Dream Street

Dream Street (1921)

** (out of 4)

Typical love triangle has brothers (Charles Emmett Mack, Ralph Graves) falling in love with the same woman, Gypsy Fair (Carol Dempster) and soon their loving relationship starts to fall apart. Things take an even more dangerous turn when the evil Swan Way (Edward Peil Sr.) takes an interest in Gypsy. You can't help but watch this film and have BROKEN BLOSSOMS in the back of your mind since the stories from both films came from the same book. When this film was originally released it got mixed reviews with some calling it quite poor but others, like the Nation Board of Review, calling it one of the ten best films of the year. I'm going to have to fall on the negative side. I should mention that the film originally played with a sound introduction by Griffith as well as two other sound sequences but my copy didn't have any of this but I'm not sure how much that would have added to the film. With that said, the biggest problem is without question the acting which is pretty horrid. Most people hate Dempster with a passion but I think given the right role she could do nice work (see Griffith's THE SORROWS OF Satan) but this isn't that right role. She's all over the map here because at times she underplays scenes and then other times she's way too over the top. I also can't help but feel Griffith made her watch Gish's performance in that 1919 film and there's even a sequence here where the evil Chinese lord throws her into a closet and we get that "fear" sequence, which comes off incredibly bad even when you don't compare it to the masterful sequence by Gish. Mack doesn't fair any better as he too seems to be all over the place as is Graves. Tyrone Power, Sr. has a nice little part and Porter Strong, Griffith's blackface expert, has his typical comic relief part. Griffth's direction handles everything quite well but there's just no getting over the fact that the performances aren't very good and we're also missing G.W. Bitzer and this certainly takes away from the look of the film. Griffith fans will certainly want to check this one out just to complete their viewing pleasure but everyone else would be best to stay away.

It does not give me any pleasure in rating 'Dream Street' low or leaving a negative review. Have a high appreciation of silent film, and recognise many silent films for their importance in the development of cinema. There are many master directors and their best films are revolutionary and examples to the genres they fit under. DW Griffith at his best was one of the masters, he was not consistent but he did make some great films (i.e. 'Intolerance'), feature and short.

'Dream Street' is absolutely not one of them. In my view of course. Of the Griffith films seen, it is second worst with only 'Abraham Lincoln' being worse. 'Dream Street' has its moments and sporadic good things, but those good moments and good things are far outweighed by the many (very) bad things. Really wanted to at least appreciate it, considering my appreciation for silents and Griffith, but there was just far too little wrong for me to remotely like it.

Will begin with what 'Dream Street' did reasonably well in, which was sadly not a lot. The best thing about it is the photography, which may not have been revolutionary but it did show a lot of skill, care and effort with a lot of atmosphere and style. Great enough for the film to warrant more than one star when it comes to the overall rating.

Overall the acting was not very good to put it lightly, but Ralph Graves at least tries without trying too hard and shows some professionalism. The beginning was ominous and there is occasional flashes of greatness in direction with creating an atmosphere.

Sadly, so much works against 'Dream Street'. The rest of the acting agreed is horrid. On one side we have Charles Emmett Mack, whose inexperience really shows in an expressionless and charismmatic as wood performance. On the other side we have Edward Peil Sr hamming it up horribly. Worst of all is Carol Dempster, whose performance is an erratic mix of both extremes with the more histrionic moments being embarrassing. Never felt anything for any of the characters, none being interesting or developed enough, and never was the romantic triangle investable (all a big so what and why bother).

It is filled with stilted and unintentionally camp writing and mostly Griffith's direction is lethargic and indifferent. The story suffers from a deadingly pedestrian pace and from being structurally paper thin, padded out by overlong scenes there only for padding reasons and distract from the plot. There isn't even enough content to fill a short film and how everything flows and is staged is so static. While the photography is without complaint, the lighting is dreary at times and the sets look as though they were made in a rush and with next to no money left.

