It's little like Busby Berkley's "42nd Street" if Ruby Keeler had been pursued by Jack the Ripper or Simon Legree. I was unable to catch the whole film so my comments have to be qualified.
Yes, Mem is a pretty young lady escaping her prudish past and she winds up first as a novice actress in Hollywood, then the star. It's fun to watch but unless your an aficionado of silent movies you're liable to miss the celebrities who appear as themselves. I mean, Charlie Chaplin and Eric von Stroheim, of course, but the ever popular Mae Busch?
The story, what I was able to catch of it, is engaging enough and there are entertaining moments sprinkled throughout. To tell the truth, making a silent movie looks a whole lot easier than making a movie with sound, although John Ford claimed it was the other way round. In one scene, the director tells Mem to really FEEL her tears because the audience can tell if you're merely acting. That's hard to believe.
It does seem watchable however, and a lot more than that if you're familiar with the period context.
Yes, Mem is a pretty young lady escaping her prudish past and she winds up first as a novice actress in Hollywood, then the star. It's fun to watch but unless your an aficionado of silent movies you're liable to miss the celebrities who appear as themselves. I mean, Charlie Chaplin and Eric von Stroheim, of course, but the ever popular Mae Busch?
The story, what I was able to catch of it, is engaging enough and there are entertaining moments sprinkled throughout. To tell the truth, making a silent movie looks a whole lot easier than making a movie with sound, although John Ford claimed it was the other way round. In one scene, the director tells Mem to really FEEL her tears because the audience can tell if you're merely acting. That's hard to believe.
It does seem watchable however, and a lot more than that if you're familiar with the period context.