Weary River

Mostly talkie that's part silent (a goat gland), this film boasts solid performances by the stars: Richard Barthelmess and Betty Compson. He's a small-time gangster who gets framed by a rival and goes to prison. She's the moll with a heart of gold who waits for him.

This early talkie also boasts a few songs, including the wonderful title song sung by Barthelmess (but really Johnny Murray). Not just a gangster picture, this one shows how Barthelmess reforms and goes out into the world only to be called CONVICT at every turn. He almost goes bad again but a visit to the old warden (William Holden) sets him straight. Of course the rival gets bumped off anyway.

This film garnered a lot of bad publicity in 1929 because even though Barthlemss (a major star of his time) signed statements that the singing voice is his, rumor had it he was dubbed. It's obvious he's not singing live but whether the voice is actually his, we may never know. Still, Barthelmess gives a solid performance as does the beautiful Betty Compson (check out those close-ups!)as the loyal friend.

WEARY RIVER may be the first early talkie where there was a controversy over possible dubbing. It almost doesn't matter now, but Barthelmess got caught in a lie, stating he did his own singing when the songs were dubbed by Johnny Murray. Watch this one for Richard Barthelmess and Betty Compson--both early Oscar nominees--in solid performance in a very early talkie.

Weary River (1929), restored by UCLA and TCM, is a great chance to see two silent screen stars Richard Barthelmess and Betty Compson step into the talkie era together, warming your heart as they do so. Their characters are so obviously head over heels crazy about one another that you can't help but be endeared to them and their story.

Sure, we've seen prison films like this before, but there is still such a sweetness to this one because of the caliber of stars involved. Other silent stars like the first William Holden, who was a character actor of the era, and Gladden James, who got his start in silents in the 1910's, show up too and we get to hear their voices for the first time. Part silent - part talkie makes for an odd mix in most of these early sound films, but the very nice Vitaphone soundtrack helps to smooth over any rough spots.

I really loved the picture but then I'm very sentimental about these particular stars so please bear with me while I give this wonderful relic a 10 out of 10.

And my guess is that Richard Barthelmess is NOT singing here. The lip synching is off, and besides it doesn't sound like his voice at all. I wonder who the real singer was?

I've since researched the film on the TCM website and found the singer dubbing for Mr. Barthelmess was Johnny Murray.

The years 1928 to 1930 were perhaps the crappiest couple of years in movie history. This is the period during which films transitioned from silent to sound and the learning curve was steep for most. "Weary River" is one of the better transitional films, as it actually feels like a movie and not a sound stage-bound play.

This film is actually part silent and part sound, though the ratio is about 80/20 talking to silent. Richard Barthelmess and Betty Compson prove themselves to be decent talking actors, though neither went on to have substantial careers in the new medium. The material they're given is still of the melodramatic silent movie kind, so they can only do so much with it. But the film bucks some of the trends that make other early talkies such bores. For one, the camera actually moves, whereas most early talkies find the actors standing in one spot with a stationary camera planted squarely in the middle of the frame. Also, this film has nearly constant underscoring like a silent film would have, which reduces the amount of dead air that plagues many early sound films and causes them to have such stilted pacing. The silent/sound hybrid is weird to watch -- there's no narrative reason for some parts to have titles while others are spoken -- but it's like the fact that this film couldn't quite commit to being a complete talkie made it a better sound film than it would otherwise have been.

The title of the film comes from a song that Barthelmess's ex-con character makes famous and that launches his reformed life as a radio singer, a song which I hope you like because Barthelmess warbles it in its entirety for what feels like a dozen times.

"Weary River" was one of three films that brought Frank Lloyd a Best Director Oscar nomination in the 1928-29 award year, the other two being "The Divine Lady" and "Drag." This was a weird year for Oscar. Technically, there weren't any nominations; at the awards ceremony, only winners were announced in each category. I'm not sure how people knew to show up for the ceremony if they weren't officially nominated, but that's something to figure out some other day I guess. But historical documents have since suggested what films were being considered in each category, and "Weary River" was included in Best Director. Frank Lloyd did win, but he won only for "The Divine Lady," as it seems that, though an artist could be nominated for multiple films, the voters were able to show preference for what film actually went with the award.

A bit of trivia -- Lloyd was only the second and last person to win a Best Director Oscar for a film not also nominated for Best Picture (Lewis Milestone was the first, for "Two Arabian Knights" from the previous year, though the first Oscar ceremony included two Best Director awards, one for dramatic films and one for comedies, so it's no an exact comparison).

Grade: B-

"Weary River" is what you might call a transitional style movie from Warner Brothers/Vitaphone. While it's not truly a full talking picture since much of it is silent and uses intertitles, some of it is sound--a bit of the dialog and the songs. This is exactly what they did previously with "The Jazz Singer" and by 1929, they'd finally be making all sound pictures. So, many of the films from the studio in 1928 would be like this...providing enough sound to please the masses...for now.

Jerry (Richard Barthelmess) is a gangster, though he dresses nice and doesn't look or sound like one. His life of crime eventually catches up to him and he's sent to prison. The warden of the place is an odd one--very progressive for the time and dedicated to fixing the cons who can be fixed. As for Jerry, he's initially dubious but soon finds a niche leading the prison's orchestra and writing music. He's so successful that he eventually becomes a radio sensation and one of his songs is a hit. Soon, he's released from prison. However, there's a strong pull from his old life--and when he finds out who set him up, he's mad enough to kill. What's next? And, how does the old warden enter the picture?

This film suffers a bit here and there because the movie is a tad overly melodramatic. And, the story wraps up too quickly and easily. Still, for the time, it's a very good picture and worth your time.

Frank Lloyd was Oscar nominated for this film & two others, in 1929, about a gangster imprisoned, who becomes a singer...singing endlessly throughout the film the title song.

It's part silent-part talkie...which makes me think that this had been originally shot as a silent and then some portions of it where re-shot with dialogue, a usual thing to be done back in 1929.

A rare chance to watch William Holden, the elderly character actor (no relation to the star of Sunset Boulevard) of late silents and early talkies, who's very, very fine as the warden of the prison, in which gangster Richard Barthelmess is locked up. Barthelmess is good as Jerry Larrabee and Betty Compson (although her voice sounds a little bit high-pitched-maybe due to technical shortcomings)is fine too, as her girlfriend.

Thanks again to TCM, for the opportunity of watching another "rarity", not seen for a long time (completely restored, as best as possible).