Chicago (1927)

Originally posted to Facebook on 6/19/2018

Chicago was our eighth film from 1927, and would be familiar to modern audiences because of the 2002 movie of the same name. There are actually several versions of Chicago, all based on the 1926 play, which was in turn loosely based on actual events. Fifteen years after this film, there was a 1942 version titled Roxie Hart starring Ginger Rogers. Then there was the 1975 Broadway musical, and its 1996 revival, which is the second longest running Broadway show ever. I haven't seen the 1942 movie (though perhaps we'll get a chance as part of this project if we ever make it out of the twenties), but I have seen the 2002 film and the Broadway version, and it is surprising how similar this film is to both of those.

The plot concerns Roxie Hart (played by Phyllis Haver), who kills a man presumed to be her boyfriend (played by Eugene Pallette, whom we saw way back in 1916's Gretchen the Greenhorn.) The subsequent trial becomes a media circus, and her husband (Victor Varconi) hires a shady lawyer to defend her (played by Robert Edeson) who thrives on the tabloid nature of the case, coaching Hart to exploit a gullible public and jury. This is also the outline of the other versions I've seen, perhaps the biggest difference being that the part of Velma Kelly, a defendant in a similar case, is much smaller in this movie. Additionally Hart's husband is a more sympathetic character than in the later versions.

But it is still quite cynical about the press, and the judicial system, and human nature in general -- though it does have a bit of a moralistic streak that is less prominent in the later versions. I'm not sure it has an exact analog among the American films we've seen, which as a group are generally more sincere, but its cynicism is also different than the cynicism of the German expressionists -- than Dr. Mabuse or The Last Laugh, for instance. Those films had a heavier hand, and usually a tinge of melancholy or even of anger. Chicago's cynicism is lighter and more buoyant, and definitely has a stronger comedic streak.

Excepting Pallette, who had a relatively small role, none of the main characters are played by actors we've seen before, nor have we previously seen anything by the director, Frank Urson. Despite that it gives every appearance of being a top-shelf studio picture, and Haver particularly gives an entertaining, showy star performance as the selfish, shallow Hart. I'm sure there is some story or other as to why Phyllis Haver did not have the career of some of her better-remembered contemporary actresses, like Clara Bow or Marion Davies, but I don't think you would have been able to guess it based upon this film. She also has the distinction of playing one of the leads in 1927's The Way of All Flesh, the only lost film with an Oscar winning performance (by Emil Jannings.)

Next week we'll see our ninth film from 1927, The Red Mill, directed by Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle under a pseudonym. It will also be the second film we've seen starring Marion Davies. The list, as always, is here: https://bit.ly/2lZtfmT