Lazybones

Some of the more innovative film directors and screenwriters insert symbolism into their movies to give deeper meanings to their work. A prime example is director Frank Borzage and the use of symbolism in his November 1925 "Lazybones."

The Frances Marion script was adapted from Owen Davis' story of the same name. It's about a simple son, Steve, who lives with his mother. Steve (Buck Jones) has a habit of sleeping and fishing all day and not doing needed repairs around the house. A quick look at the plot can be interpreted as just a lazy guy experiencing a sleeping problem. But delving deeper into the film's overall storyline, some reviewers have seen Steve personifying nature as a whole. When he's sleeping, he's outside in all kinds of weather. While fishing (sleeping of course) on a nearby riverbank, his body curves exactly into the shape of the tree he's fishing from. There's a naturalist feel of Steve's world. Ultimately, as the picture unfolds, it's apparent those who go against nature are the losers in the story.

Mrs. Fanny (Emily Fitzroy) is very strict with her two daughters. The older daughter, Ruth (Zasu Pitts) has left home, and is a widow with a baby. The younger one, Agnes (Jane Novak), likes Steve, but the mother adamantly disapproves the relationship. She ends up being a spinster while Ruth, who has returned home, secretly leaves the baby with Steve. Ruth never tells her mother about her previous marriage and infant. She wilts to her mother's wishes for her choice of a husband in town and marries the prim and proper, but abusive local man. Throughout "Lazybones," the pattern repeats itself on the natural cycle of nature and the "unnatural" actions of the characters who don't follow "natural" impulses. The latter are scarred for life.

Another of Borzage's motifs playing a pivotal role in "Lazybones" is the river. Steve is seen for the first time getting off his duff while fishing and diving into the river to save the suicidal Zasu early in the movie. It is on the dock of the river he is handed over Zasu's baby, a life-changing responsibility for Steve. And when he falls in love with the young woman he's raised, Kit (Madge Bellamy as the grown-up), he's standing in a tributary of the river where he discovers his "unnatural" physical romantic notions are thwarted by her boyfriend's marriage proposal.

Buck Jones' role as Steve was unusual for the former stuntman-turned-movie actor. Previously, his primary films were Westerns, at times as a backup for superstar Tom Mix. Jones hit his stride in the mid-1920s, becoming a major star. He transitioned well when sound emerged in films, but only in low-budged movies. He happened to be inside Boston's Cocoanut Grove night club on the evening of November 28, 1942, when a destructive fire erupted. He was one of 492 victims who succumbed to the blaze that fateful night. Jones died two days later from his injuries at the age of 50.

"Lazybones", directed by Herr Frank Borzage was the beginning of this director's most fruitful period in the silent era. Like Herr Borzage's other most important and remarkable silent films,"Lazybones" was produced for Fox.

"Lazybones" tells the story of Steve Tuttle ( Buck Jones ) "a man as slow as molasses in winter" so the people gave him the nickname of "Lazybones" a man with many unrequited loves that he will sacrifice in a languid way true to his character. The film combines a refined sense of humour with a kind of melancholy melodrama developed by excellent actors who are perfect in their different characters. Buck Jones was mainly famous for his cowboy roles ( And Borzage himself was also noted for his early westerns ). Steve's opposite is JaneNovak (Zasu Pitts) , a victim of her strict mother, and who is a fragile character with little chance for rebellion in a town where convention rules and keeping up appearances is a very important matter.

In this film nature and the landscapes are very important too and become subtle characters in their own right. They sometimes reflect the different moods or the special way of life of the different characters of the film, ( sunny, idyllic and carefree for Lazybones and unsettled and windy for the women ). The decisive importance of the background shows an European influence, especially from the Danes and Swedes. The film is also an excellent example of the Herr Borzage mastery of storytelling and pacing. Technical effects, flashbacks and camera movements are combined in such an imperceptible manner that the audience can feel and sense the inexorable passing of time in an elegant, sad but beautiful way…,this German count, who lacks some of the common human feelings, still thinks that makes for poetry, doesn't it?

