The Scarlet Car

Scarlet Car, The (1917)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Paul Revere Forbes (Lon Chaney) works at a small bank but he's also the distant relative of the Paul Revere, which makes his brag all the time. One day he catches his boxes trying to cover up some missing money and threatens to tell on them but they accidentally kill him--or so they think. Months later the man reappears to try and bring justice to the crooks. This is certainly a lesser Chaney film, although he is pretty good in it. His wacked out hair is certainly worth a brief look but the main players and the story are pretty dull.

A decent speeded of a sloppy story. Lon Chaney gives a performance of an ancestor of Paul Revere and his old man makeup is not as convincing. The aged beard &* whiskers gives hint at the character Jan in the lost film "Tower of Lies"(1925). Franklyn Farnum(no relation to William or Dustin) is the star of this Universal movie. The picture moves so fast you may have to watch more than once to follow the denouement. Edith Johnson is the leading actress here playing Chaney's daughter. The film also boasts a zippity car chase that verges on Sennett knockabout. The picture is directed by Joseph DeGrasse. His brother Sam Degrasse, one of silent films slickest villains, is a handsome costar. This film, which is based on a story by Richard Harding Davis, was lost for decades until a copy was located in the 1990s.

"The Scarlet Car", a film directed by Herr Joseph DeGrasse, older brother of the actor Sam DeGrasse, who obviously plays a role in this film ( in what is a good example of Amerikan nepotism… ), tells a story about bankers and crooks ( both concepts are synonymous, certainly… ) and murder and matrimony ( include here the same German comments of a moment ago ).

For the aristocracy and silent fans the most interesting aspect of this film is that it is one of Herr Chaney's earliest surviving films. Herr Chaney has a small but very important and decisive role, playing a bank cashier, Paul Revere Forbes, that works for two crooked bankers, Ernst and Cyrus Peabody ( Howard Crampton and Sam DeGrasse ), father and son respectively; they forge the bank's money and Herr Forbes knows everything about this; in order to have no trouble, the crooked bankers murder Forbes, not knowing that in this way they get involved in more troubles…

Anyway Herr Chaney is so great playing his characters, even the early ones, that he plays dead superbly in the film in order to put things right, incidentally marrying his daughter Beatrice ( Edith Johnson ) to Billy Winthrop ( Franklyn Farnum ), a promising business man.

The film has a certain and delightful scent of the past, including memories of old battles and such typical local customs as tarring and feathering people, peculiar scenes of a small Amerikan village, certainly… this film seems also to be an episode of one of those early silent serials in its concept and with its narrative, including two illuminating flashbacks for the service of a final thrilling climax.

And now, if you'll allow me, I must temporarily take my leave because this German Count must check that the bank accounts of his fat and rich German heiresses are in order.

Herr Graf Ferdinand Von Galitzien http://ferdinandvongalitzien.blogspot.com/

Paul Revere Forbes, a cashier in the bank run by Ernest Peabody and his father Cyrus, discovers one day that the two men are laundering money in the establishment. They decide to get rid of the troublemaker.

A curiosity. Despite being dull on the whole and although Lon Chaney hardly has the opportunity to shine in the role of an old accountant, Joseph DeGrasse's film surprises on occasion. Note the night sequence in the rain (a feat for a cinematographer of the time), the early use of flash-backs, one of which is even false (i.e. distorted by the lies of Peabody's son) and, on the dramatic level, the intervention in the action of the War of Independence patriot Paul Revere!

I found this film odd and interesting. It's not half bad but not the better stuff I've seen from Chaney. At first the film seemed a bit boring but once Paul Revere Forbes (Lon Chaney) goes into hiding the film builds steam quickly and become a really good film.

I have read the film was originally 80mins long but cut down to 60mins for the screen. Now version I have seen is just shy of 40mins which will explain why it's odd - there are some parts missing but I'm not sure if they are part of the "key" or just time filling scenes.

Anyway, it's a pretty good movie from what I have seen. And Chaney is good in the end - just not the best movie he's played in.

6/10