what to expect with Upstream.  I knew nothing about it, other than the fact that John Ford directed it.  I wasn't familiar with any of the cast except Grant Withers when I checked IMDb, and had originally assumed it had something to do with boats, or rivers, or riverboats or some such thing.  Then I saw the poster which looked like something out of a German Expressionist horror film, and I got really confused.  Imagine my surprise when upon watching Upstream I encountered a comedy about theatrical actors.

Most of the action takes place in a New York City boarding house that caters to actors, dancers and other professional types of that ilk, run by Miss Hattie Breckenridge Peyton (Lydia Yeamans Titus).  Lodging in the house are knife thrower Juan Rodriguez (Grant Withers) and his target/partner, Gertie Ryan (Nancy Nash); Eric Brashingham (Earle Foxe), the dissipated black sheep of a famous theatrical family; Shakespearean performer Campbell Mandare (Emile Chautard); a song and dance team called Callahan and Callahan (Ted McNamara & Sammy Cohen); a sister team (Lillian Worth & Judy King), and finally, a narcissistic actor known to us only as the Star Boarder (Raymond Hitchcock) and his moll, the Soubrette (Jane Winton).  

Brashingham, Rodriguez and Gertie are in somewhat of a love triangle, but when theatrical producer Gus Hoffman (Harry A Bailey) approaches Brashingham with an offer to play Hamlet on the stage in London, to capitalize on his name, Campbell Mandare decides to take the younger actor under his wing and tutor him in Shakespearean performance.  Will Brashingham make a success overseas, and if so, how will it affect his relationship with the others?

I have to admit, I found this film quite humorous in its takedown of theatrical performers and conventions.  Coming from that world myself, I've known many of these personality types so a lot of it rang true for me. Perhaps it was this, or perhaps because I wasn't expecting a comedy, but I found this film to be quite amusing.  Some attempts at humor fell flat, but much of it still landed for me.  

Right off the bat the film plays with the tropes of actors changing their names.  In an era when actors were Anglicizing or even changing their original names to seem less exotic (Emanuel Goldenberg became Edward G Robinson, Lucille LeSeuer became Joan Crawford, Issur Danielovich became Kirk Douglas and Rodolfo Pietro Filiberto Raffaelo Guglielmi di Valentina d'Antonguolla became Rudolph Valentino), here we have Grant Withers' knife-throwing Juan Rodriguez of Castile, who is actually John Rogers from Iowa.  The Brashingham character is an obvious stand-in for John Barrymore, and even does the side-profile thing that Barrymore was famous for.  

There are some very humorous title cards introducing the characters poking fun at the "type" of personalities they represent.  And for a silent film, there are some pretty good verbal jokes in the cards, such as "The fact that you're a terrible actor doesn't make any difference; all I need is your name" and "It sure makes me proud that an American can get by in a foreign language like English."  And there's a running gag where, whenever Miss Peyton tries to get her rent from the boarders, they all unanimously act worried and ask, "Didn't you get the money I sent you from (insert city here)?"  Quite amusing.

There are also some pretty funny visual gags, including one in which Callahan and Callahan practice their routine in their room, which happens to be right overtop of the boarding house's dining room, and another one in which the two pose as a before and after for a cosmetic surgery advertisement.  One of the main sources of "hilarity" is that Callahan and Callahan are obviously one Irish and one Jewish person -- 1920s racial humor at its most obvious.  Ely Reynolds (from The Shamrock Handicap) appears in another Ford comedy, and this time his presence is hardly needed and sticks out like a sore thumb.  All the racial stereotypes of black people at the time are piled into his character and it really brings down the film, from today's perspective.  

If it weren't for his name on the IMDb credits, you would not be able to recognize this as a John Ford film in the way we understand them.  There are no photographic tricks that stand out (perhaps because his usual cinematographer, George Schneiderman, did not work on this film, being replaced on this project by Charles G Clarke).  The communality of the boarders is the closest to a "Fordian touch" that I could see.  In fact there's a backwards dolly shot in a wedding scene that is very unlike Ford, who never liked moving his camera unless he didn't have to.  

I'm sure this was just a programmer that was forced upon him by the studio that he did perfunctorily and with little fanfare.  That being said, while it had its cringey moment, I still found Upstream fairly entertaining.  The contemporary score by Donald Sosin really complements the comedy in the film.  Definitely worth it for Ford completists, but it's an outlier in his filmography for sure.

Six terrible thespians out of ten.

