Souls For Sale (1923) :
Movie Review -
Rupert Hughes's fine take on a trending Hollywood drama, but I'd any day choose King Vidor's "Show People" (1928) over it. Though Souls For Sale was made 5 years before King Vidor's classic, Show People, I couldn't resist myself from making this comparison because both films revolve around the same theme. There is a lot of drama in Rupert's flick, and it lacks comedy to be called a comedy. On the other hand, Vidor's film was all about drama, and it has that karma theme intellectually attached to it. Let's keep Souls For Sale away from comparisons for a while, but you can make comparisons after watching both films, not before that. It's just that I can't stop making comparisons when I see films made on a similar subject or theme, so I got carried away by my stubbornness. Souls For Sale is about a runaway bride who finds herself a big career in Hollywood. As expected, her past comes back to haunt her and spoil her present and future, but her present lovers are there to save her this time. Things are quite predictable here, but the dramatic presentation really keeps you engaged for one and a half hours. Those enchanting cameos of Hollywood stars and directors were like a treat to the eyes. A couple of them included unseen BTS footage from "A Woman of Paris" (1923) and "Greed" (1924), which were filmed around the same time. It was some kind of nostalgia for me because I have seen those two films. Well, the rest of the film goes with the tide, filling every column of a mainstream drama. Even though it is overdramatic on occasions, that extreme drama is also very cautious about the outcome. Eleanor Boardman, as "mem," is "remembered" to date. Richard Dix and Frank Mayo, as competitors, suited the job, while Lew Cody came for a shorter time but left a strong impact. Rupert Hughes' flick is what we call a typical drama, but it wasn't so typical 100 years ago, right? One must look at contemporary cinema to understand the merits of this movie, and kudos to whoever thought of such a title and those thoughtful intertitles about the movie business.
RATING - 7/10*
By - #samthebestest.
Rupert Hughes's fine take on a trending Hollywood drama, but I'd any day choose King Vidor's "Show People" (1928) over it. Though Souls For Sale was made 5 years before King Vidor's classic, Show People, I couldn't resist myself from making this comparison because both films revolve around the same theme. There is a lot of drama in Rupert's flick, and it lacks comedy to be called a comedy. On the other hand, Vidor's film was all about drama, and it has that karma theme intellectually attached to it. Let's keep Souls For Sale away from comparisons for a while, but you can make comparisons after watching both films, not before that. It's just that I can't stop making comparisons when I see films made on a similar subject or theme, so I got carried away by my stubbornness. Souls For Sale is about a runaway bride who finds herself a big career in Hollywood. As expected, her past comes back to haunt her and spoil her present and future, but her present lovers are there to save her this time. Things are quite predictable here, but the dramatic presentation really keeps you engaged for one and a half hours. Those enchanting cameos of Hollywood stars and directors were like a treat to the eyes. A couple of them included unseen BTS footage from "A Woman of Paris" (1923) and "Greed" (1924), which were filmed around the same time. It was some kind of nostalgia for me because I have seen those two films. Well, the rest of the film goes with the tide, filling every column of a mainstream drama. Even though it is overdramatic on occasions, that extreme drama is also very cautious about the outcome. Eleanor Boardman, as "mem," is "remembered" to date. Richard Dix and Frank Mayo, as competitors, suited the job, while Lew Cody came for a shorter time but left a strong impact. Rupert Hughes' flick is what we call a typical drama, but it wasn't so typical 100 years ago, right? One must look at contemporary cinema to understand the merits of this movie, and kudos to whoever thought of such a title and those thoughtful intertitles about the movie business.
RATING - 7/10*
By - #samthebestest.