This is a film that's great to see if you are a fan of silent films. However, don't be mistaken...this is a bad film otherwise. This is because the film has a lot of nice behind the scenes looks at Hollywood, but the plot of the film itself is pretty poor.
The film begins with Mem on her honeymoon. Oddly, however, she suddenly realizes that he gives her the creeps and she ditches the train and hikes away into the night. This is good for you, as ti turns out the guy is a Bluebeard who marries and then kills his wives for money. How she knew r to leave, though, is one of those bizarre things that only happens in movies. For next portion of the film, the husband runs around robbing women and evading the law. At the same time, she wanders into a film shoot and ingratiates herself to the director and one of the leading ladies. With this odd blundering start, she begins her rise from a bit player to a leading star.
After Mem has made it big, the serial killing husband returns. Now Mem DOES know what he really was and yet she keeps his secret! I know she might be worried about her career and how her marriage to an evil nutter could be impacted, but he IS a homicidal maniac. Letting him go and hiding the fact that he's so dangerous just makes no sense at all. Nor does it make any sense when Mem rejects the nice director's advances since she's already married--though the marriage was never consummated and he WAS a psycho! Nor does it make sense in the climactic scene where the serial killing husband tries to do what he does best--kill someone. However, when Mem steps into the path of a bladed killing machine manned by the loony murderer, he jumps of and dies saving Mem. Why, exactly, would a psycho murderer do this?! After all, he IS a psycho murderer!!!! None of this plot makes much sense and it play like the films "A Star is Born" merged into "Psycho"!! And, as a result, it's a pretty stupid mess--despite its ridiculously high overall score.
Now you might think that how much I hated the film and my almost average score of 4 don't jibe. However, I give it a 4 mostly because you get to see some behind the scenes peeks at some of the stars and directors of the day--though some of the clips are way too short and weren't integrated well into the film (such as that by Von Stroheim and Chaplin). The only problem with all this is that most of the stars from 1923 are practically unknown today. While I know a lot more than the average film viewer, I didn't recognize many of them and also noticed that a lot of big stars weren't in the film. I recognized a few like Fred Niblo (famous for directing Garbo), Richard Dix (playing the director), Chester Conklin and a few others--but for the most part, it looked like viewing someone's home movies and having no idea who many in the scenes were. Interesting but hardly a must-see--even for devoted fans of silents like myself. For a MUCH better film without the stupid plot, try watching the delightful "Show People" with Marion Davies. It, too, has a lot of great behind the scenes cameos--more and better ones in fact. Plus, the film is terrific apart from that.
The film begins with Mem on her honeymoon. Oddly, however, she suddenly realizes that he gives her the creeps and she ditches the train and hikes away into the night. This is good for you, as ti turns out the guy is a Bluebeard who marries and then kills his wives for money. How she knew r to leave, though, is one of those bizarre things that only happens in movies. For next portion of the film, the husband runs around robbing women and evading the law. At the same time, she wanders into a film shoot and ingratiates herself to the director and one of the leading ladies. With this odd blundering start, she begins her rise from a bit player to a leading star.
After Mem has made it big, the serial killing husband returns. Now Mem DOES know what he really was and yet she keeps his secret! I know she might be worried about her career and how her marriage to an evil nutter could be impacted, but he IS a homicidal maniac. Letting him go and hiding the fact that he's so dangerous just makes no sense at all. Nor does it make any sense when Mem rejects the nice director's advances since she's already married--though the marriage was never consummated and he WAS a psycho! Nor does it make sense in the climactic scene where the serial killing husband tries to do what he does best--kill someone. However, when Mem steps into the path of a bladed killing machine manned by the loony murderer, he jumps of and dies saving Mem. Why, exactly, would a psycho murderer do this?! After all, he IS a psycho murderer!!!! None of this plot makes much sense and it play like the films "A Star is Born" merged into "Psycho"!! And, as a result, it's a pretty stupid mess--despite its ridiculously high overall score.
Now you might think that how much I hated the film and my almost average score of 4 don't jibe. However, I give it a 4 mostly because you get to see some behind the scenes peeks at some of the stars and directors of the day--though some of the clips are way too short and weren't integrated well into the film (such as that by Von Stroheim and Chaplin). The only problem with all this is that most of the stars from 1923 are practically unknown today. While I know a lot more than the average film viewer, I didn't recognize many of them and also noticed that a lot of big stars weren't in the film. I recognized a few like Fred Niblo (famous for directing Garbo), Richard Dix (playing the director), Chester Conklin and a few others--but for the most part, it looked like viewing someone's home movies and having no idea who many in the scenes were. Interesting but hardly a must-see--even for devoted fans of silents like myself. For a MUCH better film without the stupid plot, try watching the delightful "Show People" with Marion Davies. It, too, has a lot of great behind the scenes cameos--more and better ones in fact. Plus, the film is terrific apart from that.