L'illusion perdue

Richard Dix gave, in my opinion, one of his best performances, with a different type of character from what we usually expect.

Leading lady was "American Venus" Esther Ralston, who was still active in TV until the 1960s.

They were surrounded by mostly forgotten actors but who should be remembered for their talent.

Apparently there is a reel or more missing, so some of the narrative seems pointless or out of place, but what is here is fun and very well worth watching -- although the print at YouTube is fuzzy and hard on the eyes.

But for a pleasant hour of gentle fun-poking at some stereotypes, I highly recommend "Womanhandled."

Womanhandled (1925)

*** (out of 4)

New York playboy Bill Dana (Richard Dix) falls in love with Molly (Ester Ralston) but she prefers men who have grown up in the tough West. In order to become tough, Bill moves out West only to discover that the real cowboys are in movies and what's left are Eastern folks who don't even know how to ride a horse. When Bill hears that Molly is coming to visit him, he must set up the ranch to look like the West everyone has seen in movies. WOMANHANDLED isn't a complete success but I think for the most part there are enough good performances and laughs to make it worth sitting through. It should be noted that the version on the Treasures Vol 5: The West collection only runs 55-minutes as a long sequence was taken out for some reason and the ending is also lost but well detailed in the production notes. With that said, I thought both Dix and Ralston were extremely good together and certainly helped sell the romance a lot better than many other actors would have. This is especially true for Dix who was wonderful in his part and made you really believe he was this East coast guy who was about to get a rude awakening out West. I also thought Cora Williams was fun as the aunt and the rest of the supporting cast are actually strong as well. The comedy in the film for the most part works and this is especially true during the first half. One of the best jokes has Dix saving a little child from "drowning" and another sequence dealing with a couple homeless guys. Again, the film is far from perfect but I think it's quite clever for the most part and silent film buffs should enjoy it.

"Womanhandled" stars Richard Dix as Manhattan playboy Bill Dana (no relation to the 1960s TV comedian of that name). While visiting Central Park, he rescues bratty little Percival (Eli Nadel) from the lake -- some nice location shooting here -- and then he meets the boy's aunt: the blonde and beautiful Molly (Esther Ralston). Striking up a conversation with Molly, Bill mentions that his Uncle Lester owns a ranch out west. This leads Molly to believe that Bill is a rootin'-tootin' Westerner ... and she's impressed. Of course, Bill doesn't set her straight on her mistake.

This being a very contrived comedy, Bill goes out west to Wind River, Texas, hoping to get some genuine cowboy experience so he can impress Molly. At Uncle Lester's ranch, he discovers that all the cowboys have left to get jobs in cowboy movies (which pay better), and taken their horses along. Bill and Lester manage to round up a few swaybacked nags (with clearly visible ribs) and a few two-legged varmints to play cowboy. Comic actor Tammany Young looks absolutely hilarious in an ill-fitting cowboy get-up.

Bill's got some cowboys, he's got some horses. Now he needs Indians. Bill prevails upon the African-American laundress and her family to slap on some warpaint and pretend to be Red Indians.At this point "Womanhandled" enters the delirious realm of double-decker racial stereotypes. There's some "yassum" dialogue in the intertitles while these stereotypical blacks impersonate stereotypical Amerindians. Of course, Bill says that they're Blackfeet.

Just when Bill is all set to play cowboy, suddenly Molly shows up with her bratty nephew and her strait-laced Aunt Clara in tow. This is a pretty good set-up for a comedy, but after setting up its premise the film dissolves into dumb jokes. Gregory La Cava, an expert comedy director, is saddled with poor material here.

There's some 'book-end' material at the start and close of the movie, involving a couple of vaudeville-ish comical tramps who live in Central Park. I really dislike it when humour is at the expense of homeless people. I'll rate "Womanhandled" 3 points out of 10.

Although the print quality available is marginal, this is still a fun opportunity to see Miss Ralston at the height of her beauty. She did not get that title just as a publicity stunt, she actually was that gorgeous. I am going to repeat what I wrote here a few years ago - where do those comments go to? The first sequence was shot in MacArthur Park in Los Angeles, CA. I lived just across 6th Street in 2011 and know the park well. In over 85 years it has changed very little and many of the surrounding buildings are still intact. A few decades ago this was Smog Central but that has all been cleared up and it is a wonderful park to visit - in the daylight!