Beggars of Life

I wish for nothing more than a valid version of this great movie on DVD. It's been a while since I last saw it, but the impression has been a lasting one. True empathy lasts through the ages and there is a poignancy about 'Beggars of Life' that is phenomenal. All actors shine in career-defining roles, direction is sensible to minuscule moods, and the overall effect is overpowering. One of the best flicks to come out of Hollywood in those pre-talkie days. Can't wait to see it again.

While she is known primarily for her work for G.W. Pabst in the German films Pandora's Box and Diary of a Lost Girl, Louise Brooks is phenomenal in William Wellman's movie of a young girl on the run after she murders her sexually abusive guardian. The opening scene, in which the murder takes place, is gorgeously imagistic and ranks (for me) as one of the most indelible moments in all of cinema. Richard Arlen and Wallace Beery are very good in their roles, but the movie belongs to Brooks, whose ability to underplay in the silent era -- when mugging and exaggeration were more the rule than the exception -- makes her seem ultra-contemporary. It is little wonder Brooks has such resonance with modern audiences.

Handsome hobo Richard Arlen (as Jim) is hungry. Smelling breakfast as he passes by a home, Mr. Arlen ventures inside to beg for food. Arlen is startled to discover the body of a dead man, as beautiful Louise Brooks (as Nancy) descends her stairway to explain. Tired of waiting on the pawing man, Ms. Brooks shot her sexually abusive guardian. Believing Brooks story (and taken by her beauty), Arlen invites her to accompany him east. They hop a freight train with Brooks disguised as a boy, to deter the police. Love blooms when the two share a bed made in hay. Arlen's "leg-locking" and Brooks' look of approval are part of these actors' well-played scene. With the police on their trail, Arlen and Brooks fall in with a group of hobos.

Brooks' disguise as Arlen's "kid brother" only lasts so long, and she is discovered as a girl. This arouses the interest of boozy tramp leader Wallace Berry (as Okalahoma Red). When their gang of hobos hitches a ride on another train, Mr. Berry wants to throw Arlen overboard and rape Brooks. Berry's swaggering introduction, with a keg of ale for the hobos, is a jolt - as we hear his voice in a "synchronized sound effected" film. Berry, who is billed over Arlen and Brooks, quickly becomes a major character. His change during the last act becomes one of the film's problems. Still, this is still a fine-looking production (despite the prints available).

You get "Wings" director William A. Wellman with one of his greatest stars (Arlen), a fine new actress (Brooks), and one of the movies' most popular character players (Berry). And, hang on tight for some exciting train sequences.

******** Beggars of Life (9/22/28) William A. Wellman ~ Richard Arlen, Louise Brooks, Wallace Berry, Edgar Washington

This is an entertaining film containing passages of alarming sentimentality that are neutralised by frank brutality (the brutality being provided by the indomitable Oklahoma Red - Wallace Beery - a thug with a conscience, and the psychopathic Black Mose - Edgar Washington).

Louise Brooks does very well as an imp of promise escaping a sinister rapist, and Richard Arlen is effective as her practical-minded (but not overly intelligent) beau. In fact I think this is just about the only one of her American films where Brooks gets the opportunity to do some real acting. It is thought that this was one of the first films to pioneer the androgynous look. The other stock players add to the drama, and the cinematography is well done.

Although Beery gets top-billing we do not see him until the latter half of the picture. This is just as well, because he does enough scene-stealing to compensate for his absence in the first half.

Brooks did not care for William Wellman, who appears to have been a hard task-master, and as she remarked in her memoirs: 'I knew Billy was a phoney brave man and consequently a woman-beater - all cowards revenge themselves on women - just by feel, especially when my ass hit the pavement in "Beggars of Life"'. This might be a reference to her failed attempt to board a moving train where the viewer (for once) gets some idea of how difficult a task this is. Of course Wellman might have been a little harsh with her because she was fast acquiring a reputation as an actress who was difficult to handle.

I write to amend this earlier complaint about an earlier print from Grapevine (see below). The newest release - 2015 - is much improved. Although a few parts seem to be from a 16mm reduction print (I'm no expert on this), most of the film is much easier to watch. It is brighter, correctly tinted and much sharper than the earlier film I had watched and reviewed here. Moreover, a completely new score by Jack Hardy matches the action on the screen and improves this release by 100%. While shopping, be sure to obtain this newest print released on January 16, 2015. EARLIER REVIEW: I finally obtained a copy of Beggars of Life having read and heard so much about it over the years. William Wellman does some remarkable things in this film including an interesting flashback technique superimposing a close-up of Louise Brooks as she relates details of the altercation with her adoptive guardian. Brooks is not quite at her Pandora's Box level, but she's close. Brooks' filmography is actually rather sparse. However this film coupled with Pandora's Box and Diary of a Lost Girl justify all the accolades she receives to this day. These films are true artistic achievements. In Beggars of Life, Wallace Beery is at his sleazy best as the hobo alpha-chimp who turns out to have a soft heart of gold and Richard Arlen, while maintaining his matinée idol good looks, is superb as he slips out of his boy-next-door persona. Roscoe ("Shapley's the name and that's how I like 'em") Karns and Guinn "Big Boy" Williams also have parts and each adds spice to the story. Unfortunately the only copy I could find was a VHS tape produced by Grapevine Video out of Arizona that appears to be dubbed off of a 16mm television print with music that has nothing to do with the story. I like Beery, Brooks and Arlen as well as Beethoven, but not in this particular mix. Grapevine Video even had the nerve to claim a copyright to the music!!! I am sure the film is in the public domain and I KNOW Beethoven is. As others have noted, a crisp DVD would be greatly appreciated. I understand a better print exists and that the Mont Alto Motion Picture orchestra accompanied the film at the SFSFF in 2008. Let's hope they get together and prepare a decent video release! It would be worth the effort as Beggars of Life is truly one of the great films of the late silent era and ranks, in my opinion, up there with The Crowd and Sunrise in its realism and with its fine performances.