Sally of the Sawdust

I am a great fan of W.C. Fields, and continue to study his life and especially his work that is available to us. This is the only movie currently available to me to judge his work as a confident silent movie actor and comedian. I admit that perhaps I am not coming to this movie with the best agenda to appreciate it as a film on it's own terms. This is a D.W. Griffiths film after all - the alleged father of movies as we know them today. Don't ask me. I wouldn't know if that's a deserved reputation or not.

I did enjoy this film. I thought Carol Dempster was good in her role, but of course I was more interested in the times when Fields is on screen. There are some specific moments for Fields fans to savour. The fleeting shots of his juggling skills, the first evidence of the subtle reactions and gestures that we know from his classic talkies of the 1930's, and the peanut cart disguise for a liquor cabinet that survives from his Zeigfield Follies days.

This won't be a movie I turn to as often as I do to the great W.C. Fields films of 1932-34, but I'm just so glad that it has not been lost to us as have been other of Fields silent film work.

SALLY OF THE SAWDUST (United Artists, 1925), directed by DW Griffith, the man responsible for such early silent epics as THE BIRTH OF A NATION (1915) and INTOLERANCE (1916), as well as Hollywood's first tragedy, BROKEN BLOSSOMS (1919), now past his prime, attempts a feature length comedy taken from Dorothy Donnelly's 1923 stage play of "Poppy," which helped establish the career of vaudevillian WC Fields. Reprising his stage role as Professor Eustace McGargle (sporting checkered pants, derby and a mustache), this not only became Fields' first important screen role, but one of his most notable characters. He would repeat his McGargle role once more (minus derby and mustache) in the 1936 sound version of POPPY (Paramount) with Rochelle Hudson taking the title role. As for the silent original, Poppy is renamed Sally as the movie itself has been retitled, with the background shifting from the 1800s to modern-day 1920s era. Being able to see and compare both SALLY OF THE SAWDUST and POPPY, it is evident that no two versions are alike. The only similarities would be McGargle (Fields), the carnival con man, rearing a young girl since childhood as his own, unaware to he that he's her surrogate father; his attempt to restore her back to her deceased mother's wealthy parents; and the girl's love for a rich man's son.

For SALLY OF THE SAWDUST, being the best known feature length film for either WC Fields or Carol Dempster during the silent era, mainly due to its current availability and frequent revivals, it's nearly forgotten that this particular assignment was actually directed by the father of film himself, DW Griffith, in spite the fact that many of his famous trademarks are evident here, such as his signature beneath the title cards; numerous closeups on the title character being Dempster; flashbacks giving insight to Sally's origins, her mother, and how McGargle was chosen as the little girl's guardian prior to her mother's death; along with cut to the chase and last minute rescues. For today's audience aware of this film's very existence, SALLY OF THE SAWDUST is remembered solely as a Fields comedy, but it's Dempster who acquires most of the attention under Griffith's careful supervision. Dressed nearly throughout the story in shabby attire, one scene, set during a society function, spotlights Dempster's Sally all dolled up in elegant fashion, styled hair, necklaces, and wearing low-cut evening gowns.

As for the story, Sally (Carol Dempster) is the circus waif reared by Professor Eustance McGargle (WC Fields), a lovable con man, sideshow juggler and entertainer. (Flashbacks reveal that Sally, whose mother had married a circus man against the wishes of her father, later becoming a widow with a child, and before she, too, dies, entrusts her little girl to their best friend, McGargle.) Now that Sally is a young adult, McGargle comes to the conclusion that Sally is growing up and decides to return her to grandparents, now living in Green Meadow. Upon their arrival, they both stir up controversy when attending a charity bazaar for homeless children which is taking place near the estate of the very wealthy Judge Henry L. Foster (Erville Alderson) and his wife (Effie Shannon), who happen to be Sally's grandparents. Complications arise when Peyton Lennox (Alfred Lunt) ,the rich young son of a respected leading citizen engaged to marry a society society girl he does not love, becomes infatuated by the visiting Sally. After her "Pop" escapes arrest for dealing in a crooked card game, Sally, in turn is arrested and jailed, while Peyton gets sent out of town by his parents hoping that he'd forget about this common girl. As McGargle learns of Sally's predicament, he's in one himself being held hostage by bootleggers in a far away cottage.

Regardless of numerous changes from the original play, SALLY OF THE SAWDUST does remain loyal to Fields' character, a juggler and shifty con man who "never gives a sucker an even break," with motto being "It's the old Army game." Fields, who makes the most of his initial movie lead, does display his given talent through several key scenes, but it's director Griffith who makes one big mistake by shifting Fields' juggling act in the background with the camera range at a far distance distracted by the heads of his curious spectators, instead of focusing in a nearer range and center stage of him. While not one of the best comedies from the silent era, SALLY OF THE SAWDUST does include some fine comedic moments, mostly supplied by Fields himself.

SALLY OF THE SAWDUST was first introduced to public television as part of the 13-week 1971 presentation of THE SILENT YEARS, hosted by Orson Welles, which was, by this time, the only known surviving WC Fields from the silent era. During Welles' profile on both film and Fields, it's interesting to note how Welles affectionately spoke of Fields by addressing him as "Uncle Claude." Out of circulation for little over a decade, SALLY OF THE SAWDUST resurfaced on video cassette by the 1980s, with one of the distributors being Blackhawk Video, accompanied by Wurlitzer pipe organ score by Jack Ward, the same score that was used for THE SILENT YEARS. The movie's length, ranging from 90 minutes to nearly two hours, depending on the distributor and the silent projector speed. For an added bonus, KINO Video distributed the restored 112 minute VHS /DVD version with new orchestral score consisting of prologue opening and some lost footage supposedly unseen since its initial release.

