This is a rather unremarkable movie made remarkable by the presence of Louise Brroks as a secondary character.
She really was a remarkable presence, someone who affected women, all women by mere being.
The interesting thing is that she was never seductive in a fleshy sort of way. Her figure is rather ordinary, which is to say realistic.
She had a pretty face, but no more so than hundreds of others from the era. What she had instead was a sense of self that seemingly by accident was conveyed by the camera. Even today, it is remarkable, though it surely has a different effect. She seems to have been one of the smartest women to pass through Hollywood. She's famous for crediting her success merely on knowing how to dress, carry herself, and maintain an attitude. All three of these were emulated, especially the hair style.
So she is of historical interest and is worth seeing on that score alone. But she still controls the whole movie, even though here she literally is the girl next door and is engaged to a nerdy inventor runt. There are some interesting long shots in this, every one of them built around her presence. One is at the hospital where a key character has died. The set was built in such a way that a long shot could frame Louise and a few others with the space forming a set of frames, all centered on her. Its amazingly powerful in an otherwise vacuous movie.
But somehow the way the story ends might have had her in mind. A plot device has Louise's boyfriend as the inventor of an antirust mixture that he can't sell presumably because the steel companies know it would flake off. The blowhard successfully sells it for a fortune by suggesting that it be mixed into the smelt. That's Louise. Its from the inside.
Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.
She really was a remarkable presence, someone who affected women, all women by mere being.
The interesting thing is that she was never seductive in a fleshy sort of way. Her figure is rather ordinary, which is to say realistic.
She had a pretty face, but no more so than hundreds of others from the era. What she had instead was a sense of self that seemingly by accident was conveyed by the camera. Even today, it is remarkable, though it surely has a different effect. She seems to have been one of the smartest women to pass through Hollywood. She's famous for crediting her success merely on knowing how to dress, carry herself, and maintain an attitude. All three of these were emulated, especially the hair style.
So she is of historical interest and is worth seeing on that score alone. But she still controls the whole movie, even though here she literally is the girl next door and is engaged to a nerdy inventor runt. There are some interesting long shots in this, every one of them built around her presence. One is at the hospital where a key character has died. The set was built in such a way that a long shot could frame Louise and a few others with the space forming a set of frames, all centered on her. Its amazingly powerful in an otherwise vacuous movie.
But somehow the way the story ends might have had her in mind. A plot device has Louise's boyfriend as the inventor of an antirust mixture that he can't sell presumably because the steel companies know it would flake off. The blowhard successfully sells it for a fortune by suggesting that it be mixed into the smelt. That's Louise. Its from the inside.
Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.