Director: Herman C. Raymaker
Cast: Rin Tin Tin, June Marlowe, John Harron, Gayne Whitman
Have I Seen It Before: Nope. I like to go to these silent movies at Circle. For brief moments, I can feel like I was there a hundred years ago. It’s fleeting, but there can be brief moments. Unfortunately, Scorsese might be right when he says that the behavior of audiences aren’t really holding up their end of the cinema experience, post-COVID. There were two fellas behind me who either enjoyed the film far more than one might have expected, or were just making a point of performing like people who were enjoying the film. That could be forgiven—or even damn me a bit as a bit of a grump—but the lady taking video of the organist pretty much ensured that I was never anywhere other than the 2020s.
Did I Like It: I think it’s a pretty good bet that—in any era—if you’re going to give a dog top billing, you’re opting for a crowd pleaser in favor of any kind of nuance. That’s okay. There’s room for that in any era of cinema. I’ve often thought that certain genres—comedy, horror, the occasional adventure if it can keep things moving—stand the test of time. While others—most dramas, romances, and inexplicably enough, most westerns—show their age.
This movie contains bits of comedy, a romantic subplot, more than a few horses, some stabs at drama, and an attempt or two at actual cliffhangers.. If it had bothered to include a few vampires or an epic-retelling of some part of the bible, it might just have become the ur-text of the silent movie…
…without ever really picking one movie to be. So, a mark against it for trying to reach a century past its relevance to continue trying to please everyone. But, a mark in its favor for managing to offer something for everyone. The end equation becomes: is the dog cute? Sure, the dog is cute.