The First Born

I must disagree with the reviewer who says that the major flaw in the film is Sir Hugo's death. Of course lift doors are not supposed to open when no lift is there, but look what happened to Sterling Moss only recently, who accidentally fell down a lift shaft because the lift was not there!

Silent films allowed film makers to push censorship boundaries without appearing to do so, since no words are actually spoken. Thus the fact that the manicurist is pregnant only becomes apparent as she and Lady Boycott soundlessly talk to each other. The confirmation is in the inter-title, "He said he would look after me" (or words to that effect).

The clip with the Rolls Royce knocking over the bicycle indicated precisely in a couple of frames the characters of the people in the film. Other very effective clips were the overhead shot of the dining table, and the scenes at the hustings, though I was not quite sure exactly what Lady Boycott was saying (though it didn't affect the result of the election).

It is actually quite interesting the number of films made in the twenties and thirties centred around illegitimate children. Hindle Wakes (the silent 1927 version in particular) is a particular classic of the genre.

It would have been better if someone other than Miles Mander had directed.That way they could have restrained his overwrought dramatics.By the way the censors would see the scenario,so the lack of speech would not have been a restraint to their activities.

Miles Mander's character in this dull melodrama is such a snivelling, underhand excuse for a man that you have to wonder what Madeleine Carroll's loving wife sees in him. Mander's directorial flourishes provide a jarring contrast to the turgid plot development.