Spoilers. Observations. Opinions.
Don't compare this film to later versions. I have seen all three, and conclude that each one has merit to stand on its own and be appreciated. I have also seen the Show Boat section in 1946's "Till the Clouds Roll By". This is four recorded versions since the 1927 famous Ziegfeld Broadway show.
I have seen many silent films. They see quite good and understandable. At the dawn of the sound era, not all productions found all-talking to be financially affordable. Look at it an additional way; 1929 stock market crash and Great Depression were coming, so it was good to do a little belt-tightening.
Many silent film actors could not make the transition to sound film. Some had foreign accents unacceptable to American audiences, and some had high, squeaky voices that would be too comedic in dramatic talking films. Schildkraut here was Austrian. Emily _____ (Parthenia) was a well-known British actress.
Broadway had suffered during and after World War One, and a number of well-trained Shakespearean-ish stage actors spoke well enough to get into talking films. Witness the Barrymores (John-Lionel-Ethel) who all three got into sound films after careers on stage.
I have always appreciated the silents. They tell great stories with facial expressions, musical moods, body movements and English subtitles.
Schildkraut would go on to portray a sneaky white-makeuped character in 1939's "Marie Antoinette", and an older character in the much-later (around 1960??) "Diary of Anne Frank".
Even Ziegfeld himself was the victim of financial underfunding. In the early Great Depression, and after the 1929 Stock Market Crash, his theatrical ventures began to fail, he passed away soon after in 1932.
Don't compare this film to later versions. I have seen all three, and conclude that each one has merit to stand on its own and be appreciated. I have also seen the Show Boat section in 1946's "Till the Clouds Roll By". This is four recorded versions since the 1927 famous Ziegfeld Broadway show.
I have seen many silent films. They see quite good and understandable. At the dawn of the sound era, not all productions found all-talking to be financially affordable. Look at it an additional way; 1929 stock market crash and Great Depression were coming, so it was good to do a little belt-tightening.
Many silent film actors could not make the transition to sound film. Some had foreign accents unacceptable to American audiences, and some had high, squeaky voices that would be too comedic in dramatic talking films. Schildkraut here was Austrian. Emily _____ (Parthenia) was a well-known British actress.
Broadway had suffered during and after World War One, and a number of well-trained Shakespearean-ish stage actors spoke well enough to get into talking films. Witness the Barrymores (John-Lionel-Ethel) who all three got into sound films after careers on stage.
I have always appreciated the silents. They tell great stories with facial expressions, musical moods, body movements and English subtitles.
Schildkraut would go on to portray a sneaky white-makeuped character in 1939's "Marie Antoinette", and an older character in the much-later (around 1960??) "Diary of Anne Frank".
Even Ziegfeld himself was the victim of financial underfunding. In the early Great Depression, and after the 1929 Stock Market Crash, his theatrical ventures began to fail, he passed away soon after in 1932.