Lady of the Night

Lady of the Night (1925)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Norma Shearer plays dual roles in this film, which was out of the public eye for many years until eventually being rescued by Turner Classic Movies in 2006. They remastered the film and added a wonderful musical score by Jon Mirsalis. In the film Shearer plays Molly, a girl who grew up in a reform school after he father was sent to prison when she was born. Florence, also played by Shearer, is a rich girl who grew up with everything she needed. As adults the two women remain strangers but they both end up falling in love with an inventor (Malcolm McGregor) and soon will have to face another another. Okay, there was a review of this movie in the San Francisco Examiner, which called this movie a masterpiece and one of the all-time greats and this got expectations high for many, many people but then many were letdown when they actually got to see the film. I would be one of them because while the performances are good the story itself was a complete mess. Not only was the story completely unoriginal, it's also very lazy and it really doesn't try to do anything special. The IMDb lists a 70-minute running time but the edition prepared by TCM ran 64-minutes. I'm curious if the film originally ran longer because there are several plot gaps throughout the film including any type of backstory explaining why Molly was in a reform school. Shearer is very good in both of her roles but I prefer her as Florence. I think she brings a lot of heart and soul to both women but at times Molly rubbed me the wrong way. It's also worth noting that Joan Crawford was the body double used here so whenever you see Shearer from behind you're actually seeing Crawford. In the end, silent buffs will want to watch this early production from MGM but it's doubtful others will find too much entertainment here.

This is a pretty straightforward silent romantic melodrama, and it's unclear why Norma Shearer was cast in a dual role when the two characters are not related and there's nothing in the plot that requires them to look at all alike, but it's made interesting by the excellent performance Shearer turns in as Molly. Florence is a typical goody-good Shearer characterization but Molly is a much more fascinating character, not really a "bad" girl but a young woman who's living by her wits, close enough to the underworld to be involved with a shady character like "Chunky" Dunn but decent enough to steer the hero away from criminal temptations. Beautifully made up and costumed (those feathers in her hat seem to have a life of their own!), Shearer as Molly turns in a sensitive performance, alive to the pathos of the character: it's a real pity she didn't make more films playing roles like this instead of the impossibly good heroines (like Florence in this film) for which she became known. (Incidentally the print I saw on Turner Classic Movies ran only 64 minutes and did not contain a two-strip Technicolor sequence — a real pity since I like the look of two-strip and am always glad when I can see a well-preserved example of it.)

TCM is showing a very crisp print of LADY OF THE NIGHT, tinted throughout in shades of blue, yellow, orange, sepia, etc. and giving it a more interesting look than most of the B&W films of that era. It's accompanied by a very perky score by Jon Mirsalis that captures the feel of the story with style.

NORMA SHEARER has the chance to play two roles, a poor girl from the wrong side of the tracks and a rich society girl--with both of them in love with leading man MALCOM McGREGOR. The stories are blended because the poor girl is the daughter of a criminal sentenced to life in prison and the rich girl is the daughter of the judge who sentenced him.

Camera work is marvelous in scenes where Shearer acts with herself, technically excellent in the manner the actress is photographed for the dual scenes. Particularly clever is the use of tinted photography to make the story more vivid.

For Shearer fans, this is a must see since this is really a minor gem in her career. She's equally convincing as Molly, the gum-chewing gal who knows she's not respectable enough to win the love of the inventor she has helped, and the quiet and thoughtful rich girl who realizes that poor Molly really has first claim on McGregor's heart.

The ending manages to be a mixture of sadness and brightness, a satisfying conclusion to an interesting and poignant tale about the whims of true love when it comes to wealth and poverty.

A judge (Fred Esmelton) sentences a man (Lew Harvey) to 20 years in prison. Cut to 18 years later, and the judge's daughter Florence (Norma Shearer) is graduating from finishing school, a privileged young lady ready for society. Meanwhile, across town, the convict's daughter Molly (also Norma Shearer) is getting released from reformatory school, with no prospects for a future. Molly and her friends quickly turn to prostitution, with Molly "taken care of" by Chunky Dunn (George K. Arthur). Molly meets handsome inventor Dave (Malcolm McGregor), and quickly falls for him and his possibility of a brighter future. But Dave meets Florence while seeking backing for one of his inventions, and falls for the more reputable girl. Also featuring Dale Fuller, Gwen Lee, and Betty Morrissey.

I think this may be my favorite performance by Shearer. While she's the usual wet-blanket as the goodie two-shoes Florence, she's alive, vibrant and real as the hard-bitten Molly. The plot and secondary characters are largely forgettable, with the exception of Molly's friends. 19-year-old Joan Crawford sort of makes her screen debut as Shearer's body double whenever her two characters share the screen. Crawford can fleetingly be seen made-up as the Molly character during one brief moment when Florence and Molly embrace, as well.

I saw this silent film at the SF Silent Film Festival in 2004 as well, and it was the highlight of the festival for me. Norma Shearer at her best, and Monta Bell absolutely brilliant. I was amazed by how the narrative was so well told through multiple simple, powerful visual moments, and succinct, thoughtful words. The print was beautiful and crisp.

I hope this film comes out on DVD. It's a silent film that is so subtle, contemporary, and accessible that it defies some stereotypes of silent films as overly dramatic gesturing fests.