Talking about Wally so much last week really sparked a craving for more! SOOOO Wallace Reid Silent Cinema Sunday!
Not that I'm a Wallace Reid expert, I haven't even cracked that book I bought about him, but on top of being a wonderful romantic lead, like in The Affairs of Anatol and Carmen, he's known for his adventure/racing movies. So I'm now up for exploring his dashing adventure side a bit! I chose Excuse My Dust and The Roaring Road.
I didn't do much research before popping these in the DVD player, so I accidentally watched them out of order. :-/ Of course! It didn't matter much. It's not like they were very deep movies where you needed a background story. I didn't even realize it until I was well into The Roaring Road and saw he was courting the girl who was his wife in Excuse My Dust. ;-)
I really loved these movies though. They were fun and light. Perfect for a simple Silent Cinema Sunday. Wally's character's name was Toodles. Yep, Toodles.
The Roaring Road was one of the first films shot after the famous train wreak in 1919 while filming Valley of the Giants, so he was already hooked on morphine. See, while filming Valley of the Giants, Wally was injured in a train wreak. Instead of postponing production and letting him heal, the studio had him prescribed morphine to keep him going. This turned into a terrible addiction that eventually lead to his death. There was no such thing as drug rehab or even a real understanding of the dangers of addiction. His wife, Dorothy Davenport, spent the rest of her life going by the name "Mrs Wallace Reid" and trying to educate people about the dangers of addiction. I've got to look into her more.... Anyway, it was still early enough in his addiction that you couldn't tell by his performance and it wasn't affecting his looks yet. I didn't even notice any hindrance in his movements. Sorry, this is he stuff that intrigues me, so this is the stuff I write about.
He was perfectly charming in both movies. I really actually liked him better in these than The Affairs of Anatol and Carmen. I think the character of Toodles suited him better. A dashing risk taking bad boy. He makes you want to cheer for him. And these movies were just so much fun! Very cool racing scenes and beautiful shots of the countryside. And his son was in Excuse My Dust, so we get to see Wallace Reid Jr! I did just buy The Racing Strain, as soon as it gets here I'm going to watch the son follow his father's footsteps. ;-)
It's interesting, I don't like racing movies. I don't even like action movies. No way would I sit through some crap like Fast and Furious(the new one, not the awesome Franchot Tone/Ann Southern movie). Silent movies I tend to give more of a chance. I would never watch a modern western, or even Bonanza(unless it's an episode with Ramon Novarro...sigh), but I watched Hell's Hinges because my favorite blogger recommended it and now I'm a full blown William S Hart fan. Go figure!
I do tend to watch the films because of the actors, so maybe that's why I'm more open minded when it comes to silents. The actors were just so much more interesting and then I *want* to see their work. See what they did and what they were capable of. I'm glad that I'm like this, it's helping me learn a lot and opening a lot of doors for me. ;-)
Love,
Olive
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