Irène

Another top silent comedy by superstar Colleen Moore.... In this one she plays the daughter of a poor Irish family (with all the stereotypes) from Philadelphia. After losing her job in a department store and fighting with Ma (Kate Price) she ends up in New York City where she lands a job as a dressmaker's model. She meets a wealthy man (Lloyd Hughes) and you can guess the rest.

Moore sparkles as usual playing the spunky lass who fights the odds and makes good. The film is also notable for the openly gay character of Madame Lucy, played by George K. Arthur. Charlie Murray plays the dad, and Bess Flowers and Eva Novak play models.

This First National release also boasted a 2-strip Technicolor sequence (the model show) but my copy has what looks like a red tint for this section unless that's all that's left of the color.... no idea.

The best scene is perhaps the one where Moore is on a turntable so that Madame Lucy can drape fabric over her and create a dress.... and amazingly he does.... then the turntable goes haywire.... LOL

Colleen Moore plays Irene, the eldest daughter of Mr and Mrs O'Dare (Charles Murray and Kate Price), who is responsible for a good part of the family income. After fighting with her mother she goes off to New York and meets wealthy young Donald Marshall (Lloyd Hughes) who gets her a job with fashion designer 'Madame Lucy' (George K. Arthur). This film is a super cute Colleen Moore vehicle that works at all levels. Moore is funny and has great comic timing. She also has an extremely expressive face and body language - you forget this is a silent film; words are not needed because you know anyway what she is thinking and feeling. The supporting cast is great, too. While the plot is pretty generic ('Irene' belongs to the large genre of pictures about poor girls who find rich husbands), there are some scenes that are simply outstanding. Take for example the one where Moore stands on a kind of turntable and gets dressed by Arthur: this works well until the turntable spins out of control. It is also evident that First National Pictures spent a lot of money on the film. One scene was even done in colour, though on my copy this had faded to a uniform yellowish tinting. The upshot is, this is a picture that should be much better known - but for that, it would probably have to be carefully restored. It ought to be, really.

This obscure Colleen Moore vehicle is an agreeable if inconsequential comedy best viewed for historical interest rather than laughs. Seen today, it's an invaluable time capsule to a gentler age, but probably not worth recommending to anyone who isn't already susceptible to the nostalgic attraction of silent films.

I was fortunate to see it on the big screen with live musical accompaniment, at the Pacific Film Aechive in Berkeley back in the mid-1980's. The two companion films on the same program included the minor but extremely rare one-reeler 'Something In Her Eye' (1915) and 'A Lucky Strike' (ditto), both featuring a young Oliver Hardy, years before his teaming with Stan Laurel.