Film You may Have Missed (#19)
Beggars of Life (1927)
I saw the silent film ‘Beggars of Life’ augmented by a live soundtrack by The Dodge Brothers, a group of musicians who feature the film critic Mark Kermode on double bass, and experienced Silent Film Pianist Neil Brand. I admit that I went because of the music as I hadn’t heard of the film.
Richard Arlen and Louise Brooks
Beggars of Life stars Wallace Beery, Louise Brooks and Richard Arlen, and tells the story of Nancy (Brooks) who kills her step-father during an attempted rape then disguised as a boy runs off with a young hobo. They meet up with Oklahoma Red (Beery) who helps them in their attempt to get to Canada.
A couple of short sound sequences were added before its original release.
A surprisingly mature and gritty film for the time and shows how far silent film had progressed before it was wiped out by the Talkies. Louise Brooks is terrific in the lead role and did some of her own stunts including jumping on and off moving trains.
Beggars for Life is available on a DVD from Classic Video Streams but Amazon reviews warn of it being poorly recorded and obviously, it doesn’t include Mark Kermode playing in your sitting room!
The Dodge Brothers and Neil Brand
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