Straight Is the Way

Thanks to Edward Lorusso for producing and David Drazin for scoring the presentation for this obscure silent film, "Straight Is the Way." It's a silly one, but enjoyable and interesting in a way. It's the usual corrupt city and Christian country dichotomy of some of these old flickers, but the treatment tends to be comical. There are too many intertitles, but some of the jokes in them are amusing. The puns based around the spiritualism (in vogue at the time) of the Ouija board and the other spirits related to the era's Prohibition are my favorite.

The scenario involves New York crooks venturing to New Hampshire to steal from rural mansions. The first one they try to heist, though, belongs to some genteel poor women who apparently refuse to work for money and think it wise to sell all their belongings just to keep up with the interest on their mortgage. In lieu of sound financial sense, they turn to begging the ghost of a dead uncle via the Ouija board to lead them to hidden treasure. The thieves, meanwhile, decide to hide out in a closed-off part of the residence, where they wind up becoming sympathetic to the women's plight. Pretty ridiculous stuff--the supposed virtue of country-bumpkin stupidity and the evil of how the modern world actually works around money lending--but the absurdity of it is also the appeal.

I also find such con-artist films to be of interest, as the thieves here also pretend to be others, including a detective hunting for burglars in the area, which means he's pretending to be looking for himself. It's also an actor playing a character who is also acting as another character. The Ouija board stuff works, too, full of messages made of letters that it is, as the story writing itself or being written by the characters. A local reporter conducting interviews in a couple brief appearances can also be seen underscoring this point. It makes sense that pioneering scenarist Francis Marion penned it.

Burglar George Parsons and his apprentice Matt Moore take a break from New York's heat -- temperature and metaphorical -- in a small town in New Hampshire for a working vacation. The first house they break into is the richest looking in the town, but its two inhabitants, Mabel Bert and her great-niece, Gladys Leslie, are just about broke; the house is under a mortgage to Henry Sedley, and they have sold off almost everything. With nothing to steal, Parsons and Moore take up residence in a closed-off wing, and use it as their base of operations. But the women's ways are kindly; Miss Bert is free with her fruit pies, the best Parsons has tasted since his mother died, and Miss Leslie looks kindly on Moore, whom she believes to be one of the New York detectives brought in to catch the burglars. This pleases the bad men, and when they hear the ladies using a ouija board to ask the long-dead master of the house what he did with all that money when he died, the men conceive a plan.

It's a very pleasant little movie, with a fine role for Van Dyke Brook as the local constable. The pleasant rural location shooting and a script by Francis Marion veer around in unexpected ways. True, there are some oddities in a couple of title cards, and the print was a bit high contrast, but that actually works well for the story; otherwise it was in great shape.

It's one of the many restorations runs by Ed Lorusso, funded by a Kickstarter program. David Drazin contributes one of his best and most varied scores. At present there are no announced plans for a wider release, but we can always hope for one.

Update: It has been released by Grapevine Video.

After Bob Carter (Matt Moore) is driven to thievery by his dire circumstances, he and pal Loot Follet (George Parsons) bail New York City for Hampton Center, New Hampshire, where they think the pickings will be easy.

They hole up in a deserted part of a rambling house owned by the destitute Aunt Mehitable (Mabel Bert) and her grand niece Dorcas (Gladys Leslie). The thieves soon learn how desperate the women are, especially after a local loan shark (Henry Sedley) tries to collect the money on their mortgage.

The men decide to intervene on the women's nightly session with a Ouija board as they try to contact the long dead Uncle Henry to find where he hid his treasure. From that point, the story takes an odd and ironic turn, one that changes the lives of everyone involved.

Matt is excellent as Bob Carter, the thief with a strong conscience. Leslie is sweet as the innocent Dorcas. Bert is fun as the gullible old lady, and Parsons is fine as Loot. Sedley is snarky as the loan shark. There's also Van Dyke Brooke as the constable, Peggy Parr as the city hustler, Emily Fitzroy as Mrs. Crabtree, and Tammany Young as the barroom waiter.

Written by Frances Marion and directed by Robert Vignola. Some sources list Marion Davies as the producer for Cosmopolitan Pictures.