Across the Singapore (1928)
** (out o f 4)
Two brothers (Ramon Novarro, Ernest Torrence) who work on the sea fall in love with the same woman (Joan Crawford), which leads to tragedy in this silent melodrama. The main reason to watch this film is due to the early performance by Crawford but the rest of the movie offers very little in terms of entertainment. The biggest problem with the movie is that its story is so over dramatic that you can't help but hate each of the characters and in the end you really don't care what happens to them. All films like this are a tad bit over dramatic but this one takes the cake and might be the worst offender. We expect a jealous fit to happen (as they do in all movies like this) but the screenplay here takes it to a crazy, psychotic level that comes off more like a bad comedy more than a drama. Both Novarro and Torrence are good in their roles but the screenplay doesn't really offer them much to do. Crawford is cute in her role but again, the screenplay really doesn't offer her too much except to stand around and look shocked at what the brothers are doing.
** (out o f 4)
Two brothers (Ramon Novarro, Ernest Torrence) who work on the sea fall in love with the same woman (Joan Crawford), which leads to tragedy in this silent melodrama. The main reason to watch this film is due to the early performance by Crawford but the rest of the movie offers very little in terms of entertainment. The biggest problem with the movie is that its story is so over dramatic that you can't help but hate each of the characters and in the end you really don't care what happens to them. All films like this are a tad bit over dramatic but this one takes the cake and might be the worst offender. We expect a jealous fit to happen (as they do in all movies like this) but the screenplay here takes it to a crazy, psychotic level that comes off more like a bad comedy more than a drama. Both Novarro and Torrence are good in their roles but the screenplay doesn't really offer them much to do. Crawford is cute in her role but again, the screenplay really doesn't offer her too much except to stand around and look shocked at what the brothers are doing.