I agree with other reviewers that the silent De Mille seems better than the talkie De Mille we are more familiar with. This film is a nice little gem.
The lighting and intense shadows is striking and the ending is oddly enigmatic. The acting is restrained and the Cinderella twist is clever. The pacing is a tad slow but the action fight scene at the end is quite violent considering clearly no stunt men are used. Reid clearly throws a man up and over his head to the ground and the furniture is not breakaway.
As others have commented on, I was interested in seeing Wallace Reid because of his tragic end. I wanted to see what he was like before the tragedy of 1919. He is certainly good looking and the role might have been cliché and boring except for his understated but clever way of turning a cliché rich young guy into an interesting man who is no one's fool.
He smiles as the secondary villain tries to lure him into an obvious trap as if pitying the transparent ploy. He seems to almost be playing, toying, with the drunken husband when they fight over the gun during the robbery. Reid's performance is almost ironic, making the throwaway part quite interesting.
Seeing the film you do see what a tragedy that 1919 accident was which destroyed him. Reid had the looks and talent to have been a great star. Instead he was destroyed by the age of 31.
JEF
The lighting and intense shadows is striking and the ending is oddly enigmatic. The acting is restrained and the Cinderella twist is clever. The pacing is a tad slow but the action fight scene at the end is quite violent considering clearly no stunt men are used. Reid clearly throws a man up and over his head to the ground and the furniture is not breakaway.
As others have commented on, I was interested in seeing Wallace Reid because of his tragic end. I wanted to see what he was like before the tragedy of 1919. He is certainly good looking and the role might have been cliché and boring except for his understated but clever way of turning a cliché rich young guy into an interesting man who is no one's fool.
He smiles as the secondary villain tries to lure him into an obvious trap as if pitying the transparent ploy. He seems to almost be playing, toying, with the drunken husband when they fight over the gun during the robbery. Reid's performance is almost ironic, making the throwaway part quite interesting.
Seeing the film you do see what a tragedy that 1919 accident was which destroyed him. Reid had the looks and talent to have been a great star. Instead he was destroyed by the age of 31.
JEF