Top 10 Movies of 1927
Sep 07 '09
The Bottom Line All but two of these movies (Student Prince, Underworld) are available on DVD. Add them to your Netflix list!
This review is part of a personal project I started to catch up on film history. The idea is to start with the year 1927 (the first year where enough would be available) and watch movies from that year, then post a top 10 list, awards and move on to the next year until I catch up with present day.
1927 was considered by some to be one of the greatest years in cinema history, but it was a bit of a disappointment for me. A couple of the classics (The Jazz Singer, Wings) were actually pretty bad, while one of the supposed masterpieces (The General) is very good, but quite a bit overrated. I saw 19 films this year and only liked 12 of them, barely giving me enough for a top 10. Thankfully, the 10 that did make it were all very good and I'm not embarrassed to have any of them on a top 10 list.
I saw fewer films than expected for this year for a couple reasons. A few films just lost my interest for various reasons. I was convinced that De Mille's King of Kings and Fairbanks The Gaucho really were not going to make my top 10. Also, I declined to watch the 1927 version of Uncle Tom's Cabin, because the racial attitudes of the time (as evidenced in Siren of the Tropics and College) already made me uncomfortable and it didn't appear this film would change that feeling.
There were also a few films that I planned to see but later discovered they did not meet my criteria for 1927. Films are placed in the year that they debuted in the United States, as long as that is within 2 years of the international release. If it is later, or if it never got released in the US, then it counts for the international release year. That's why Bed and Sofa qualifies for 1927, but Hitchcock's The Lodger, Pudovkin's The End of St. Petersburg, Eisenstein's October, Gance's Napoleon, and Ruttmann's Berlin: Symphony of a Great City will be placed into later years.
#10. Bed and Sofa (Abram Room)
Story: Kolia (Nikolai Batalov) and Liuda (Lyudmila Semyonova) are a married couple living in a tiny Moscow apartment. When Kolia's unemployed friend Volodia (Vladimir Fogel) comes to Moscow, the couple invite him to stay. Volodia sleeps on the sofa, while Kolia and his wife share the bed just a few feet away. However, when Kolia goes away on a business trip, Liuda and Volodia begin to fall for one another.
Thoughts: Well, this is certainly an interesting film. Who would've thought that in Communist Russia of all places would we have the 1927 version of Melrose Place? And I don't even mean that as an insult. This is a fun and totally surprising comedy that really takes you places you wouldn't expect from a silent film. I mean, just imagine the situation of a man who leaves his cheating wife, only to find no place to live and now forced to sleep on the sofa just a few feet from where his wife sleeps with his former best friend. That is just crazy and totally messed up, and I loved every minute of it. This definitely has some cleverly subtle political points, but I love that Room avoids the melodrama and plays this mostly for the humor. The three cast members have excellent chemistry together, creating an interesting dynamic. The final scene is one of the biggest laughs I've had outside of a Chaplin, Keaton, or Lloyd film. Well played, Mr. Room.
#9. Seventh Heaven (Frank Borzage)
Story: In pre-World War 1 Paris, Diane (Janet Gaynor) is a poor young woman living with her sadistic sister (Gladys Brockwell). One day, while running from a particularly bad beating, she is rescued by a street cleaner named Chico (Charles Farrell). The circumstances of his rescue mean she must pose as his wife for a period of time and they soon begin to fall in love, but their new-found love is interrupted by the start of World War 1.
Thoughts: This is a textbook example of how to properly make a romantic melodrama. Borzage isn't shy about playing up the seemingly sappy moments as much as possible. Because of this, we are completely drawn into the world he has created. For something that sounds like it could be a dry melodrama, he adds a surprising amount of creativity with the set design, particularly with Chico's 7th floor apartment (hence the title), complete with a bridge that connects him with his best friend across the street. He's aided by two romantic leads who are capable of expressing every overwrought emotion with total conviction. Gaynor and Farrell have so much natural chemistry that it's not surprising at all they would make 11 more films together. Brockwell also delivers a great performance, making the most of her brief scenes as the abusive sister. The ending is as ridiculous as it is romantic, just as it should be.