John Ford Retrospective - The Blue Eagle (1926)

THE BLUE EAGLE (1926)

Starring:  George O'Brien, Janet Gaynor, William Russell, Margaret Livingston, Robert Edeson, Philip Ford, David Butler, Lew Short, Ralph Sipperly, Jerry Madden

Writer:  Gordon Rigby (based on the story "The Lord's Referee" by Gerald Beaumont

Cinematography:  George Schneiderman

Music:  SILENT (uncredited piano score)

B&W, 58m.  1.33:1 presentation.

Released on:  September 12, 1926 by Fox Film Corporation

My experience:  YouTube

There's a good movie in here somewhere.  There are probably two good movies in here somewhere.  But when they've been jammed together in a film that runs less than an hour, it's a bit of a schizophrenic experience.

I don't think I'll give this film a proper review, as it is missing at least 10 minutes of footage (what would have probably been the most impressive footage of all -- a battleship duel -- which is tragic, as the rest of the film is shot in a fairly pedestrian way).  Print damage is also quite extensive, although when compared to the surviving print of Cameo Kirby, this is almost a 4K experience!

In The Blue Eagle, which starts off as a tribute to the United States Navy before shifting gears and going somewhere else entirely, George O'Brien and William Russell are George Darcy and Big Tim Ryan, respectively, two sailors in the Navy at the beginning of American involvement in World War I (November 1917).  The two have an antagonistic relationship due to them both being hot on Rose Kelly (Janet Gaynor), who encourages both of them.  The ship's chaplain, Father Joe (Robert Edeson) sets up a boxing match between them, hoping that a healthy sparring match will be helpful rather than hurtful but before that happens, their battleship comes under attack (this and who knows what else comprises the roughly ten minutes of the film that is lost to time).  Unfortunately one of their shipmates perishes in the battle.  

Back in New York City after the war, the two try to reenter society as cops.  George's brother Limpy (Philip Ford) seems to be using, and with their mother (and presumably father as well) having passed on, it's up to George to try and keep him on the straight and narrow.  Meanwhile Big Tim and his gang, including Nick "Dizzy" Galvani and Slats "Dip" Mulligan (David Butler and Ralph Sipperly, respectively), who are also friendly with George, are making life hard for George.  Meanwhile, Rose's father, Sergeant Kelly (Lew Short), launches an investigation into a gang that's peddling drugs, and the trail leads back to Limpy.  An offshore submarine full of drugs, a hidden cave full of explosives and a forced partnership between our two male leads ends up happily ever after, with one of our boys winning the hand of Rose and the other hooking up with Mrs Mary Rohan (Margaret Livingston), the widow of the friend who died, with Baby Tom (Jerry Madden) thrown into the mix for good measure.

If this all sounds confusing, it is.  That being said, while this movie is a mishmash of unbelievable events, it's still somewhat entertaining.   It'll pass the time for an hour if you're a classic film buff, that's for sure.  It occupies a strange place in history, as Fox had literally just released 3 Bad Men - at that time one of his more acclaimed features - in theatres just two weeks earlier, and in just twelve months Gaynor and O'Brien would star in what to me is one of the greatest Hollywood silents, FW Murnau's Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans.  In between those two milestones, however, that trio combined to produce an odd pastiche of military tribute, truncated war film, and pre-noir cop adventure, with a little bit of oiled up, brawling sailors and a half-hearted attempt at love wins all at the end.  Not a great film, especially from an artist like Ford, but it never becomes boring!

*** no star rating given due to this being an incomplete film ***

John Ford Retrospective - 3 Bad Men (1926)

3 BAD MEN (1926)

Starring:  George O'Brien, Olive Borden, Lou Tellegen, Tom Santschi, J Farrell MacDonald, Frank Campeau, Priscilla Bonner, Otis Harlan, Phyllis Haver, George Harris, Alec Francis, Jay Hunt

Writer:  John Stone (based on the novel "Over the Border" by Herman Whitaker

Cinematography:  George Schneiderman

Music:  SILENT (contemporary score by Dana Kaproff)

B&W, 1h 32m.  1.33:1 presentation.

Released on:  August 28, 1926 by Fox Film Corporation.

My experience:  Ford at Fox DVD box set

3 Bad Men is one of three versions of the same story made by John Ford in his career.  First there was Marked Men in 1919 (the film is now lost) with Harry Carey, J Farrell MacDonald and Ted Brooks in the title roles.  Twenty-nine years later, in 1948, he made 3 Godfathers, with John Wayne, Pedro Armendariz and Carey's son, Harry Carey Jr starring.  In between, in 1926, he made 3 Bad Men, a film which was to be his last western for thirteen years, until he basically revolutionized the genre with Stagecoach.

Having seen the 1948 version about 15 years ago, I expected it to follow roughly the same plotline, which involves three outlaws stranded in the desert looking after a baby.  Imagine my surprise, then, when there was nary a desert, and only fleeting glimpses of a baby to be seen!  Rather, our three titular gunslingers are in the hills of the Dakotas helping a woman get ready for the land rush.

