Beggars of Life
1928, directed by William Wellman
This month’s presentation of The Silent Treatment (hosted at The Cinefamily) introduced me not only to this picture, but also to its stars: Louise Brooks as Nancy, Richard Arlen as Jim and Wallace Beery as Oklahoma Red. Elements of the story are incredibly, even shockingly, dark — Nancy goes on the run with Jim after she kills her abusive stepfather, and the threat of rape looms large when a band of hobos see through Nancy’s disguise (she wears boys’ clothes and Jim refers to her as “my kid brother”) — but Wellman refuses to ever extinguish his characters’ hope or the film’s comedic touch. Both light and dark tones are beautifully supported by the magnificent cinematography of Henry Gerrard; working together, Gerrard and Wellman demonstrate a wonderfully sophisticated use of coverage, and they always seem to know just where to put the camera. Shots atop moving trains stand out, as does the image of Nancy and Jim hiding behind a water tower alongside the train tracks, their faces framed by the tower’s support structure. (Equally impressive is a flashback that utilizes superimpositions to relay how and why Nancy killed her stepfather.)
Early in the film, Jim muses that he and Nancy are “just driftin’ ’round like the clouds.” So too does the film’s attention wander: Having begun with a crime (the dead stepfather), the film moves toward a burgeoning love story (between Nancy and Jim) before being wooed by Oklahoma Red in the second act and ultimately settling on telling the tale of his redemption. After his introduction as a drunkard and murderer intent on having his way with Nancy, Red sacrifices everything to help the young couple avoid the law and make good their escape to Canada; indeed, Red’s final moments onscreen pack a far more powerful punch than the obligatory return to Nancy and Jim. The camera is drawn to Beery, and if a mechanical object can be said to feel, it seems to enjoy watching Oklahoma Red scratching his head at the way Nancy and Jim stand by one another through thick and thin. Finally, still more than a little incredulous, Red finds the only explanation that seems to hold any water: “This must be love.”
Shooting BEGGARS OF LIFE atop a train. Note the reflector lighting Wallace Beery (right).
les productions CHAUSSURES ORANGES 