Concluding, rather lacklustre. 4/10

Griffith returns to the Limehouse author of BROKEN BLOSSOMS to poor effect. Two years earlier we had Lilian Gish, Richard Barthelmess and Donald Crisp acting out a small melodramatic tragedy on sheer acting chops that, even today, through muddy prints, works beautifully. This time, however, we are confronted with Carol Dempster, Charles Emmett Mack and Ralph Graves -- and if you say "Who?" three times like an owl, this movie shows you the incredible loss of acting talent that Griffith had suffered. Confronted with three actors who couldn't act -- the scene where Dempster is terrified that Graves will rape her is clearly a gloss on Gish's terror in the closet of two years ago and so inferior that it seems sacrilegious to mention them in the same sentence -- Griffith directed them with a collection of affectations to try to make up for a lack of emotions, and tried to give the entire piece some direction using a framing device of Good Vs. Evil. The total effect is ludicrous.

There are some good scenes, but the three principals don't appear in any of them. Give this one a miss.

Film takes place in London's Limehouse district and concerns a dancer (Carol Dempster), two brothers (Ralph Graves, Charles Emmett Mack), and assorted colorful characters who represent good and evil. Source material are stories by Thomas Burke, same author whose story gave us BROKEN BLOSSOMS and the Colleen Moore film TWINKLETOES, all of which have white girls "involved" with Chinese men.

Griffith seems to have filmed this one between WAY DOWN EAST and ORPHANS OF THE STORM and maybe there was overlap. Although it's hard to tell from such a draggy copy, the pacing of DREAM STREET seems erratic, the sets dreary, the acting uneven. But there are some brilliant moments. I don't dislike Dempster though a lot of people do. I think she was excellent in several other films. Here, the 20-year-old seems out of her depth, or maybe Griffith was directing her as if she were Mae Marsh or a Gish sister. Mack does far too much grimacing. Graves in many ways gives the best performance, one that seems to spin from stock character performance to brilliance.

Griffith must have considered this a major production and not just a filler between big projects. He filmed a talkie intro with himself and a couple of sound sequences (Graves singing and a dice game scene), which were only used in New York City theaters which were wired specifically for for the sound sequences. No other theaters saw/heard this innovation (six years before THE JAZZ SINGER).

Dempster's music hall sequence with dances seems extraneous. As the film winds to its climax, it's clear that the music hall could have been excised, tightening the plot and shortening the film.

The film does not rank with Griffith's several great films, but it's not the disaster that many seem to think it is. Dempster and Graves try hard and often succeed. This was Mack's first starring role in a feature film.

If you seek out this film, look for a copy that runs 100-110 minutes and avoid those that drag along to a 140minute running time.

Carol Dempster (as Gypsy Fair) is a dancer, trying to support her elderly father in a seedy Limehouse-type district. The "King" of the streets is Ralph Graves (as James "Spike" McFadden); he has conquered males with his fists, and females with his voice (he's a singer). Charles Mack (as Billie McFadden) is his devoted little brother, an aspiring songwriter. The film's other denizens include Tyrone Power (Sr.) as "The Minister of Good Words" and Morgan Wallace as "The Evil Influence". Porter Strong (as Samuel Jones) and Edward Peil (as Sway Wan) reprise their obligatory "Blackface" and "Yellowface" roles.

Director D.W. Griffith mixes unsavory with the "love triangle" formed by his three leading players. If "Dream Street" had featured the creative input of G.W. Bitzer, Robert Harron, and/or Lillian Gish, the results might have looked better. Mr. Griffith's ominous spoken-word introduction is unfulfilled; while it has its moments, and Mr. Mack is good, "Dream Street" is a relative failure. Seek out superior Griffith directed films from 1918-20, usually starring Gish and Harron, for more dreamy films.

*** Dream Street (4/12/21) D.W. Griffith ~ Carol Dempster, Ralph Graves, Charles Emmett Mack