And now, if you'll allow me, I must temporarily take my leave because this German Count must go stretch.

Herr Graf Ferdinand Von Galitzien

At his peak in the 1930s and 1940s, to watch Frank Borzage with pleasure, you have to believe in love as something more than a variety of lust. It can be transformative when living (as in the terrific and subtle A MAN'S CASTLE) and, in the hands of performers like Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell, can even overcome death -- although I should caution the observant film watcher that the enormous power of those movies lies in the unequaled abilities of Miss Gaynor, who was a truly great film actor; Mr. Farrell was a good one and gave many a fine performance, but it finally occurred to the people who made the movies that no one would go out of his way to see Mr. Farrell on his own.

Although the influence of Murnau on Borzage is usually cited as key, looking at this movie, made three years before SUNRISE, we can see that the essence of Borzage is already in place: the small figures against the enormous vistas, the seemingly inevitable workings-out of the plot but most especially the way people look at each other: Buck Jones never gave a better performance than as the title character of this piece. As another reviewer has put it, it's all in the eyes.

Visually, Borzage has not settled on his signature look, a gauzy effect achieved, according to legend, by filming through a pair of sheer white hose that softened the image and forced the audience to see what was in the viewer's heart. Instead, the print that was used in the Borzage/Murnau at Fox set seems both a little flat -- perhaps from a safety-stock print -- and possessed of a bit of dazzle on the right side of white objects. Perhaps this effect was intended. Perhaps not. In either case, this is a most welcome addition to my collection of silent movies.

Buck Jones is a huge surprise in this 1925 silent, playing a rural man who lives with his mother (Edythe Chapman) and is known as Lazybones. Frank Borzage's delicate film (beautifully shot) shows the true of a man no one really knows. He sits around and fishes, neglecting chores and a local girl (Jane Novak) who is in love with him, much to the relief of her battle-axe mother (Emily Fitzroy).

The one day, her sister (Zasu Pitts) returns from the city, where she was married to a sailor who has been lost at sea. She also has a baby. Knowing that no one in small-town America will believe she had been married, she sets down the baby and jumps into the river. Lazybones sees her and jumps in to save her. She tells him her story and they concoct a plan whereby he will claim to have found the baby and she can return home alone in a few days.

Of course the town turns on him and the baby girl, but Lazybones holds to his promise while Pitts is consigned to marry a local jerk. Even the sister turns on Lazybones and says she'll never speak to him again. The years pass.

As World War I approached, Lazybones goes off the war while the baby Kit (Madge Bellamy) is now about 15. Lazybones inadvertently becomes a war hero and returns to a town that has still never quite forgiven him. Kit now has a boyfriend (Leslie Fenton). Lazybones realizes he is in love with Kit and just as quickly realizes how many of their lives have changed over the years.

Jones is terrific. He usually starred in Westerns and for a time rivaled William S. Hart in popularity. Here he has a chance at a part that requires a delicate mix of drama and comedy. Zasu Pitts is fantastic as the tragic Ruth. Best know for her fluttery old maids, here she turns in a solid dramatic performance. Also good are Bellamy, Novak, and Chapman. A special word is needed for Fitzroy, who along with Josephine Crowell, ranks among the major battle-axes of the silent era.

A final word on Buck Jones. He was still going strong in 1942, starring in B Westerns when he was caught in the famous Coconut Grove fire in Boston. He died two days later.

Uncommonly fine little rural romance, where the familiar plot contrivances (mother love, war heroics, the "Daddy Long Legs" motif of the benefactor falling in love with his ward) are transcended by sensitive treatment. Borzage was working near the height of his powers, and his restrained handling of the actors and staging of the scenes make this comedy-drama far less dated than most of its contemporaries. He seems to really believe in the material, and so will you. Buck Jones, for most of his career a B-Western star, shows what he can do under a fine director: He has expressive eyes and a tender rapport with the rest of the cast. Also, as with so many Borzage projects, it's beautifully shot. One complaint: It ends rather abruptly and inconclusively (unless I saw an incomplete print). You expect things to come full circle, and they don't.