Some BIG hollywood names in this silent from 1924... John Barrymore and Mary Astor (oscar for The Great Lie, but probably better known for Maltese Falcon.) Couldn't get bigger names than that! they both made the successful transition to talkies in the 1930s. Astor was pretty new to silents, but did a find job. Here, Lady Margery (Astor) ends up marrying royalty for traditional, practical reasons, even though she was in love with poor Brummel (Barrymore). Age-old story of bad timing, missed connections, regret. Willard Louis is Prince of Wales here... he died young at 44 of typhoid fever. Something about the silents... they seemed to have dumbed everything down for the audience, and really spelled everything out. Current opinion is that it was such a new medium that the directors weren't sure just how much needed to be said in title cards, so they erred on the side of over-explanation. It's good, as silents go. LONG. but good. kind of goes on and on, but there was a story to tell. Picture quality and title cards are excellent. Must have been a professional restoration. Directed by Harry Beaumont, who will be nominated for "Broadway Melody" 1929.
Review of Beau Brummel