The movie opens with Lee Carleton (Olive Borden) and her father traveling across the western prairies when their wagon loses a wheel.  Along comes free spirit horseman/harmonica player Dan O'Malley (George O'Brien), who helps them fix the wheel.  Sparks fly between Dan and Lee, but father and daughter are heading west for the 1876 land rush, and the parties soon disperse.  Later on, our titular bad men -- "Bull" Stanley (Tom Santschi), Mike Costigan (J Farrell MacDonald), and "Spade" Allen (Frank Campeau) -- who are horse thieves, are looking for some easy prey and come across the Carleton wagon.  Before they have a chance to make a move, they witness another party attack the wagon and kill Lee's father.  After dispensing of the intruders, Mike and Spade start making off with the horses, and Bull is about to dispatch the final victim, until it turns out to be Lee, in which he has an abrupt change of heart, and pledges his and his gang's loyalty to the broken hearted young woman until she gets some land.

The new Carleton contingent heads to a new temporary settlement that marks the starting point for the land rush.  The sheriff of the town, Layne Hunter (Lou Tellegen), has gotten tired of his girlfriend Millie (Priscilla Bonner), and treats her unconscionably.  He is also a terribly bad seed, and is in the tradition of a long line of Fordian characters who occupy positions of exalt or responsibility only to turn out unworthy of their places in society.  It's a running theme in Ford's pictures, the hypocrisy attendant in society.  Other characters in the town include newspaper editor Zach Little (Otis Harlan, the voice of Happy in 1937's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs), local shopkeeper Joe Minsk (George Harris), the Reverend Benson (Alec B Francis), and saloon girl Lily (Phyllis Haver), who has set her eyes on Dan, who has wandered into the settlement and reconnected with Lee.

There are some fantastic things about 3 Bad Men, not the least of which is the cinematography by Schneiderman at the behest of Ford.  The photography just keeps getting better with each film, and the outdoor scenes especially are a wonder to behold.  The filming of the land rush is astonishing to behold, with the camera oftentimes being in the middle of the action, wagons and horses barrelling down on them and keeping us firmly in the action.  There are scenes shot from inside a burning building looking towards the outside that are magisterial, and leave one wondering how on earth they filmed it without anybody getting hurt, let alone how amazing it all looks.  The final shot of the film is filmed in such a way as to extract all the emotion possible out of the viewer, in a way that I'm saddened to say the film doesn't quite deserve.  More on that in a bit.  

3 Bad Men also has one of the funniest comedic set pieces I've come across in a Ford film so far, in which Mike and Spade are trying to find a man for Lee, and come across a bit of a dandy, who seems to get the wrong idea of how they're coming across.  Pretty funny stuff.  The performances are solid across the board, with MacDonald and the uncredited man playing the dandy standing out.  Also standing out is Olive Borden, a silent film star whose career went downhill after talkies came into vogue and sadly died penniless on skid row in 1947 at the age of 41.  In this film, she is radiant, and one is saddened that an actor with such attitude and expression ended up the way they did.  Still, her luminosity was captured on film forever in 3 Bad Men, and she is remembered by silent film fans almost a hundred years later.

All that being said, there are some things that just didn't connect with me in this film.  First and foremost is the casual racism thrown about in the film.  One of the intertitles refers to Italians as Dagoes like it ain't no thang, and another one has a character casually mention about including Chinese people in the gang, "Not a Ch**k, they get shot too easily."  The opening titles also downplay the fact that entire cultures were forced off their lands in order enable the land rush to occur.  It's mentioned, but more in the vein of, "we put them all on reservations, they're fine, fugeddaboutit!"  Didn't leave a great taste in my mouth, from a 21st century point of view.  

I also didn't quite get why Bull had the change of heart he did.  I could understand his not wanting to shoot Lee, as he has morals obviously.  But when he decides to devote himself and his gang to her services it seems a bit too much of an about face, especially for a trio who is wanted by the law in multiple states and countries and could easily be found if not constantly on the move.  And while *** SPOILER ALERT *** it's touching that the three men sacrifice themselves to save Dan and Lee, it just seems so unnecessary.  The ending, set three or four years later, is quite touching, as mentioned before.

While 3 Bad Men has a very good reputation, I'm wondering if Ford didn't like the roteness and naivete of some of the characters, and found himself stagnating in a genre he couldn't find himself able to push forward for the time being.  It did take him thirteen more years to make another western.  For me, while I believe the film has its moments, it also has its issues, and while I definitely recommend it, you may want to keep your expectations lowered.

Seven benevolent baddies out of ten.