Because of the mild success to SALLY OF THE SAWDUST, Griffith reunited Dempster and Fields in THAT ROYAL GIRL (1926). Due to the unavailability of that reunion, SALLY OF THE SAWDUST goes down in movie history as the one that paved the way to the future comedy cinematic world of a man named WC Fields. (***)

It's not often realised how strong the links were between silent cinema and the theatrical entertainment world of Vaudeville. W.C. Fields, like many Vaudeville comedians started out in pantomime – juggling, pratfalling and other staples of silent comedy. Fields would later add dialogue to his act and cultivate his now familiar persona, eventually progressing onto full-length comic dramas. Sally of the Sawdust, his first feature-length movie creates an odd shift in his career. It is adapted from his most recent stage hit Poppy, and yet the very different medium of pre-talkie cinema meant he had to rely upon the old routines from his pantomime days.

The picture sees him teamed up with pioneer director D.W. Griffith, now sadly long past his glory days. Griffith was never really much of a comedy director. He doesn't seem to have the confidence in his performers to let them do their stuff and allow the scenes to play out. Instead he seems stuck in the Keystone Cops mode of slapstick, which is always very frenetic, with lots of cuts. In a way this works out well because Griffith could at least direct a good action sequence, and scenes like the punch-up at the circus even if not very funny are at least nicely timed and escalated. Besides, even if the comedy fails the general air of irreverence stops the picture from getting too mawkish.

It is also rather nice to see Griffith returning to a simple, human story, as his usual epics with ride-to-the-rescue finales had been getting a little stale of late. Sally of the Sawdust more than any other harks back to the short films he made in the early teens for the way he focuses on individuals rather than wider social processes. There are some good examples of the way he builds up an emotional story. In the prologue, when the daughter is kicked out, we see the mother and father turn away from each other to face opposite walls, the camera well back in the large space, a perfect evocation of this cold, fractured household. And Griffith is still so good at expressing a feeling with the most delicate of close-ups, showing us for example Carol Dempster's hand clutching at the grass as she canoodles with Alfred Lunt. Acting performances vary immensely across Griffith's body of work, but the relatively restrained turns from Dempster and Elfie Shannon as old Mrs Foster add immensely to the poignant final scenes.

But what of W.C. Fields himself? We here and there see him going off into some bit of comedy business, but the truth is as a slapstick comic he is nothing really exceptional. He doesn't have the energy or flexibility to keep up with the wilder slapstick, and sequences like the one where he keeps knocking off his own hat just look out of place. Of course there is a lot more for him to do in Sally of the Sawdust, and Fields is at his funniest when simply acting out bits of the play (presumably kept intact from the original stage version) in his own characteristic manner. When trying to evade the police, he emerges from his hiding place wrapped in a cloak disguised as an Indian, and it is the way he strolls towards the camera, nonchalantly puffing on a cigar, that makes the moment funny. Still, there is clearly something missing from the act – the delivery, the voice, not to mention the opportunity to develop a curmudgeonly character without having to occasionally play the clown. It is no wonder his screen career never really took off until the arrival of the talkies.

Well done melodrama that tells the story of Sally, tomboy dancer in the circus, raised by sideshow performer McGargle (played by W.C. Fields), he of the top hat, little mustache, checkered pants, and proficiency as juggler, pickpocket, and runner of carnival con games like Three Card Monte and the Old Shell Game. McGargle has raised Sally, who worships him as her "real father" since Sally's mother (kicked out of her home by her father, a judge, when she married a "circus man") died and left Sally orphaned. Sally is feisty and loyal to McGargle no matter what he gets up to - but McGargle seems to feel a bit of guilt over keeping her in the circus instead of with her own family all these years. When they end up performing in a carnival in the town where her wealthy grandparents live, McGargle uses the opportunity to "investigate" Sally's real family, with the idea that he may restore her to them. But grandfather the judge takes an immediate disliking to Sally 'cause he doesn't like a "show girl" - what a stern, narrow-minded man he is, a real piece of work that guy! And meanwhile Sally is busy being pursued by a handsome and rich young man, son of the man who helped grandpa get his riches.

This is a very good film with a few laughs here and there and a sort of odd editing style (I don't know how to describe this other than it shows long shots, then sort of jumps back a few seconds or changes angle suddenly as a close up is shown). Carol Dempster, who plays Sally, is delightful here - quite cute and comical in her performance. W.C. Fields, even without his famous voice, is very funny - just the way he moves and his amusing, comical reactions to things (like a small dog seen in one funny scene), we even see him juggling briefly in this. I love the few peeks at the old-fashioned circus and carnival that is shown here. The print of this featured on the DVD is very nice looking, tinted a light sepia tone, and the piano score for this is really excellent, performed by Philip Carli based on the original cue sheets.

Seems to have been made as a vehicle for W.C. Fields and Carol Dempster and they dominate it. Fields already has his film character well developed. Carol Dempster seems to dance through the film and her acting reminds me of Mary Pickford, who also worked a long time under D.W. Griffith. Typical of later Griffith films technically.

Later remade as Poppy (the original title) with Fields in the same role.