Film Persona

  Raoul Walsh's "The Roaring Twenties" Throughout the 1930s, Raoul Walsh continued to direct pictures for Hollywood, albeit not large-scale productions. Also during the 1930s, especially the early part of the decade, was a rise in popularity of the gangster film genre. The genre was jam-packed with violence and always included a 'bad guy' as its lead protagonist. The films were often viewed as very sensational, which was a recipe that audiences flocked to during the Great Depression of the early 1930s. However, after the Hayes Code took effect in 1934 and general economic welfare began to rise again, the gangster genre began to die down altogether. In 1939, Raoul Walsh directed " The Roaring Twenties ," a film that pays homage to the classic gangster genres of the early 30s. Not only this, it seems to thematically suggest the end of the gangster genre, as it also parallels this to the end of Prohibition and the 1920s altogether.  The film stars James Cag...

  Raoul Walsh's "The Big Trail" Raoul Walsh's 1930 epic Western, " The Big Trail " takes its cues from a couple of films released in the decade prior. The film shares the same historical tale of 1923's " The Covered Wagon ," which recounts Americans in the 19th century traverse the great West in search of land and the western sea border. Despite the shared plot of historical events, " The Big Trail " shares even more in common with John Ford films, specifically his 1924 epic " The Iron Horse ." The thematic throughline for " The Iron Horse " centers on the forming of a contemporary America by adventurous and hardworking travelers. These travelers share many differences, and the structure of this film (as well as " The Big Trail ") hinges on these varied travelers forming bonds, working out conflicts, and working together for a common widescale goal. These same ideas can be found in much of John Ford's...

  Raoul Walsh's "What Price Glory" After the end of the first World War, there was an onslaught of films that centered around its events. Films like " The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse " and " The Big Parade " showcased the utter horror of the preceding war and drew massive audiences. Raoul Walsh's adaptation of the 1924 stage play, "What Price Glory, " continued in this success." The plot centers around two members of the American Armed Forces who compete for the affections of a lovely French barmaid. Like the before-mentioned films, it does provide plenty of "war is bad" themes. However, the film seems to continuously lose focus on the dynamics of the relationship between this love triangle and the machinations of men going off to die. Despite this, the film was Raoul Walsh's greatest financial success in the 1920s.

  Raoul Walsh's "The Thief of Bagdad" After starting his career as an actor with D.W. Griffith, Raoul Walsh acted as an assistant director (as well as playing John Wilkes Booth) in " The Birth of a Nation ." He even directed his own feature-length film in the same year, " Regeneration ," often cited as the first 'gangster film.' After serving as an American officer in World War I, Walsh made his way back to Hollywood. His first explosive film was 1924's " The Thief of Bagdad ." Produced by Douglas Fairbanks, the film was a vehicle for Fairbanks to continue with his signature 'swashbuckling' action and stuntwork, after just coming off the success of 1922's " Robin Hood ."  The film is adapted from a story contained in the Arabic folk book " One Thousand and One Nights ," often referred to in the Western world as " Arabian Nights ." It tells the story of a common thief in the city of Bagdad....

  Henry King's "The Gunfighter" Originally intended to be a John Wayne vehicle, " The Gunfighter " tells the story of an aging gunman trying to reconcile with the loved ones he's left behind. Wayne turned down the role due to his dislike of Columbia president Harry Cohn. After a deal could not get done, Columbia sold the rights of the film to 20th Century Fox. The lead role eventually went to Gregory Peck, with Henry King at the director's helm.  Gregory Peck plays Jimmie Ringo, known by everyone in every town he visits as 'the fastest gun in the West.' It is apparent this becomes tiresome for Ringo, as he is constantly getting bombarded with agitation from young punks looking to make a name for themselves. It seems there is nowhere for Ringo to go without a target being on his back. He is eventually run out of town by three brothers who are out for revenge for the death of their brother, despite their brother being the instigator in the shootout...

  Henry King's "Twelve O'Clock High" There were plenty of stories to mine from the first World War after its end. One of them, called Black Thursday, was turned into a feature-length film. This film, " Twelve O'Clock High ," directed by Henry King, stars Gregory Peck as a no-nonsense Brigadier who assumed command of an American Air Force unit with morale problems. The story is about a typical 'tough commander turning a lazy group of men into hard-working soldiers' plot. Because of this, it is easy to lose interest in the plot quickly, especially for its almost 2-and-a-half-hour runtime. However, the film was a major success and earned many Oscar nominations, winning a Best Supporting Actor for Dean Jagger. It was a very patriotic war film at a time when America was recovering from World War II.

  Henry King's "The Song of Bernadette" In 1943, Henry King directed his most popular film in decades, perhaps ever. " The Song of Bernadette " tells the story of a 14-year-old French girl who has visions of the Virgin Mary in her local town. The film takes the point of view of the varying perspectives of everyone involved in the situation and explores the varying degrees of certainty and uncertainty faced by the various characters. The film was both a critical and commercial success and skyrocketed Jennifer Jones to fame.  There were many different emotions I felt while watching this film. Firstly, it began rather interestingly. Watching the skepticism of everyone involved of whether these visions were real or imagined was a great observational study of individual and collective skepticism. After a while, you even begin to root for the belief of the population. There were moments where I found myself wanting every doubting Thomas to come to a divide revelation....

  Henry King's "The Winning of Barbara Worth" Adapted from Harold Bell Wright's 1911 bestselling by the same name, " The Winning of Barbara Worth " was a starring vehicle for lead actors Vilma Banky and Ronald Coleman. However, one particular name from the film would go on to higher reaches of stardom: Gary Cooper. Samual Goldwyn, the producer of the film, wanted the film to be on a grand scale, given the climatic flood sequence. To accomplish this feat, he hired Henry King, who was well-known for making stories from the American countryside.  The story takes place at the turn of the 20th century and focuses on a love triangle. The love triangle, however, is only symbolic of the greater drama taking place. This drama centers on engineers trying to divert the Colorado river so that the California desert can be a utopia for domestic life. The problem comes from a wealthy business owner who refuses to heed the advice of his engineers, who tell him he must spend...

  Henry King's "Tol'able David" By 1921, Henry King had been in the film industry for almost a decade. He had participated in the industry as both and actor and a director. His first major success was " Tol'able David ," a coming-of-age film starring Richard Barthelmess. The film was adapted by Edmund Goulding from a short story by Joseph Hergesheimer and was originally going to be directed by D.W. Griffith. Griffith traded the rights to the film, however, after Barthelmess and King established Inspiration Pictures together and wanted to make ' Tol'able David " their first venture. The film follows David, a young boy who is the son of West Virginian tenant farmers. He continually wants to be treated as a man, but is constantly told he is too young for adult responsibilities. One day, his love interest, Ester, receives visitors at her grandfather's farm in the form of distant cousins just released from prison. They begin causing problems ...