Si tu vois ma nièce

If you thought all silent comedies were slapstick see this gentle character based comedy. Colleen Moore plays a much abused small town girl with a simply awful family. She wins a beauty contest - the prize a trip to Hollywood and a studio contract!

Colleen Moore is brilliant as Ella - funny, warm, beautiful, vivacious. The scene when she finds she has won the contest will move you to tears, and you'll roar with laughter when she practices eye movements for the camera. This is one of the great performances of the silent era. She can make the smallest thing funny, so it is interesting to see her work with Harry Langdon who could do the same. In one hilarious scene he plays himself.

What is remarkable about Moore is that she can be very funny but still maintain the realism of her characterisation - there is a sadness here that makes the comedy so much more potent. Wait till you see her smoke a cigar, and spin-out! I have never seen a moment like this played better.

Also very charming is Lloyd Hughes as her boyfriend. And the film's director Alfred E Green plays the director in the film!

This film, in a good print from Video Yesteryear which has a fine organ score from Rosa Rio, is a true classic - not to be missed.

Ella Cinders is like a modern day (well, for the 1920s) Cinderella story. A poor girl (Colleen Moore) living in a house with her stepmother and stepsisters like a servant has only things going right for her. She has the love of a sweet man in town (Lloyd Hughes) and a film contest that she wins. A group of men hold a beauty contest in town and the prize is a trip to Hollywood to become an actress. The stepsisters and half of the town think they will win the prize, but a funny picture puts Ella in the spotlight, sending her on a train to Hollywood. Once there, she finds that the place isn't what she dreamed it would be, but she cannot go home so she does her best to succeed.

Harry Langdon makes a very funny but short appearance in the movie. Even without his appearance, this movie would be a jewel. It is quickly paced, very funny, and stars one of the major stars of the silent era. Unfortunately, this film, along with most of Colleen Moore's other movies, is not commercially available. Bad bootleg prints are all that we will see until someone wises up to the quality of this movie and releases it on a quality DVD.

Colleen Moore stars as the title character. In many ways, Ella's life at the beginning of the movie is like Cinderella's. She's a hated step-daughter who's treated like a slave by her step-mother and step-sisters. However, there are fortunately many differences as well with the story. Instead of going to the ball and meeting Prince Charming, Ella is discovered by a nice guy (Lloyd Hughes) and he helps her to be discovered in a local talent contest. When she wins, she is sent by the town to Hollywood to get a chance to be an actress. But two things aren't as they appear to be....the contest is a fraud and the nice guy who helped her isn't the poor ice man he appears to be. See the picture and find out what's in store for this cute lady.

In so many ways, this story is like combining the tradition tale of Cinderella with a film like Marion Davies' "Show People"...about a young lady trying her best to make it in Hollywood. Ms. Moore is lovely in this comedic role and it's one of the better silents this forgotten actress made. Well worth seeing due to excellent writing, direction and acting.

By the way, if you do see the film, look for a cameo with Harry Langdon!

I watched this silent comedy with Colleen Moore and gorgeous Lloyd Hughes with my 6 year old daughter and we were rapt with attention all the way through. This film boasts a touching sweet romance, and many fine and unique comedy moments, such as Ella getting her picture taken for a beauty contest and having a fly land on her nose, and Lloyd's character using the missing shoe for measurements to buy her a pair of dress shoes when she goes off to Hollywood.

Unlike one commentator here however I didn't care for that organ score. I heard some copyrighted song musical phrases in there that were misplaced too, like a strain from Dr. Zhivago! Weird.

If you love Colleen Moore or want to learn more about her this is a film not to be missed. She was an excellent comedienne, even better than Mabel Normand.

A better than average comedy of the period that includes a backstage look at Hollywood. It includes a scene with Harry Langdon playing his typical screen character.

Best scenes are Ella on the lam backstage at a Hollywood studio; at the photo studio; Ella's first cigar and the eye exercises. Some of the womens costumes and the titles are also very good.