#8. The Cat and the Canary (Paul Leni)
Story: A group of relatives get together at a creepy mansion for the reading of their late uncle's will. Annabelle West (Laura La Plante) is the one named to inherit his fortune, but the will has a stipulation. She has to be found sane by a doctor, or the fortune goes to a person named in a separate envelope. The problem is that a series of events begin to make her seem insane to the others.
Thoughts: This is a very creepy early horror film. Leni was one of the German Expressionist filmmakers, but perhaps lesser known than his counterparts Murnau and Lang. That doesn't mean he didn't know what he was doing. Leni invents the classic haunted house genre by lending some vivid atmosphere to the intense psychological premise. A strong cast helps, with Laura La Plante making an excellent heroine, but it is Martha Mattox's wonderfully dry turn as the mansion caretaker Mammy Pleasant that steals the show. There's a great use of sound effects, especially when an ancient clock suddenly starts working again. Leni perhaps could have milked the heroine is crazy theme a bit longer and Creighton Hale's bumbling performance as the male lead is difficult to watch, but this is still a solid horror film.
#7. The General (Buster Keaton, Clyde Bruckman)
Story: Johnny Gray (Buster Keaton) is a railroad engineer in pre-Civil War south. When war breaks out, his girlfriend Annabelle (Marion Mack) urges him to sign up and won't speak to him until he's wearing a uniform. When he goes to sign up, he is rejected because he's more valuable as an engineer, but of course she doesn't believe him. Time has passed and he's now engineer of a southern locomotive called the General. The Union attempts to steal this train (with Annabelle on board), and Johnny must rescue both his train and his girl.
Thoughts: Definitely a night and day situation when comparing this with Buster's other 1927 release College. Interestingly, while that one was derailed by a racist black-face sequence, this film where he plays a man wanting desperately to be a Confederate soldier features no such racial stereotypes. The situation boils down to a stolen train, and Buster's attempt to retrieve it. This leads us on a long and hilarious chase sequence, which eventually doubles back on itself. There's some really funny stuff here. My favorite gag involves his miserable attempts to fire a cannon at the other train. One complaint I'd have about this film is that the chase sequence often feels repetitive. Buster constantly leaps from the front of the train to the back of the train, and while the stunts he performs are very impressive, they don't get more impressive through repetition. Despite that complaint, this is still one of Buster's best films.
#6. The Kid Brother (Ted Wilde and JA Howe)
Story: Harold Hickory (Harold Lloyd) is the youngest of three brothers, and his father is the town sheriff. His two older brothers are bigger and tougher, and earn more respect from dad. They also like to pick on poor Harold constantly. One day, a medicine show travels to town, and Harold falls in love with Mary Powers (Jobyna Ralston), one of the performers. When the medicine show burns down, the proprietor steals money from the sheriff, who is now accused of being a thief. Harold must try to get the money back so he can earn the respect of his father and the love of Mary.
Thoughts: It's interesting that Lloyd wanted this film to have the most gags, because it is actually a pretty plot heavy movie. That doesn't detract from the humor, though. This one might not be quite as funny or memorable as Lloyd's masterpeice Safety Last!, but it still contains some wonderful comic set pieces. One of my favorites is an extended sequence where Harold is being chased by his brothers. He poses as his father to get away, but they're on to him. However, Harold pulls a clever switcheroo at the last minute and the brothers end up attacking their own father. There are many other great moments, including a cute climbing sequence that brought back memories of Safety Last!. The story is a classic one of an underdog trying to prove his worth, and it's very easy to root for Harold here.
#5. The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg (Ernst Lubitsch)
Story: Prince Karl (Ramon Novarro) lived a mostly sheltered childhood, unable to take part in games with normal children. He was being groomed to be King and that wouldn't be appropriate. Things change a bit when he is assigned an understanding tutor (Jean Hersholt) and goes off to college in Heidelberg. It is here where he is treated like a normal person for the first time. It is also where he will meet and fall in love with beautiful barmaid Kathi (Norma Shearer), but class distinctions and family loyalty threaten their romance.
