Constance Talmadge/First National, 1924. Director: Sidney Franklin. Scenario: Hans Kraly. Camera: Ray Binger, Victor Milner. Film editor: Hal C. Kern. Cast: Constance Talmadge, Ronald Colman, Jean Hersholt, Albert Gran, Robert Rendel, Sidney Bracey, Joseph Dowling, Templar Saxe, Eric Mayne, Emily Fitzroy.
It’s a curious fact that some of the top movie stars of the silent era are well remembered today, while others, equally popular in their own time, are far less familiar in ours. I can’t think of a better example than the talented Talmadge sisters, Norma and Constance. Tastes and fashions do change over time, and some stars simply lose their appeal for later generations, but both the Talmadges still have the power to enchant modern audiences—when their films can be seen. Both had extremely successful starring careers in the silents: Norma in emotional, tearjerking dramas, Constance in sparkling romantic comedies. (We should also mention a third sister, Natalie, who had a brief screen presence of her own. Natalie Talmadge’s career was a small but important footnote in film history: she married Buster Keaton and appeared opposite him in Our Hospitality [1923].)
Fortunately for film enthusiasts in the Midwest, Constance Talmadge will be featured this month at the Kansas Silent Film Festival. Along with an appearance by the festival’s special guest, Melissa Talmadge Cox (the granddaughter of Natalie and Buster Keaton), Constance will be seen on the screen in one of her most charming vehicles, Her Night of Romance.
The festival organizers have made an excellent choice here: for viewers unfamiliar with Constance Talmadge, this film offers a splendid introduction. Fully as glamorous as her sister, Constance displayed a natural gift for comedy as well. The direction of her career was sealed as early as 1916 by her appearance in the Babylonian Story in Griffith’s Intolerance. Her performance as the Mountain Girl in that story, headstrong and rambunctious, was irresistible and helped to cement her already growing popularity with audiences. Soon she was starring in her own series of program pictures for Selznick, all of them, as DeWitt Bodeen observed, owing “more than a minimum of their plot substance to Taming of the Shrew.” As she matured, her films reflected a shift: still focused on the battle of the sexes, they relied less on out-and-out physical comedy and more on sophisticated adult satire. Her Night of Romance, part of a long-running series produced by Joseph Schenck, is a good example. Here Constance demonstrates that she’s still up to a strenuous physical gag now and then, if necessary; but the film relies far more heavily on her engaging charm and infectious sense of fun.
She’s cast as an American heiress, traveling abroad with her wealthy father. Having been besieged by a long line of fortune hunters, she’s soured on the male sex at large. She’s at pains to dress and behave as awkwardly and unappealingly as possible, and announces that she wants to avoid all men. That resolve vanishes instantly when she meets dashing Ronald Colman, the film’s leading man. Colman, of course, would go on to become one of the biggest stars in Hollywood history, with a career that extended far into the sound era.
But in 1924 he was still on the threshold of that meteoric rise, and found himself in the same position as other less-established actors: a convenient romantic lead who could play effectively opposite some of the top female stars—Lillian Gish, Blanche Sweet, and now Constance Talmadge—without obscuring their star power. Here he’s a penniless English lord whose uncle is a doctor, the very doctor who can treat Constance’s nervous condition. Through a series of misunderstandings, Colman is mistaken for the doctor himself.
Having brought the two leads together—each of them, more or less, under false pretenses—Her Night of Romance propels them through an assortment of accidents, coincidences, and misunderstandings, the staple ingredients of romantic comedy. But if the mechanics are familiar, the film renders them fresh and delightful; the director is none other than Sidney Franklin. Perhaps underappreciated today, Franklin was one of the most versatile and reliable directors of the silent and early sound American cinema. (Film enthusiasts everywhere are still anxiously awaiting publication of Kevin Brownlow’s long-in-progress book on Franklin’s career.) Here he enhances the slight storyline with witty, playful cinematic touches. At times his style seems to echo (or anticipate) Lubitsch, subtly conveying story points with closeups of shadows, hands, telltale objects, or Constance’s large, expressive eyes.
Along with Constance’s and Colman’s collective star power and Franklin’s light but sure directorial touch, Her Night of Romance offers a sterling supporting cast. Jean Hersholt as a conniving real estate agent, Albert Gran as Constance’s seemingly befuddled but ultimately cunning father, and Sidney Bracey as a discreet butler especially add to the fun. Altogether, this film adds up to a warm, thoroughly engaging little comedy, an ideal introduction to a too-often overlooked star of American silents.
