This is not an all-time great film, but it is surely washable. One thing that amazed me was Janet Gaynor's performance. Two years earlier, she played a rather haggard-looking wife in Sunrise (1927) and yet she plays a very believable child in this movie. Then there's Charles Farrell. In every other film I'd ever seen him in, he looked like he'd been beaten up a short time earlier, but in this one, he looks quite a bit cleaner. Speaking of Sunrise (1927), this film's atmosphere very much reminded me of it. It had that dark surrealistic type of setting. It was the same company (Fox), but different director (Frank Borzage as opposed to F.W. Murnau). It was also neat to see Paul Fix in an early role. I've seen nearly every episode of The Rifleman, where he played Micah, the Marhsall, but here he is many years earlier. He looks quite a bit different, too. Guinn "Big Boy" Williams, he did fine. His character was supposed to be a jerk and he does a good job on it, too. The reason I don't rate this film higher is because of his character, particularly when he's a boss over Charles Farrell. Like I say this film is watchable, but the ending made me go "huh?" For much of the film, Charles Farrell's character is crippled, but all of a sudden, he isn't anymore! While I do like happy endings, it's bit far-fetched. It sort of reminded me of a 1923 Warners Brothers movie in which a mute actress all of a sudden speaks (so to speak in a silent film), but the sudden change was handled better in that film than this one. While not great, I do say it is worth a look.
Review of Lucky Star
