Free to Love

Silent films can be difficult to abide for some viewers, and as someone who once would have said the same about themselves, I can appreciate why. Even setting aside the matter of preservation, and print degradation, and deficiencies of image quality, still this picture rather demonstrates at least a couple factors behind that disparity across the decades. There's an astounding directness to the plot at large, and even the orchestration of specific scenes, that's unremittingly bare-faced. That forthright approach also serves to amplify the sense, already inculcated by discrete division between scenes by expository intertitles if not also compartmentalization into distinct story segments, that the proceedings are emphatically staged, and not natural. Add in expression of language and values that are so far removed from modern sensibilities as to make it feel like we're stepping into another world, and the silent era certainly isn't for everyone. Even at that, not all titles carry the same difficulties - and though 'Free to love' does, for those who are already enamored of the timeframe, it's nonetheless a suitably well made and entertaining drama.

This is definitely an instance where the limitations of the style put some constraints on the actors, disallowing them from wholly exploring their characters and getting into the spirit of the story as they might if the structure were less rigid. With that said, it's perhaps all the more impressive that the cast are still able to inject a measure of vitality into their roles, personality that's almost lost in the enforced orderliness of plainspoken writing and even direction. Raymond McKee, for example, stands out for the wild-eyed comportment he gives supporting character Tony; mega-star Clara Bow, given the lead role, doesn't always have as much time on screen as one might think, but makes "protagonist" Marie plentifully charming and sympathetic even under these circumstances. I'm a little less impressed with the storytelling. Even putting aside the brusqueness of plot development the narrative feels unfocused, never truly feeling centered; many scenes and story beats present with the Just So ethos of communicating a tale even if it's not complete or in its ideal form - an ethos that sometimes extends even to not squarely identifying who each and every figure is. This dovetails into one other issue with older movies, I might add, which is that all too often, actors or characters of one gender or another bear so similar an appearance that, defined by hair and makeup work and further hampered by less than pristine image quality, means that it can be difficult to even discern one character from another as the saga progresses.

I do like the plot in its broad strokes, however, a compelling if familiar tale of pride, shame, redemption, love, and so on in the face of crime and ill-doings. While I think Frank O'Connor's direction is uneven, at his best here he illustrates a keen eye for shot composition, and building scenes generally. This includes some fine use of lighting, and moreover, I appreciate the work of the crew in terms of the production design and art direction, and even the costume design. For all the problems one might identify with the construction of 'Free to love' specifically, as the course of events moves along the saga is quite suitable all around to keep one invested and see just where it's going to end up (though it's not hard to guess). And as has been true elsewhere, as a bonus it's worth mentioning that the art adorning the intertitles is rather fetching, and a minor joy as each card greets us.

Suffice to say that of all the silent features one might watch, their value can range from the absolutely essential, to the passable, and more rarely to poor. I don't think there's any arguing that this picture is less than a must-see; no matter how you look at it, there are weaknesses of both storytelling and film-making that dampen the viewing experience to one extent or another. It's also not abjectly terrible, however; for all its flaws, the narrative keeps one watching, and the cast and crew put in good work that makes the most of what they had to work with. On the balance this is more worth watching than not, with the caveat that only established devotees of the era will find this admirable. As much as I enjoy such classics, even my favor rises and recedes from one moment to the next as the length progresses. I don't think there's any need to go out of your way for this, but if you have the chance to watch and are eager for more silent films, then 'Free to love' is a decent way to spend an hour.

This old Clara Bow melodrama moves quickly and has a story that holds your attention. Bow plays a young woman trying to get a new start after being unjustly sentenced to a term in a reformatory. The story that follows is not very plausible, and it has a couple of rather routine elements, but it does have a lot of action and creates some suspense. Bow's performances and many of her films relied on her personality and her contemporary appeal, rather than on depth or creativity, and thus they have not always held up as well over the years as the best movies of the era have. But she's usually worth watching, and while this one does show its age, it's still a decent film that is worth a look for fans of silent movies.

This was one of Clara Bow's films that had passed me by , I thought I had seen them all , being a fan and all that The version I watched was a bad print but what do you expect , as my heading states the film is nearly 100 years old , but Clara when you can see her properly still looks amazing

The plot is silly ,, this film apparently took two weeks to make ,and it shows , but I only watched it for Clara , I must ask why in every film the leading men and love interests are always old enough to be her dad

I would recommend watching just to glean every performance of the genuine IT Girls the one and only Clara Bow ,

Free to Love (1925)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

Marie Anthony (Clara Bow) gets released from a reformatory so she heads to the judge's house who wrongly sent her away. Once at the house she pulls a gun on him but the judge (Winter Hall) breaks down admitting he was wrong and offers to take her in as his own. She accepts and soon falls in love with Reverend (Donald Keith) but soon her crooked path catches up with her. Okay, this melodrama is just downright bad, bad, bad. I mean really bad from the start to the end but the thing is so bad that I actually found myself somewhat enjoying what was going on. There are some really embarrassing moments here and they start as the beginning when the judge just overlooks the fact that this woman has pulled a gun on him. She hates him with a passion but they break down and become best friends in the matter of seconds. Even sillier is a supporting character who is either a hunchback trying to copy Lon Chaney or the character is suffering from some type of brain damage. Either way this guy does the dumbest tricks and how the film tries to make him some tortured soul is just hilarious when you really pay attention to it. The relationship between Marie and the Reverend is just as silly and not for a second did I believe anything between them. Once again Bow serves as eye candy as her acting leaves a lot to be desired. I thought there were times when she was way over-the-top and others where it just seemed like she didn't know what she was doing. I'm willing to guess she was overworked considering she made so many movies in 1925 alone or perhaps the director just didn't want to tell her to do another take. Whatever the reason I didn't care too much for her here and Keith is just as bland as was the case in the other films he did with Bow. At just 61-minutes there's not much that happens here but when the film does try to be drama it comes off more as a comedy.

You may have heard about how Clara Bow was the It Girl of the Prohibition era. 1927's "It" (not to be confused with the Stephen King novel) was her most famous outing, but another example was 1925's "Free to Love". This movie doesn't have any sort of complex plot, but it's still enjoyable enough for its short runtime. Worth seeing.