Thoughts: They don't make them the way Lubitsch did anymore. What seems to be a fairly standard romantic story (rich boy/poor girl) is energized by Lubitsch's wit and creativity. Lubitsch was always pretty advanced in the ways he dealt with sex (see Trouble in Paradise) and this one is no exception. There's a great scene where the Prince sees Kathi serving drinks to the gang, and he watches as they lift her up in celebration (she's just one of the guys) and she downs a full glass of beer in one shot. Karl is at first disgusted, but his expression quickly turns to one of lust. Lubitsch is also great at coaxing wonderful performances from his cast. Jean Hersholt has a memorable turn as the Prince's tutor, bringing so much life to his character that by the end of the movie, you feel like you've known him for years. Novarro and Shearer make a compelling romantic pair, although Shearer overplays her dramatic scenes a bit too much. By the end, Lubitsch has us fully invested in these character, and the delicately handled final few scenes of this wonderful film pack an emotional wallop.
#4. The Unknown (Tod Browning)
Story: Alonzo (Lon Chaney) is a circus performer who has no arms. His act consists of using his feet to throw knives at a woman. He falls in love with Nanon (Joan Crawford), the daughter of the circus owner, but isn't happy to find out that he has a rival for her affections in fellow circus performer Malabar the Mighty (Norman Kerry).
Thoughts: That's about all I'm willing to say about the story, because this is a film filled with wonderful, shocking surprises. Browning has created a fascinating world of castoffs marking their existence in a travelling circus show. Nothing that happens in this world is as you would expect it. Browning was really ahead of many other directors of his time. The final sequence is a masterpiece of precision editing that creates more excitement than you'll find in most modern thrillers. Chaney's performance at the center is one of the most remarkable I've ever seen. There is a sequence where he goes through several emotions at once, all while trying to hide these emotions from people standing right in front of him. It's an incredible scene that every aspiring actor should watch. There's also a very nice performance from a young Joan Crawford. She would later state that she learned more about acting from Chaney than anyone else, and it's not hard to see the connection between Chaney's powerful performance here and the intense Joan Crawford we would see in a few years.
#3. Underworld (Josef Von Sternberg)
Story: Bull Weed (George Bancroft) is the toughest gangster in town and he likes to let people know it. One way he does this is to protect a lowly drunk (Clive Brook) from the threats of a rival gangster. He helps the man (who now has the nickname "Rolls Royce") get back on his feet, and makes him one of his few trusted lieutenants. A problem arises when Bull's girlfriend Feathers (Evelyn Brent) and Rolls Royce begin to fall for each other, but both are conflicted because of their loyalty to Bull.
Thoughts: The gangster genre starts right here. The first thing I must point out is that Bull Weed is a fantastic character; a true tough guy on the level of the best of Cagney and Eastwood. There's a great early scene that illustrates this so well. After a confrontation with a rival gangster, Bull sends his few allies away. All by himself, he walks back into the bar and stares right at the gangster and his several accomplices, knowing that none of them have the courage to take him on. After all, he's Bull Weed. Bancroft completely sells the gravitas of this character, but what makes this movie great are the fascinating complexities in this story of loyalty and ethics. The three main characters (especially Bull and Feathers) could easily be developed as stereotypes, but von Sternberg's direction and Ben Hecht's writing probes the emotional conflicts each of these characters are facing. There's even some fun wordplay in this silent film (ex. "I was framed!" - "What are you, a picture?") Bancroft, Brent, and Brook are completely convincing at every step and make for one of the few movie love triangles where you're really not rooting against anyone. The brilliant twists in the third act amp up the moral dilemma faced by Rolls Royce and Feathers, and the fantastic resolution to this dilemma could only be sold by filmmakers and actors working at the very top of their craft.
