"The Show" is one of Browning's best, but the happy ending seems tacked on. Viewers will be reminded of Fritz Lang's "Liliom" and Edmund Goulding's "Nightmare Alley" for the carnival setting as well as the fatalistic, doomed aura that hovers around the main character. Like Charles Boyer and Tyrone Power, John Gilbert's Cock Robin is physically arrogant, cruel, feverishly ambitious and greedy, and very slightly crazy. (The main character of Pasolini's "Accatone!" wouldn't be a bad comparison either, minus the carnival setting.) Yet it was only in Lang's French production that the inevitable sorry ending was allowed to play itself out. That's Hollywood, as they say! Gilbert, with his swaggering good looks, is perfect. Rumor has it that he resented being cast in such a louche role, and this perhaps was a positive, as he conveys great anger simmering just beneath the surface. I agree with a previous reviewer that Lon Chaney in the role would have been a bit much. Barrymore controls his natural hamminess, and Adoree brings some nuance to her role as Salome. The excellent Budapest sets are detailed and impeccably squalid and Browning's setups convey just the right touch of eeriness.
Once again, we're left to wonder what happened to the sensuality, down-and-dirtiness (this was an MGM production!), and creepy allure of movies once sound came in.
Once again, we're left to wonder what happened to the sensuality, down-and-dirtiness (this was an MGM production!), and creepy allure of movies once sound came in.