Chicago

Phyllis Haver stars here as Roxie Hart in a story based on a hit Broadway play from 1927. Just about everyone is familiar with the story. Roxie plugs her lover and tries to pin it on her sap of a husband Amos. But while in jail she becomes a tabloid queen, especially after lawyer Billy Flynn enters the picture. He's an expert on law and headlines, especially after he gets his $5,000.

Haver, who looks a lot like Laura La Plante here) is terrific as the hard-boiled Roxie as she learns the ropes in prison and in the court room. Haver never misses a comic or ironic beat. Victor Varconi plays the hapless Amos, but he has a whole subplot here that's not in the famous musical versions of this play. Billy is played by Robert Edeson, the matron is played by May Robson, and Casley is played by Eugene Palette. There is no Velma Kelly in this story but Roxie's rival in prison, who is unnamed, is played by Julia Faye.

The film was produced by Cecil B. DeMille and although Frank Urson gets credit for direction, many think the film was directed by DeMille.

This new DVD release by Flicker Alley is a gorgeous print with solid music by the Mont Alto Orchestra. The sound effects are amusing.

I really liked this film, viewed from the UCLA print. Phyllis Haver, now all but forgotten, shines as Roxie Hart, a good time girl who despises her husband and seeks sugar daddies for fun. As soon as you see her pretending to sleep, having discarded her garter with bells attached, you know she's trouble.

So Roxie kills, and goes to jail, and because she's blonde and pretty, she's taken up by the media in this wild world of flappers and jazz. Those familiar with the musical film with Renee Zellweger and Catherine Zeta-Jones will be wondering 'where's Velma?' but that character isn't in the forefront at all. This film is all about Roxie, and, more than the musical version, to some extent about her cuckolded husband Amos. Here we see his point of view on several occasions, and even follow him in scenes where Roxie doesn't appear. Victor Varconi puts in a lovely performance as Amos in this film.

Haver might dominate the proceedings, and lights up what is already a fast-moving and effective bit of jazz fluff, but there's a good, if brief performance from Eugene Palette as well. As Casely he is very watchable indeed.

As this was a late silent, the acting styles are mainly naturalistic, and the fact that it does not have sound, only titles, doesn't matter a bit when it comes to following the story. Miss Haver acts her heart out anyway and you can feel her contempt, her fear, her desperation, just as you would if you could hear it.

A superior film, and one which occasionally makes it out for public showings. A great pity it isn't on DVD as it is extremely enjoyable and deserves a wider potential audience.

I suspect that Mr. Rob Marshall watched this 1927 silent before making his recent screen adaptation of the smash-hit Broadway musical. The non-musical scenes in his version look an awful lot like this exceptional film.

Phyllis Haver provides a marvelously witty and sexy characterization as Roxie Hart, that ultimate gold digger who shoots her lover for jilting her and then becomes a media sensation. Haver puts all sorts of unique touches on the role, and her scenes during the murder trial are small gems of comic acting. The handsome Victor Varconi, looking for all the world like Liam Neeson, has a much larger role as Amos, Roxie's long-suffering husband, than any subsequent version would give that character. He's still a bit of a sap, but he's a much sharper sap than later incarnations would allow. This original version focuses much more on the domestic relationship between these two -- the roles of Billy Flynn and Mama Morton, treated so colorfully in the musical, are much diminished here, and the character of Velma Kelly is absent altogether.

The recent stage revival and movie have blunted the impact of this story's critique on the modern media and the public's responsibility in enabling our media to peddle trash. It's surprising that a film that came out nearly 80 years ago makes the same point just as candidly; one can only imagine how forceful this message must have seemed at the time.

Grade: A

"Those who forget History are condemned to repeat it" is the famous quote and perhaps that explains the current movie climate where remakes predominate. As we continue to evolve into a culture of short term gratification and long term memory loss, it's important to rediscover forgotten parts of our cinematic history especially when it's presented in such a way as this. David Shepard and Flicker Alley are to be congratulated yet again for their fine work in bringing to us another film previously thought to be lost.

For those of you not familiar with the award winning Broadway musical or 2002 film version, CHICAGO is based on a 1926 play which tells the story of the trial of Roxie Hart, an adulterous wife who shot her lover after he tried to ditch her. The play isn't about the verdict but how the trial is used to promote almost everyone involved except the long suffering husband. Although played for all its melodramatic possibilities with elements of humor, it sadly shows us that little has changed in 80 years when it comes to sensational journalism.

The film rights were quickly snapped up by Cecil B. De Mille who had his own movie company at this time. It's essentially his movie all the way but he allowed Frank Urson (an assistant director) to take credit because of De Mille's involvement with THE KING OF KINGS which was already in theaters. Phyllis Haver gives a wonderfully manic and comic performance as Roxie Hart while Victor Varconi excels as the betrayed husband, Amos Hart and yes that's gravelly voiced Eugene Pallette minus his voice and later girth as the murdered lover. The print looks as if it were processed yesterday and Rodney Sauer's score is up to his usual fine standards. With the usual Flicker Alley extras, CHICAGO is a must for silent film fans and is an ideal introduction to those who are not...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.

I read the Maureen Watkins play after seeing "Chicago" (2002) and "Roxie Hart" (1941). I was definitely looking forward to seeing this long lost 1927 version. While, I did enjoy many things, there were also some disappointments.

The good things are the little comic bits that are added which the play and other two movies do not have. These include Roxie putting black stockings on her door to pretend that someone inside has died to trick a repo-man and putting her husband's tie around her neck to show what the hangman's noose will look like. The rehearsal of her "looks" before the jury is hilarious, so are the three gum chewing young women spellbound by the trial as if watching a movie. These little bits really brighten the movie.

Unfortunately, probably because conservative, religious nut Cecil B. DeMille was the producer, the sharp satire of the play and the two other movies is sharply curtailed. What we get instead is a quite melodramatic subplot which takes up almost one quarter of the film. It involves the husband and his stealing money from the lawyer Flynn and his relationship with a housekeeper. This subplot is dull and undercuts the sense of sexiness and gallows humor that the play and the other movies thrive on.

While a good film and certainly worth seeing, it doesn't match the greatness of the later films or earlier play. The DVD does have some nice extras, including a well done documentary short looking at the real trial, Maureen Watkins original newspaper articles, a 1950 documentary on the 1920's and "The Flapper Story" a delightful 1985 documentary.