Lady of the Night

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.

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.)

Norma Shearer is terrific playing a dual role in this well-done silent film about two women - Molly, the daughter of a convict and Florence, the daughter of the judge who sentenced him. Molly of the heavily painted face, huge feather hat, and big beaded necklace, lives in a flat on the wrong side of the tracks and goes out with a little local named Chunky. But while out at the nearby dance hall she meets a handsome, crooked grinned lug named Dave Page, who she instantly falls in love with. Dave has invented, of all things, a device that can open any safe in the world - encouraged by Molly to "not go crooked", he sells the invention to the judge and a group of bank directors, and soon literally bumps into Florence - and into a love of his own! Poor, poor Molly.

Norma Shearer is so good in this, the characters of Molly and Florence completely seem like two different women, and excellent split screen photography is used here when they are both on screen at the same time. I thought there would be something in this about the fact that the two are lookalikes, perhaps switching places or something - never happens. The fact they look alike is just not part of the plot here. The lighting is done in an interesting way in this - Norma as Florence seems to be shot in more filtered, subtle lighting and she looks very lovely - Norma as Molly is severely lit to make her look more sharp and, boy oh boy, does the thick makeup she wears as this character look really harsh - she looks almost like a prostitute here. The print of this film looked gorgeous, full of sharp contrast, and brightly tinted in sepia/orange, pink, and blue shades. The piano score for this, done by Jon Mirsalis, is wonderful and matches the story well.

Norma Shearer began her career playing bit parts in 1920. Four years later she reached stardom in a series of hit films like "He Who Gets Slapped"(MGM,1924) and "The Snob"(MGM,1924) but it is this beautifully done film released in early 1925 that made her a top MGM star. She plays a good girl and a bad girl and is just marvelous in both roles. The film is not long on story but Monta Bell's excellent direction and Norma's superb acting make this silent film so much more. The forgotten George K. Arthur lends fine support but it is Norma at her silent era peak that makes this a must see. SHe is just great in the hooker role-a forerunner of the racy roles she would excel in during the early talkie period.