Copyright 1 December 1925 by Warner Brothers Films. New York opening at the Piccadilly 27 December 1925. 7,815 feet. 80 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: Although charmingly boyish in demeanor, Darlington is a bit of a cad. He is always pestering his best friend's wife, constantly professing his love, until finally... Fortunately his plans are stymied by the fortune-hunting Mrs Erlynne, a mysterious social climber who is actually the heroine's supposed-to-be-dead mother. COMMENT: Oscar Wilde's 1892 play employs a melodramatic plot on which to stud a seemingly endless supply of witty epigrams. When Lubitsch announced that he intended to throw away every single one of Wilde's wicked witticisms but keep all the ho-hum machinations of his old-hat plot in place, everyone thought the director was crazy. But Lubitsch's madness has paid off handsomely. Thanks to collective talents on both sides of the camera, Lady Windermere's Fan rates as one of the high points of American film-making. The acting is first-rate. In fact, it's so natural and so engrossing, we forget this is a silent movie and that the characters are expressing their emotions so succinctly yet so pointedly simply by their posture and facial expressions. Richly costumed Irene Rich (pictured left) does wonders with the role she was born to play; Ronald Colman plays the cad with the requisite amount of charm; while May McAvoy (pictured right) is never less than appealing as the wide-eyed innocent. Admittedly, Bert Lytell lacks charisma as the hard-pressed husband, but that too is all to the good. The movie is gorgeously set and most beautifully photographed in high contrast, film-noirish black-and-white. Best of all, "crazy" Lubitsch has had the inspired notion of replacing Wilde's wit with characteristic touches of his own. I like the way he occasionally isolates his characters in huge sets and the felicity of such visual devices as the progressive wipe into black as Augustus pursues Mrs Erlynne. Witty title cards help too. "Lord Windermere is looking for you," Rich remarks to McAvoy as she button-holes her in the garden (pictured). "I'm sure he has not missed me," she replies. "You have entertained him so well!"
AVAILABLE on DVD through Image in the boxed set, More Treasures from American Film Archives. Quality rating: 10/10.
SYNOPSIS: Although charmingly boyish in demeanor, Darlington is a bit of a cad. He is always pestering his best friend's wife, constantly professing his love, until finally... Fortunately his plans are stymied by the fortune-hunting Mrs Erlynne, a mysterious social climber who is actually the heroine's supposed-to-be-dead mother. COMMENT: Oscar Wilde's 1892 play employs a melodramatic plot on which to stud a seemingly endless supply of witty epigrams. When Lubitsch announced that he intended to throw away every single one of Wilde's wicked witticisms but keep all the ho-hum machinations of his old-hat plot in place, everyone thought the director was crazy. But Lubitsch's madness has paid off handsomely. Thanks to collective talents on both sides of the camera, Lady Windermere's Fan rates as one of the high points of American film-making. The acting is first-rate. In fact, it's so natural and so engrossing, we forget this is a silent movie and that the characters are expressing their emotions so succinctly yet so pointedly simply by their posture and facial expressions. Richly costumed Irene Rich (pictured left) does wonders with the role she was born to play; Ronald Colman plays the cad with the requisite amount of charm; while May McAvoy (pictured right) is never less than appealing as the wide-eyed innocent. Admittedly, Bert Lytell lacks charisma as the hard-pressed husband, but that too is all to the good. The movie is gorgeously set and most beautifully photographed in high contrast, film-noirish black-and-white. Best of all, "crazy" Lubitsch has had the inspired notion of replacing Wilde's wit with characteristic touches of his own. I like the way he occasionally isolates his characters in huge sets and the felicity of such visual devices as the progressive wipe into black as Augustus pursues Mrs Erlynne. Witty title cards help too. "Lord Windermere is looking for you," Rich remarks to McAvoy as she button-holes her in the garden (pictured). "I'm sure he has not missed me," she replies. "You have entertained him so well!"
AVAILABLE on DVD through Image in the boxed set, More Treasures from American Film Archives. Quality rating: 10/10.