Clive Brook would have looked back very fondly on "The White Shadow" - even though by 1924 he had cemented his standing (with 30 films) as one of Britain's top film stars, it was the three films he made with Betty Compson when she came to England, that made Hollywood send for him and for the next few years he never looked back.
Alfred Hitchcock may have had a hand in this film but the director, Grahame Cutts, was pretty undistinguished except for the notorious "Cocaine"(1922) made at a time when a few drug scandals had made their way onto the front pages of some British newspapers. Clive Brook as an American was not any more hilarious than Betty Compson playing a wealthy British girl in this romantic drama of soul possession (but unfortunately that's all in the missing reels.
In fact Miss Compson plays twins - she is fun loving Nancy Brent returning home to Devon after finishing school and striking up a shipboard friendship with American Robin Field (Brook). There is a lot hinted at in the titles - Elizabeth, Nancy's mother, has marital woes to do with her husband's increasing dependence on alcohol. Robin, whose time seems to be his own, goes to Devon hoping to meet up with Nancy and he does but, just for a laugh, she sends her twin sister, Georgina, in her place and hides behind a tree to see the results. Behind Nancy's high spirits is a reckless abandon and a perverse pleasure in hurting the person who loves her best. She treats her father with contempt but she is still his favourite and when she runs away, he follows trying to find her - and both disappear.
The titles point out that Nancy is the soul-less one, Georgina has goodness enough for the two of them. When their mother dies, in a lovely shot as the sunlight streams through a church-like window, Georgina goes on a quest to London to find her missing sister. There she meets Robin who mistakes her for Nancy (in order to protect her sister's reputation she goes along with the ploy and pretends to be Nancy) but even though they both fall in love, he misses the fun and gaiety that the real Nancy had in abundance. Enter Louis Chadwick, Robin's friend. Henry Victor was just as much of an international actor as Brook, just not as big a star. His most famous role would be as "Hercules" in Tod Browning's "Freaks"(1932). Seeing him introduced as "Robin's young friend" is a stretch of incredibility as he looks at least 40!! Anyway, he is there to warn Robin about Nancy who he has seen frequenting the notorious Paris café "The Cat Who Laughs"!!
Yes, it is Nancy who now goes by the name of Cherry and has gone to the sordid Bohemian dive to sing, dance and gamble and now the old father makes his appearance as a vagrant who has lost all reason. He and his daughters (Georgina had overheard Louis talking and fled to Paris in the hope of finding her sister) meet but neither sister recognises the old tramp as their father. That's where the film ends and unfortunately it is in the missing reels that the meaning of the "white shadow" is discovered and the theme of soul possession becomes clear. As a complete film it may have been Grahame Cutts moment of cinema glory but as it is.....
Alfred Hitchcock may have had a hand in this film but the director, Grahame Cutts, was pretty undistinguished except for the notorious "Cocaine"(1922) made at a time when a few drug scandals had made their way onto the front pages of some British newspapers. Clive Brook as an American was not any more hilarious than Betty Compson playing a wealthy British girl in this romantic drama of soul possession (but unfortunately that's all in the missing reels.
In fact Miss Compson plays twins - she is fun loving Nancy Brent returning home to Devon after finishing school and striking up a shipboard friendship with American Robin Field (Brook). There is a lot hinted at in the titles - Elizabeth, Nancy's mother, has marital woes to do with her husband's increasing dependence on alcohol. Robin, whose time seems to be his own, goes to Devon hoping to meet up with Nancy and he does but, just for a laugh, she sends her twin sister, Georgina, in her place and hides behind a tree to see the results. Behind Nancy's high spirits is a reckless abandon and a perverse pleasure in hurting the person who loves her best. She treats her father with contempt but she is still his favourite and when she runs away, he follows trying to find her - and both disappear.
The titles point out that Nancy is the soul-less one, Georgina has goodness enough for the two of them. When their mother dies, in a lovely shot as the sunlight streams through a church-like window, Georgina goes on a quest to London to find her missing sister. There she meets Robin who mistakes her for Nancy (in order to protect her sister's reputation she goes along with the ploy and pretends to be Nancy) but even though they both fall in love, he misses the fun and gaiety that the real Nancy had in abundance. Enter Louis Chadwick, Robin's friend. Henry Victor was just as much of an international actor as Brook, just not as big a star. His most famous role would be as "Hercules" in Tod Browning's "Freaks"(1932). Seeing him introduced as "Robin's young friend" is a stretch of incredibility as he looks at least 40!! Anyway, he is there to warn Robin about Nancy who he has seen frequenting the notorious Paris café "The Cat Who Laughs"!!
Yes, it is Nancy who now goes by the name of Cherry and has gone to the sordid Bohemian dive to sing, dance and gamble and now the old father makes his appearance as a vagrant who has lost all reason. He and his daughters (Georgina had overheard Louis talking and fled to Paris in the hope of finding her sister) meet but neither sister recognises the old tramp as their father. That's where the film ends and unfortunately it is in the missing reels that the meaning of the "white shadow" is discovered and the theme of soul possession becomes clear. As a complete film it may have been Grahame Cutts moment of cinema glory but as it is.....