BEST FILMS OF 1920
by Mike Lorefice

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
Robert Weine

Surpremely stylized film largely created and definitely popularized the German expressionist style. Highly influential in it's approach, with set design being arguably the most important aspect, and much of the rest of the effort going toward cinematography and lighting, all of which functioned to distort exterior reality toward the character's supposed inner reality. Though a film to be studied, and deservedly revered for it's groundbreaking technique, the intense stylization tends to get irritating with everyone moving in slow motion and Weine seeming to obsess over their slightest twitch. A great formalist experiment, but the story itself isn't that interesting. Though often credited with things it didn't do for the horror genre (such as create it), it's hard to overly criticize a film that made the important expressionist movement, which was a big inspiration in a later important movement, film noir. [9/4/05] ***

The Garage
Roscoe Arbuckle

The end of the Fatty & Buster collaboration, the duo find their calling as auto mechanics. Havoc, or course, ensues with all kinds of oil, grease, and tire jokes including Buster rolling a tire into Fatty's rotund rump and flowers for the boss' daughter getting dipped in oil just before she sniffs them. Keaton had yet to adopt his "frozen-face" demeanor, but his visual gags and athletic style were in fine form. [9/4/05] ***

The Last of the Mohicans
Maurice Tourneur

***

Number, Please?
Hal Roach & Fred C. Newmeyer

If you feel like you're the only one who can't win when it comes to women, this is the comedy for you. Harold Lloyd has accursed luck, so he goes to the amusement park hoping a relaxing day of fun will help eradicate the pain from his latest heartbreak. During the baseball toss he becomes so distracted he throws the balls into the next booth, shattering several dolls. Of course, it's over another woman (Mildred Davis), and to make things worse she already has a boyfriend (Roy Brooks). Luckily Lloyd finds The Girl's lost dog, but he ties it to the merry-go-round before getting her attention, only to have The Rival wind up getting credit for the rescue. Still, Lloyd has a chance to be the one to go on the balloon ride with her if he can reach her mom first and get permission. Lacking a car, Lloyd attempts to rely on the latest technology, the public phone. Finally, Lloyd winds up with a purse he believes to be stolen, and does his best to divest himself of it, but even throwing it over a fence won't work because kids playing baseball hit it right back to him. When he finally realizes it's The Girl's and goes to hand it to her... Nothing goes his way, even when he succeeds he fails. It doesn't seem a great loss given all the hoops he has to go through for this shallow woman, though it serves him right for trying to pry her from another man (even if she turns out to be equally disinterested in him). Walter Lundin's photography is better than most of the features he went on to film with Lloyd. He puts the camera on the rollercoaster Lloyd is sitting in back of, and having the pleasure of getting a mouthful of every loose garment from the passengers in front of him, even a toupe! There's also a funny scene where Lloyd is being distorted by a funhouse mirror. There's really only three parts to this three-reeler, but Lloyd can milk a scene for all it's worth with the best of them. [1/30/07] ***1/2

The Parson's Widow
Carl Theodor Dreyer

***

The Penalty
Wallace Worsley

Lon Chaney's first major starring role lays out the tortured and contorted path he'd take to becoming the top dramatic draw of the decade. Chaney plays a double amputee who seeks vengeance against the doctor who ruined his life, unnecessarily sawing off his legs above the knees when he was a child. Chaney fell from heaven at that point, so like Satan he claims power in hell becoming the mastermind of the San Francisco crime racket (when he grows up), and thus controlling the city. Chaney's legs were strapped behind him with leather belts, so his athletic performance consists of walking on the leather stumps that covered his knees. No special effects are used or needed; Chaney swings, pulls, and climbs like he's been an amputee all his life. It's a dark intense film where Chaney's character, in fact every character except the doctor's artist daughter Barbara, is difficult to like. Two years before the Hays Office meddling Worsley is able to depict the seedy side of Gouveneur Morris' novel. We see Chaney abusing one of his female employees for screwing up one of the straw hats they make, as well as other soon undisplayable material such as a nude model, a prostitute with her client, and a druggy who gets away with murder. Nonetheless, Chaney shows his humanity in increasing doses as the film progresses through his (as always unrequited) love for Barbara and refusal to kill the government plant Rose who he shares a love of music with. [4/30/06] ***

The Scarecrow
Buster Keaton & Eddie Cline

19-minute short that's going nowhere for the first 10. Suddenly, Keaton delivers arguably his most remarkable scene where he's chased by a mad dog. After failing to elude the mutt through and around the foundation of a wrecked roofless building, Buster climbs a ladder but the dog climbs after him and even jumps over the gap in the perimeter. These 4 minutes must be seen to be believed. Unfortunately, Buster befriends the dog so the final minutes also aren't that great either. [9/4/05] ***