Calomnie

Well, I wasn't in Georgetown to see the premiere, and I'm usually selective about silent features (aside from Lon Chaney, Douglas Fairbanks, the Lost World, Harold Lloyd, and the Our Gang kids, they usually put me to sleep). But I actually found this one to be kind of good.

Basically, its the story of forgotten star Tommy Meighan as a seaman loved by the local kids who is falsely accused of drunkenness during a storm at sea. I would disagree that the film is a temperance lecture. To me, it seems more like a warning of the evils of false accusations and gossip more than anything else.

The story is a lot easier to follow than a lot of silent features and the bond between Meighan and the children is rather pleasant to watch. The ending may disappoint you (and I won't give it here) and I'm not sure about watching it more than twice, but it's a fine way to kill a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Once again, a movie that was 'lost forever' turns out merely to have been mislaid. 'Pied Piper Malone' was in the Gosfilmofond archives in Russia, and has now returned to circulation. Having visited Gosfilmofond, I know for a fact that a large number of Hollywood silent films -- and quite a few British silents -- are carefully preserved there. Because the Soviet Union didn't recognise free-world copyrights, the cultural commissars had no qualms about obtaining prints of English-language films and 'forgetting' to return them. After talkies arrived, this practice declined somewhat due to the difficulty of dubbing a soundtrack for Russian audiences.

A couple of other IMDb reviewers have written ecstatic reviews of 'Pied Piper Malone', but they are largely reacting to the premiere of its rediscovery, rather than the film itself.

'Pied Piper Malone' is proficiently made, and features some beautiful scenery, but is simply not a very good film. It moralises too much, and several characters are stereotypes.

The film is set in the coastal town of Oldport, a God-fearing community. Jack Malone (Tom Meighan) is considered the black sheep of his large family: his many brothers and sisters have chosen to get married (no, not to each other), settle down in Oldport and have children, whereas Jack has gone off to sea as Captain Clarke's junior officer. Meanwhile, all of Jack's many brothers and sisters have produced many sons and daughters. Whenever Jack returns to Oldport, he is the centre of attention among his dozens of nieces and nephews, who dote on him and follow him everywhere. (Maybe because he buys them ice cream.) Jack is known as Pied Piper Malone: an odd choice of nickname, since the original Pied Piper STOLE the children.

Oldport is a blue-nosed village, where everyone is aware of the evil of John Barleycorn ... and yet for some reason there's plenty of Prohibition hooch hereabouts. The booze is supplied by bootlegger Charles Crosby (Cyril Ring), who dispenses it via the barber shop. Guess what's in the bottle marked 'Bay Rum'.

Unfortunately, Jack's employer -- kindly sea-dog Captain Clarke -- has a drinking problem. The script's back-story is careful to establish that Clarke first started drinking to dull the pain from an arm injury. When Clarke falls off the wagon, Jack has the bad luck to walk him past the local church just as the Sunday service is letting out. Everyone sees them; Clarke is now stigmatised as a drunkard, and Jack -- through a misunderstanding -- is perceived to be a drunkard too. Everyone shuns him, even his formerly loyal girlfriend Patty. Well, not everyone: the children are still loyal to Pied Piper Malone.

This movie is bilge. It places a tremendous stigma upon alcohol and alcoholism. I see nothing particularly wrong with drinking unless the alcohol encourages the drinker to drive while intoxicated, or to commit violent acts, or do some other harm to other people.

This movie was made during deepest Prohibition, and I recognise the heavy hand of scriptwriter Booth Tarkington, well known for his ultra-conservative outlook. It doesn't help that Meighan is a stolid actor, giving a stiff and mannered performance.

My favourite part of this sanctimonious Temperance lecture was when I spotted future character actor Brian Keith among the children following Meighan about. George Fawcett gives a sympathetic performance as Captain Clarke, and Cyril Ring is hissable as the villain with the bootleg hooch (a smuggling Ring?) ... but there's not very much to enjoy here. I welcome this film back from the lost, and rate it 4 out of 10.

Thomas Meighan is the youngest of fifteen children and the first mate under skipper George Fawcett. During a storm, second mate Cyril Ring turns up drunk, so Fawcett has him locked into his room, and then collapses, himself drunk. Meighan does what he can, but the ship goes down. Ring makes it back to town and tells everyone that Meighan was drunk, which disappoints best girl Lois Wilson.

There are only eight minutes missing from the copy I watched, but the pacing was erratic, and the situations seemed contrived. Director Alfred Green spends most of the beginning on gags involving the immense number of children, grandchildren, and probably great-grandchildren in Meighan's family as his parents celebrate their 50th anniversary. Perhaps too much in the way of serious story-telling was cut.

There are several people who would rise to prominence in the industry among the listed actors playing children. They include Helen Mack, Charles Walter, and Brian Keith, who was two years old when this move was released.

The Georgetown County Historical Society secured a copy of Pied Piper Malone from a film archive in Russia and had the subtitles translated into English. Hundreds of citizens turned out for the re-premiere of the film and to welcome 5 local ladies in their 80s and 90s who played child extras when the film was made in 1923.

We are happy to have members of the Georgetown County Historical Society and special guests for this unique occasion. I do not know of any other small town in America which has an opportunity to celebrate a similar past event. When else in the early days of filmdom's history have four Pullman cars traveled 3,000 miles across America to film a motion picture on location---and to have met with such a warm welcome! Georgetown went all out!

This was unprecedented. The filming of Pied Piper Malone in our city in November of 1923 was then—and is now—a major event in our history. Traveling nowadays to exotic locations to film movies is very commonplace—at that time, it was rare—so we must realize what excitement was engendered. Mayor Wingate, Mr. Brickman, Dr Bell and others were able to convince one of the preeminent film companies—the Thomas Meighan Company to come to Georgetown to film a major Hollywood production. This three week event pumped $15,000 into the local economy—not much by today's standards, but considering Mrs.Betty Williams' testimony that her mother's family, the Falors, couldn't afford the 25 cent admission for any of them to see the movie, gives us an idea of the impact on our local economy!

Georgetown rolled out the red carpet to accommodate these 60 to 70 people—all were put up in private homes and were lavishly entertained by local families for three weeks. Phillip Schneider recalls many such evenings when his father invited Jewish members of the cast and crew to meals, music and fun at their home on prince street. . There is more about all of that in the souvenir program for sale in the lobby. This booklet also contains numerous candid snapshots by Ruth Oliver Bell's father—other information may be read on the displays in the lobby and in the front bulletin areas. We've tried to make all documentation available to you, as well as the pictures that we have, so you and your families can enjoy and treasure these memories.

Now it is time to introduce a surprise guest who has driven from Rochester, NY to be with us this afternoon, Caroline Yeager. Ms Yeager is the assistant to the senior curator of the motion picture department at the George Eastman House in Rochester, N. Y. The George Eastman House has the preeminent collection of photographs/ and films in the United States today. It is a fabulous repository of our photographic history. Ms Yeager's presence at this performance shows the interest of the film preservation community in this film. Ms Yeager discovered the location of pied Piper Malone in 1994 at Lu Altman's request. Political difficulties prevented its recovery at that time.

We really appreciate all of you coming to share in this very special event with Georgetown and its historical society. For those who want more information on the film, the souvenir brochure, and Georgetown, SC, please call us at the Georgetown County Museum at 843.545.7020.