Street Angel (1928) :
Brief Review -
Yet another moving romance from Janet Gaynor after 7th Heaven & Evergreen Sunrise. One of Borzage's best silent dramas. Street Angel brought Borzage and Gaynor together in the romantic genre after 7th Heaven, just after Gaynor worked in an evergreen masterpiece like Sunrise (1927) by FW Murnau, and this one, too, is worth your watch for many reasons. One of the major reasons is that this film is very influential. Let's see how. Forget the conflicts, climax and everything for a moment and imagine this basic idea of a romantic film. A beautiful girl (could have a bad reputation sometimes, but not always) has no faith in love. She has made it clear to herself that love brings only problems in a girl's life, and she'll be better off without it. She meets a man and then realises how good love can be for a girl. She enjoys the moments for some time, but before she learns to cherish them, destiny takes them away from her. Now tell me, doesn't that sound familiar to you? Haven't you seen the same girl in many movies over the years? I can remember at least 40 to 50 films from different cinema industries that had this kind of girl playing the lead role. A woman on the run from the law finds her past catching up with her just as she is on the verge of true happiness. That's all about Street Angel's plot in brief. Some people may find the climax too cheesy, but in my opinion, that wouldn't be fair. It was still a decent conclusion for the last 20s, I believe, and that's why it looks fine. Not great though. Even I found it a little dull, but that's okay. I can still feel that earlier supremacy to forgive the old cliches in the climax. Janet Gaynor is beautiful, both by face and by performance. Charles Farrell lends a strong performance, and the rest of the cast is equally appealing. Frank Borzage hits the right chords. I guess, excluding those last 3 minutes, he has made almost a classic tale. It's highly dramatic and a trendsetter for its time, so it can't be missed.
RATING - 7.5/10*
By - #samthebestest.
Yet another moving romance from Janet Gaynor after 7th Heaven & Evergreen Sunrise. One of Borzage's best silent dramas. Street Angel brought Borzage and Gaynor together in the romantic genre after 7th Heaven, just after Gaynor worked in an evergreen masterpiece like Sunrise (1927) by FW Murnau, and this one, too, is worth your watch for many reasons. One of the major reasons is that this film is very influential. Let's see how. Forget the conflicts, climax and everything for a moment and imagine this basic idea of a romantic film. A beautiful girl (could have a bad reputation sometimes, but not always) has no faith in love. She has made it clear to herself that love brings only problems in a girl's life, and she'll be better off without it. She meets a man and then realises how good love can be for a girl. She enjoys the moments for some time, but before she learns to cherish them, destiny takes them away from her. Now tell me, doesn't that sound familiar to you? Haven't you seen the same girl in many movies over the years? I can remember at least 40 to 50 films from different cinema industries that had this kind of girl playing the lead role. A woman on the run from the law finds her past catching up with her just as she is on the verge of true happiness. That's all about Street Angel's plot in brief. Some people may find the climax too cheesy, but in my opinion, that wouldn't be fair. It was still a decent conclusion for the last 20s, I believe, and that's why it looks fine. Not great though. Even I found it a little dull, but that's okay. I can still feel that earlier supremacy to forgive the old cliches in the climax. Janet Gaynor is beautiful, both by face and by performance. Charles Farrell lends a strong performance, and the rest of the cast is equally appealing. Frank Borzage hits the right chords. I guess, excluding those last 3 minutes, he has made almost a classic tale. It's highly dramatic and a trendsetter for its time, so it can't be missed.
RATING - 7.5/10*
By - #samthebestest.