#2. Metropolis (Fritz Lang)
Story: Lang’s story is about a futuristic city where there is big dividing line between the classes. The privileged planners and thinkers sit high in the beautiful skyscrapers living a life of luxury. Down below, the miserably treated workers toil to keep the city running. Joh Frederson (Alfred Abel) is the unsympathetic ruler of the city. One day his naïve son Freder (Gustav Frohlich) follows a beautiful woman down to the worker’s city and gets his first glimpse of their life. He is horrified and quickly joins their rebellious cause.
Thoughts: It doesn't get much better than this. I'd already seen Fritz Lang's 1921 film Destiny, and was impressed with how the plot moved with so much purpose. But that was a pretty simple 1-2-3 narrative structure. With his ambitious science fiction story, Lang had a much more complex narrative to deal with, and even the impressive sets constructed for Destiny were simplistic compared to what would be needed to fully visualize his screenplay. It's amazing then that not at one single moment does this movie drag or get lost in the intricate plot. Lang moves us through several different story points and fascinating twists, and he does it with a mesmerizing visual flair that stands up as an impressive achievement even today. Metropolis remains one of the most impressive achievements of art direction in cinematic history. The actors should get some credit, too. They all turn in splendid work, especially Klein-Rogge as the classic mad scientist Rotwang. Amazing that the Nazi party was fascinated with the film, considering that they clearly weren't interested in the kind of mediation that was at the heart of Lang's message.
#1. Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (FW Murnau)
A married man (George O' Brien) is cheating on his wife (Gaynor) with a woman from the city (Margaret Livingston). The woman wants him to move to the city with her, and conceives a plan for him to kill his wife (Janet Gaynor) by drowning her. The man can't go through with it, but the wife is now afraid and runs away from him. He follows her to the city, where they spend the rest of their day as he tries to get her to forgive him.
Thoughts: It's not hard to see why this is considered one of the greatest films ever made. Murnau's ability to tell a silent story without using extensive title cards is very impressive (he previously made the Last Laugh without a single title card). The film really comes alive once they hit the city, which is portrayed very energetically. For example, I love the shots where the couple crosses the street seemingly unaware of the cars speeding by them. There's also some unexpected comic relief. A sequence where the man chases down a drunk pig would feel right at home in a Chaplin, Keaton, or Lloyd film. Gaynor's performance is particularly remarkable. She convincingly portrays the wife as a lonely and then frightened woman who is rejuvenated by her husband's new-found love for her. I did find the ending to be a bit curious. The jarring juxtaposition of the final two scenes suggests that Murnau was going for something darker than most people have attributed.
And here is who I would pick if I got to decide the Oscar nominees and winners for 1927 (* denotes winner)
Best Picture
Metropolis
The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg
*Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans
Underworld
The Unknown
Best Director
Tod Browning, The Unknown
*Fritz Lang, Metropolis
Ernst Lubitsch, The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg
FW Murnau, Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans
Josef Von Sternberg, Underworld
Best Lead Actor
George Bancroft, Underworld
*Lon Chaney, The Unknown
Harold Lloyd, The Kid Brother
Ramon Novarro, The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg
George O'Brien, Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans
Best Lead Actress
Evelyn Brent, Underworld
Greta Garbo, Love
Janet Gaynor, Seventh Heaven
*Janet Gaynor, Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans
Norma Shearer, The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg
Best Supporting Actor
William Austin, It
Clive Brook, Underworld
*Jean Hersholt, The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg
Rudolf Klein-Rogge, Metropolis
Warner Oland, The Jazz Singer
Best Supporting Actress
Eugenie Besserer, The Jazz Singer
Joan Crawford, The Unknown
Brigitte Helm, Metropolis
*Martha Mattox, The Cat and the Canary
Jobyna Ralston, The Kid Brother
Best Screenplay
The Kid Brother (John Grey, Ted Wilde, Thomas J. Crizer)
Metropolis (Thea von Harbou)
The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg (Marian Ainslee, Ruth Cummings)
*Underworld (Ben Hecht, Charles Furthman)
The Unknown (Tod Browning, Joseph Farnham)
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Member: Larry McGillicuddy
Location: Atlanta, GA
Reviews written: 114
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