The Movie:
Anna May Wong was a film star who was featured in both silent and talking
films. Though she had a lot of screen presence and could look achingly
beautiful, because of her oriental heritage she usually ended up in movies
with an Asian theme. One of the few films that didn't fit this mold
was her last silent film, the British 1929 movie Picadilly.
Often cited as her finest work, Milestone has released a new 110-minute
restoration of this film that incorporates several scenes that have been
missing for decades. This is a fine looking DVD that also has a good
number of extras included.
Valentine Wilmot (Jameson Thomas) runs the Piccadilly club and restaurant,
one of London's most popular nightclubs. The star attraction, and
the pair who made the club so popular, is the dancing team of Victor Smiles
(Cyrill Ritchard) and Mabel Greenfield (Gilda Gray.) When Victor
leaves the club to try his luck in America though, reservations drop off
dramatically.
Valentine knows he needs to try something different to get the crowds
returning, and when he sees a dishwasher in the scullery, Shosho (Anna
May Wong), dancing he gets an idea. He hires her to dance at the
Piccadilly, and the exotic woman is an instant hit. With the tables
filled again, everything seems to be going well. Mabel, however,
finds out that she's losing not only her position as star of the Piccadilly,
but also her lover, Valentine, whose taken a shine to Shosho. Shosho's
boyfriend Jim (King Ho-Chan) is also jealous of how much time Shosho and
Valentine are spending together.
For a drama that was made in the teens, this film holds up surprisingly
well. Many dramas of the time degraded to melodrama with clearly
delineate good and evil characters. Not so with this film.
The motivations behind some of the actions are ambiguous and you're not sure if
some characters are manipulating others or not. Much of that
has to do with Wong and her strong screen presence (she was billed second
after Gilda Gray) and the subtle way she plays her role. She plays
Shosho in a very low keyed manner, her true feelings are always a question.
What is her relationship with Jim? Are they lovers or just friends?
She treats him badly at times, making him dress in women's clothes and
demanding that he run errands for her, but at other times she seems very
kind and caring to him. Is Shosho actually falling for Valentine,
or is she just using him to advance her career? These types of questions,
some that are left unanswered, gives this film a very modern feel, and
separates it from the majority of dramas made in the 1910's.
Another interesting aspect of this movie is that it didn't have to feature
an Asian. Though they do play up Anna's race, having her do an oriental
style dance and live in Chinatown, that wasn't the focus of the film.
The film would also have worked with a Caucasian from the wrong side of
the tracks. The only roles for most orientals at this time was playing
the yellow menace or an exotic femme fatal. (An many of those roles
were played by whites in heavy makeup.) It is to this film's credit
that they didn't make a bigger deal about Anna's race.
This film didn't play out the way I thought it would. The film
starts out with a love triangle between Mabel, Valentine, and Victor, but
that is abruptly dissolved when Victor leaves about twenty minutes into
the film. The end was also surprising in a couple of ways and the
turn the narrative takes at the end shocked me a bit.
A fine film that shows how alluring Anna May Wong could be, and what
a fine actress she was. Also be sure to watch for a young Charles
Laughton who has a wonderful bit part as a diner upset by a dirty plate.
The DVD:
Audio:
The musical soundtrack composed by Neil Brand is simply outstanding.
One of the best contemporary scores to a silent film that I've heard.
Set in a popular club during the Jazz Age, Brand eschewed a typical score
and created a Jazzy soundtrack that brings the movie to life. Though
purists may dislike the non-typical approach, I thought it worked very
well. The fast paced tone of the Mabel and Victors dance number at
the beginning works as well as the haunting and melodic tune that accompanies
Jim's realization that Shosho has eyes for Valentine. The only complaint
I have is that I didn't think the music to accompany Shosho's first dance,
where she is dressed in a fancy Chinese outfit, was Oriental sounding.
Aside from that, there were several very nice touches to the soundtrack,
including letting the ensemble fall silent when people are clapping at
the end of the first dance number in the club, and at the end of a several
dramatic scenes. A unique and well preformed soundtrack.
Video:
The full frame video quality is excellent. The image is clear
and crisp, with a wonderful amount of detail. The contrast is likewise
very good. The image is sepia toned, with the outside shots being
tinted blue and flashbacks being designated by being strictly black and
white. The tinting scheme for this restoration was copied from an
original print of the film. While there are a couple of spots and
scratches, this film looks as good as it must have during it's first run.
A top notch restoration.
Extras:
Milestone has filled this disc with a lot of great extras. The
bonus section starts off with a five minute Prologue to Piccadilly.
This is a talking introduction to the movie that was filmed in late 1929
for release to the few theaters that had sound set ups back then.
It not only introduces the film, but also wraps up some loose ends that
the film left dangling. I'm really glad that Milestone was able to
track this down and include it.
Composer Neil Brand has a 20 minute audio monolog concerning the soundtrack
he came up with for the movie. (They use a section of the film for
video.) I found his comments on his approach to the score enlightening,
as will anyone who is interested in silent movie soundtracks.
Dangerous to Know: The Career and Legacy of Anna May Wong is
a 22-minute discussion of the star's life and works. In 2004 a panel
was held in San Francisco's Castro Theater and this is video from that
panel. This was a nice extra to include, but the audio wasn't taken
off the mixing board or amp, but recorded from a mic in the theater.
This picks up the echo from the theater which muddles the panelists voice.
Listening to this piece a chore, and subtitles would have helped this out
a lot.
There is also a trio of photo galleries: a nearly two minute reel of
Anna May Wong pictures, over six minutes worth of publicity photos and
stills from the movie, and the original press kit which runs about a minute
in length. The text contained in the press kit was too small to read
on the screen, which was unfortunate.
If you have a DVD-Rom drive, you can also access a couple of more extras
that are really worth checking out. The first is Milestone's press
kit for the film, with biographies of the writer, director, and main actors.
This was detailed, and interesting. The second DVD-Rom feature is
Five Authors in search of Anna May Wong excepts from five works
on Wong and her place in cinematic history. These are very
good selections, and enhance the overall quality of the disc.
A essay by film historian Zhang Zhen is included as an insert.
Final Thoughts:
Milestone is quickly becoming my favorite publisher for silent films.
They have put out several high quality silent films in the past couple
of years, and I always look forward to their next release. They have
done an outstanding job with Piccadilly. The DVD features
a beautiful restoration, copious extras, and a unique and eminently enjoyable
soundtrack. One top of that, the film itself is very good, showcasing
Anna May Wong at the pinnacle of here career. Highly Recommended.
Buy: