Silent movies - The Last Command

My choice of silent movies sometimes is quite random, but this one may have been the most random so far. I got here when I looked up something else on my favorite silent movie blog and got distracted by the link to a post about the myth that silent movie performers lost their job because of their voices when the talkies became big. In the post, William Powell was mentioned, so I looked up a silent film with him and ended up here, without a clue if that was a good idea or not. Let's see, shall we?

Public domain

The movie is "The Last Command" from 1928 by Josef von Sternberg. You probably won't remember, but I sure had my problems with the only other Sternberg movie I know so far, "The Scarlet Empress" about Catherine the Great.
This one is set in a time a little closer to ours, though. We jump between the beginning of the Russian Revolution in 1917 and in 1928 Hollywood.

The plot, as usual with spoilers.

Lev Andreyev, a Russian director in Hollywood, is going through a stack of photos of actors for his next movie. When he comes to the photo of Sergius Alexander, who claims to be the Czar's cousin and a former commanding general, he tells his assistant to cast the man and fit him into a general's uniform. You get the idea that these two men have a common history.
Alexander arrives for work. In makeup, the actor next to him complains about his shaking head and Alexander says it's the result of a great shock. His mind goes back to Imperial Russia in 1917.

Grand Duke Sergius Alexander, a general of the Russian Army, arrives for an inspection of the troops. He's told that the revolutionists have intercepted most of the supplies.
Two of those revolutionists watch Alexander from a window above, Lev Andreyev and Natalie Dobrova. "Let him strut a little longer! His days are numbered!" Lev tells Natalie.

Then they are called in for a passport examination the next day. Alexander questions them personally because he's taken with Natalie's looks. When he doubts Lev's courage, Lev talks back. Alexander hits him in the face with his whip and has him locked up. Natalie, however, gets invited to Headquarters because the general has clearly fallen for her.
Before a dinner, he even presents her with a pearl necklace while his officers eavesdrop at the door.

During dinner, Alexander gets a call. The Czar wants to visit the front and see an offensive, but the general declines sacrificing soldiers for the Czar's entertainment, much to the surprise of everyone at the table.
Meanwhile, we see a soldier in prison turn on the other soldiers and enabling Lev and the other prisoners to escape.

After dinner, Natalie invites the general to her room for coffee. She intends to shoot him, but she can't go through with it. When he asks why she didn't shoot him, she replies that she couldn't kill anyone who loves Russia as much as he does. Alexander declares her his prisoner of war ... and prisoner of love (I'll admit that I cringed reading that).

Next the general, his men, and Natalie board a train. They don't know that the engineers are Bolsheviks. They stop in the next town and the train is taken over.
Natalie turns against the general and demands that he should stoke the train to Petrograd where he will be hanged.

When there's a chance, though, she slips him the pearl necklace, so he will be able to leave the country, and when a revolutionary wakes up - there has been a lot of vodka -, she embraces him, so he won't see Alexander escaping. The man thinks she's telling him that she loves him, but her looks go to the general.
He smacks the fireman with the coal shovel and jumps off the train.
Before his eyes, the train derails on the bridge and falls into the icy river, taking his love with it. This was the great shock that caused his head shaking.

Back to Hollywood.
Lev is determined to have his revenge and humiliate Alexander. He gives him a whip and a coat that looks much like the one he wore years earlier and puts him in a trench setting.  Then he orders the crew to play the Russian National Anthem.
Beforehand, he has instructed an extra to yell at the general that the soldiers are sick of fighting.
"You have given your last command! A new day is here! Down with your Russia!"
In this moment, madness takes over. Alexander whips the extra and grabs the flag. His mind is showing him the memories of the revolutionaries.
"The command is forward - - to victory - Long live Russia!"
Then he grabs his chest and falls over.
Held by Lev, he asks "Have we won?" which Lev affirms before Alexander dies in his arms.

When Lev's assistant says he was a great actor, the director replies "He was more than a great actor - he was a great man."

Soooo. Was it a good idea to watch then film?
If I wanted to see mainly William Powell, not that much probably because he didn't have that many scenes.
Also I'm not a fan of movies with war and military content, but somehow I had expected a bit less 1917 and a bit more 1928. I was definitely wrong about that.

The plot was inspired by a real life story that director Ernst Lubitsch told a newspaper columnist. It was about a Russian general he knew who fled the revolution and opened a restaurant, but was forced then to work as an extra in Hollywood to survive.

The movie was very dramatic, not just because of the plot, but also because of Jannings. I had expected that from reading about him, but had only seen him in a comedy before.
At the time, he was said to be the best actor in the world and he got an Oscar for this movie (and another movie that is lost).
Although he was a bit much for me, it was still impressive how he portrayed the general before and after, and the ending was amazing.

Nevertheless, I had a problem with the love story. I don't want to sound superficial saying that I can't imagine a young woman like Natalie falling in love with an older man. What I can't really imagine, though, is just how quickly she fell for the enemy because he did one thing right by declining the Czar's request. In that moment everything else he had done was forgotten? Sorry, but I didn't really buy that. Also the general was fine with her contemplating assassination just a moment ago? He had seen the badly hidden pistol, how could he be so sure she wouldn't shoot him?
And not only did she love him, but she loved him so much that she risked her own life by helping him to escape? Cos, you know, I don't think her comrades would have taken it so lightly if they had found out. Luckily, though, they never got a chance to because they all drowned. Oh wait, that isn't any better. Maybe someone should have taken the engineer's vodka, so he wouldn't have fallen asleep.

Not saying the middle part was all bad, but it was still too much and too long for my liking. Everyone was very passionate, there was loud laughing, dramatic crying, a lot of yelling, and a lot of either broody or glaring looks.
I could have done with a little less of that and a little more background instead. How did Lev make it to the USA and land a job as a director (maybe connections as he had been a theater director in Russia?)? Had he left the country immediately after breaking free from prison? Why didn't it try to get back to the revolution? How did Alexander make it to the USA and how did he get to be a low-paid actor?

Oh, and why exactly did Lev call the general a great man at the end? What had he done that Lev suddenly forgave it all? Sorry, it didn't make sense to me. I'm fine with him not gloating over his death, I would understand a certain amount of pity over his downfall and end from someone who was luckier, but from "I need some kind of revenge" to "he was a great man"?

Part of the movie is a satire of Hollywood at the time, the crowds of actors waiting outside the gate for their chance, the way the outfits are handed out from piles of clothes, boots, rifles, but as mentioned it's a rather small part of it.
I'm not quite sure what the other part is. Are we supposed to be on the Czarist side? Times were not very nice under his rule either, if you didn't belong to the Russian aristocracy.
Or is it simply about Alexander as a man? A man we don't really know that much about, definitely not enough to call him a great one.

Again, was it a good idea to watch the movie?
Yes. I might not love it, but I also didn't hate it, and it was undoubtedly a experience worth making.


Sources:

1. Fritzi Kramer: The Last Command (1928) - A Silent Film Review. On: Movies Silently, July 28, 2015
2. Scott Nye: Scott Reviews Josef von Sternberg's The Last Command [Masters of Cinema Blu-Ray]. On: CriterionCast, August 12, 2016
3. Alistair Nunn: The Last Command (1928). On: Movie Musings, November 9, 2023

The big hug - Part 1

Over ten years ago, I got several boro lampwork pendants from a very talented artisan, manatees (you can see one of them here), a dolphin (you have seen him before as well), and a shark. The pendants are absolutely gorgeous, but it took months for them to ship which put me off ordering more. That's a real pity because I have not seen any since that come even close to them.
Also the shark broke in transport. I got a replacement, but I was determined to find a way of using the broken one as well (I've done that more than once with components, but of course never sold those).

If you haven't noticed it yet, I don't just love sharks, but also octopuses.
This is a picture of just some of those I made over the years. A tiny one, bigger ones, a really big one. Ah, have you already seen it? Sharks!

I experimented with the broken pendant first. The idea had been to hide the glue marks behind tentacles, but show as much of the shark as possible.
It needed a lot of fiddling, but I managed. The pendant got the official name "The hug" because to me those two were friends rather than enemies.
If you think the second octopus-shark hug was easier to make with the experience gained, you would be wrong. Lampwork is really slippery and the tentacles had to sit just the right way to hold the shark safely. The loop on the back of the tail is the only spot where the octopus is actually wired to the shark itself.

The second pendant sold and the first one went to a friend (of course she knew about the glued spots).
I'll be honest, I quickly regretted not keeping one for myself, simply because it proved impossible to find another shark like these.

After searching for a long time, I finally found one and was so happy! It was much smaller than the other ones, but so beautiful.
Somehow I never got around to making something with it, though. There was always something else to try out and wirework was already becoming more difficult for me.
When it started getting really hard on my thumb, however, I knew it was now or never before I wouldn't be able to do it anymore at all. It had been a while since I had played with copper and it felt so good, but it took a lot of breaks to get my octopus finished over the next few weeks.

Talking of breaks ... when I was finally done and wanted to take the octopus to the kitchen to oxidize it, I missed that the shark, which had been in the same box, got tangled in some still loose wire ends. Yes, you have be quite stupid not to notice you are holding two things, but sometimes I am.

It could have fallen in the hallway on the one vinyl floor I have, but no, it fell in the kitchen, on the hardest of all my floors.
You know how some things seem to be happening in slow motion and yet it's impossible for you to do anything about them? Like the time I cut my finger and fingernail with the bread knife and my brain only woke up and told me not to cut there when I had already started bleeding like crazy.
There wasn't a chance for me to catch the shark before it hit the tiles and pieces started jumping. The nose and the tail had broken off (seems to be a thing, the same happened to my friend with her dolphin). I could only find the nose and part of the tail, though.

It may sound ridiculous to you, but I was devastated.
I couldn't replace this shark, no matter how much I looked around. There were a few lampwork sharks, both pendants and figurines and they were pretty, no doubt about that, but none of them had this elegance, none of them spoke to me.
I didn't even want to look at the octopus anymore which says a lot.
Then something unexpected happened and yes, I'm totally saying this as a cliffhanger.

See you for part 2, I hope!

Silent movies - Douglas Fairbanks in Robin Hood

I have been a fan of Robin Hood since, well, pretty much forever. My first clear memory is Richard Greene as Robin (did you start singing the tune, too?) followed for example by Errol Flynn, Kevin Costner, Cary Elwes, and Michael Praed/Jason Connery. Of course, there are many more and it looks as if Robin will be living on forever.
There was still one gap I definitely had to fill. Today I have  "Douglas Fairbanks in Robin Hood" from 1922 for you. Yes, it's time for Doug once again and the title was really copyrighted like this to avoid older Robin Hood movies trying to cash in on this movie's success.

Public domain via
Wikimedia Commons

I assume I can keep the plot description short this time and you also won't mind the usual spoilers?
Actually, it won't be that short. Not at all in fact, sorry. Because you see, it takes more than half of the movie - 73 minutes! - until we even get to meet "Robin Hood". The first half is the backstory when Robin is still known as the Earl of Huntingdon.
I'm sure his audience back then was just as surprised as me.

We start at the court of Richard the Lion-Hearted. The King has a bet with his brother John that his favorite, Huntingdon, will win the joust against John's favorite, Sir Guy of Gisbourne and of course he does. Richard announces that the Earl will be second in command on the Holy Crusade. Then he tells him to go and receive the winner's crown from the hands of the fair Marian.
And what's the Earl's reply?
"Exempt me, sire. I am afeared of women." 
That's where it gets a bit weird already.
Of course Richard doesn't care, no matter how often the Earl turns around with a pleading look.

Indeed he encourages all the women to gather round Huntingdon who sees no other way to escape than to jump into the water (the moat, I guess?). The scene is actually quite funny, but it seems a bit out of place, and there's more weirdness to come.

There's a big feast before the Richard and his men go off for the Crusade. You see couples making out in all corners of the castle - only Huntingdon is having fun "trying his strength for the goblet" with the boys, and to be honest, I don't think that comes across as, hm, let's call it manly, as intended.
Richard decides he "should try his love for a maid" instead, has him tied to a post that handily stands around in the hall and summons all the ladies saying "A castle and land to the maid who wins him". They all try their luck except Marian.
The drunk Prince John tells Gisbourne he shall also have his pick of maidens.
Gisbourne forcing himself on Marian catches the Earl's attention, and when Marian runs away and John goes after her, he follows as well and confronts the Prince. Huntingdon and Marian have found their love.

It's time to leave for the Crusade.
Huntingdon orders Little John (then still called the Squire) to guard Marian with his life.
Once the knights are gone - Gisbourne with the task to get rid of Huntingdon and Richard - John goes for it, taxes, torture (the scenes were censored in some areas), all around tyranny.
Marian tries to stand to up to the prince, then she sends Little John as a messenger to the Earl who asks Richard for permission to go home. Richard declines and Huntingdon decides to go anyway, but gets shot by Gisbourne who also lets a falcon loose on the pigeon carrying the message for Marian (how far was that poor bird supposed to fly, I wonder). Richard has Huntingdon and Little John imprisoned.

Meanwhile, John questions Marian's serving woman. Under torture, she tells him about the message, but is set free then and can thus tell her lady that the Prince intends to kill her. Marian and her servant escape by horse and feign her death.
John's tyranny continues while his brother is victorious in the Holy Land.
Huntingdon and Little John have managed to escape, however, and have come back to England where they learn about Marian's death.

"To God - to Richard - and to Her."

"Here began a new life .... - bitter - but joyous." (Huh?)
Yes, Robin Hood is born and it's about time as you will probably agree.

From there on you have all the jumping and skipping and dancing and prancing and merrymenning (I know that's not a word) you can hope for. No, seriously. I guess you just couldn't stop Doug.
And if you thought Errol Flynn invented Robin Hood's iconic stance with the hands on his hips, sorry, he didn't. (Probably Robin even did it in older films.)

We are getting into familiar Robin Hood terrain here now. Taking from the rich, giving to the poor.
He's still missing Marian, though.

Where's Richard, though?
Well, on the way home he escapes being assassinated by Gisbourne, but only because his jester, who has always liked to sit on Richard's throne, slept in his bed at the time.
Then a message reaches him about John's treachery and about Robin Hood. Richard immediately guesses it's Huntingdon and leaves for England.

Now a lot happens rather quickly.
In England, John's men have taken the gold from a nunnery. Robin and his men come to the nunnery where a nun informs Friar Tuck about Robin's real identity and points out Marian to him, and so the lovers are re-united.
Unfortunately, one of John's men witnesses that and tells the Prince. Marian is taken back to the castle and locked up.
John's men are going to Sherwood Forest to capture Robin Hood, expected by the Merry Men, while Robin goes to Nottingham to take over the town together with Will Scarlett and Allan-a-Dale. Yes, just those three.

Three men are quite enough if they know how
to motivate the people to help them, but the next
minute he'll have to go save Marian.

In the forest, an unknown (not to us, right?) knight turns up seeking Robin, "mayhap to join him - mayhap to slay him". He defeats Tuck in a stick fight and is immediately welcome (what?).
Oh, I forgot to mention that Gisbourne is back, too. He secretly takes the key to Marian's room from the Prince, but Marian threatens to jump out of the window if he touches her and she does - but Robin, who has fought his way through, sees her, climbs up the vines on the castle wall and catches her!

Then he kills Gisbourne.
They can't escape easily, though, so Robin, counting on his men, surrenders and gives Marian a dagger to kill herself if needed.
Of course, the Merry Men (and Richard) arrive in time. Huzzah! Richard throws John out of the castle.
The film ends with Robin and Marian being married and retreating to their room - and King Richard banging on the door like crazy.

Okay.
The movie is kind of weird. I have no idea why Fairbanks chose to turn the first half into a bit of a snoozefest because that's what it is honestly. I'm not saying it's a complete waste of time, but it was maybe worth 15 minutes. 20 minutes tops. I'm not the only one thinking that.
The second half, however, is classic Robin Hood, so classic in fact that it inspired later films a lot. Of course it was a great role for Fairbanks to show his acrobatic prowess although he actually hadn't even been sure at all that the story was worth making a film about.
He couldn't do all stunts himself, but it's said that it really was him climbing up the chain of the drawbridge although his brother Robert seemed to have convinced him that it was too dangerous. After rehearsal, however, the double went back to his dressing room and Fairbanks took over without anyone knowing it, thus doubling for his own double.

Even if the second half was a bit over the top with the skipping through Sherwood Forest, I really enjoyed that a lot which was good because I don't think I could have made it through more in the style of the first half.
Fairbanks's Robin was how I imagined Robin Hood, full of energy, and Alan Hale made a great and loyal Little John (a role he played three times, by the way). None of the other Merry Men got their usual stories, they were just there.

Sam de Grasse was a very believable villain as Prince John and Gisbourne was really creepy.
Have you missed the Sheriff of Nottingham, by the way? His role was so small that I wonder why they didn't leave him out completely.

King Richard. He was weird throughout the movie. Wallace Beery (whom I liked a lot better as Challenger in "The Lost World") was big. Everything about him was big, his gestures, his movements, even the way he kept eating all the time, but most of all his laugh. Richard laughed at everything and he kept tilting his head or even his whole upper body back to make the laugh so big, you could almost hear him (again I'm not the only one who thought that).
I found him so annoying, also his obsession with Huntingdon until the end. What kind of ending was that, having Richard banging on the door like an idiot? Did Richard want Robin to be with Marian or was he jealous of her in some weird way? After all, he had been the one insisting on him finding a maid to love.

Leave them alone, Richard, they got better things to do!

Let's talk about Marian (who wore the most interesting costumes, just like some of the other ladies, all those patterns!).
At the beginning, Marian isn't the typical damsel in distress. She speaks her mind very clearly when she refuses Gisbourne's advances, she speaks out against the Prince about the way he treats the people, and when threatened by death, she's smart enough to fake her own death before retreating to a safe space. Even later, she's not afraid to rather jump out of the window than to give in to Gisbourne.
Then Robin turns up and suddenly Marian is the damsel in distress, gasping and shielding her eyes. I thought that was very unfair.

The production design was, well, wow.
That huge castle made me feel immediately old because I kept wondering how you would even try to heat something like this, especially with all those open windows, and that long staircase reminded me of my youth and a similarly long staircase which I hardly managed to climb even then.
Seriously, though, it looked amazing and of course gave Fairbanks ample possibilities for stunts. I love his stunts and I love how joyful he manages to look when doing them. Doug Sr. was not as good-looking as his son, but when he laughs, I forget about that.

So did I enjoy the movie? Overall yes, I did. Could it have been better? Yes, I think it could have. A lot less backstory, a lot less of Richard exaggerating, a bit less skipping, and a bit more of the Merry Men.
Still, I can imagine watching this one again. With a bit of fast forwarding here and there 😉


Sources:

1. Allen W. Wright: Douglas Fairbanks in Robin Hood. 1922 Silent Film. On: Robin Hood - Bold Outlaw of Barnsdale and Sherwood. October 2022
2. Erik Lundegaard: Movie Review: Robin Hood (1922). On: Erik Lundegaard. February 12, 2010

What to do with a hole ... or two ... or three ... - Part 1

The moment had finally arrived, I was ready to embroider on clothing for the first time.
The reason for that was simple. Let me tell you a bit about my life as an eternal non-fashionista who doesn't buy a lot of clothes.

I own the same cotton dress in six different colors with different necklines (and another color in rayon). It has everything I want and really makes me happy - empire style with A-line skirt, midi length, 3/4 sleeves, and pockets! And I got all of them on sale at different times.
They are my clothing workhorses meaning I have been wearing them at home pretty much exclusively for the last year (I got the first one more than two years ago and then went crazy with a sale last year, actually the only clothes I bought at all).
They are comfortable, they have pretty colors, and have I mentioned they have pockets (so perfect)?
Outside I have hardly ever worn dresses, one reason is that my feet had become very intolerant towards cute shoes years ago. So there I wear jeans with longshirts in A-line and with 3/4 sleeves which I also have in several colors.

I know that will sound incredibly boring to some of you, but for me it was great to have found the one design that really made me happy because it combined everything. Including pockets.
Of course that means those dresses get washed a lot and are also exposed to cat claws a lot.
Which to blame I don't always know - maybe it was even a vegan moth although I doubt it 😁 - but the tiny holes typical for that kind of jersey started appearing here and there.

Washing machine or cat claw -
we'll never know.

Gundel hates me putting something on her allergy spots (I'm glad it's not necessary often anymore, excuse me while I go knocking on wood violently).
Well, actually it's not so much the gel itself, she simply hates being picked up. Other than Meffi who used to turn into an catopus with a seemingly countless number of clawed tentacles windmilling around when I picked her up, Gundel's claws aim for the first thing to hook into, a cushion, a blanket ... my dress ... and of course it's impossible to get them back out of it because the more you try to help her, the more she will suspect attempted murder and hold on. Then she will take the next chance to escape ... and either dragging the pillow or blanket with her or put a hole in my dress as she can't take me with her (don't advise me to clip her claws, it makes no difference in such life-threatening situations (from her point of view), I know what I'm talking about).
In one case, she was lying on my chest, stretched, hooked in, and when I tried to get her claw out of my dress sleeve, she freaked for no reason, pulled and ran. That one became more of a slit than a hole.

Although I only wear the dresses at home, I of course don't change for accepting deliveries or taking down the trash or even sitting in the garden. So while the holes are mostly tiny and there are only one or two in a dress, it started bugging me and I wanted to do something about them.
I had never tried visible mending before, invisible mending was definitely out (tried it once on a t-shirt and wasn't impressed with myself), but of course I had a box full of embroidery thread.
Before you say something now, I'm aware that embroidery is not the best for clothing that goes through the washing machine all the time (no hand washing these big dresses) even if I use a mild detergent, a net, etc. That's part of the experimenting and I'm completely reckless and ready for repairs or even ripping out. That means of course that I don't plan to be doing super complicated designs. My hands would probably not be up to that, anyway.

My first experiment were some stars, I had found the instructions on the Instagram of pick.and.stitch. Mine are not perfect, far from it, but it was my first attempt on clothing, on a slightly flexible fabric, and because I'm very impatient sometimes, I didn't use a stabilizer for the back (didn't have any yet). Also it seems I suck at transferring patterns.
Instead of using six strands of the floss I did just four because I could use a smaller needle that way which went through the fabric a lot easier and without stretching it even more.

The hardest one was this one because it was so close to the seam. Yes, there was a hole there, I wouldn't have chosen that spot by myself because I knew this would not be a pretty star. I was right.

For one of them I used two colors because one color was wrapped around the paper of the other one and I thought why not. There are no rules.

I also added two to three extra stitches over the centers to attach the top threads. Washing, remember? I did the first wash without net and was positively surprised to see the stars didn't get destroyed right away, not even the biggest one.

Now that I have some stabilizer, I hope the stars will be more regular because I'm sure I will have to add more over time. Also the empty left hand side definitely needs another one right away.
Sorry I didn't manage a better picture, but with the wide skirt and with the stars being so far apart I couldn't do any better than throw the dress over a door and try to get them all in the picture.

I will share the other dresses piece by piece, but so far I have only started one which will take a bit longer and I don't have ideas for the other ones yet.
Hopefully, the cats won't try to assist me by making more holes and turning this into a Sisyphus task!

Getting ready for Halloween

We are ready. Just sayin'.
So you better start buying those regular size chocolate bars because this is no disguise. We are the real thing and you might regret not being prepared when we come to your doors, especially now that we have the witch power-up as well. She's small but mighty.
And Hoppie may still be in training, but we are expecting great things from him.

You don't want to end up as a toad, do you?

I can sink my teeth into a chocolate bar or into you. Your choice.

Don't think I'm cute. I'm going to rattle my way into your nightmares and my skeleton even glows in the dark. If you fill my bag with goodies, though, I might be taking mercy on you.

My friends say it's okay for me to still need an emotional support pumpkin. I'll do some light scaring this year, but just you wait until next year!

Anyone else looking forward to the spooky season?

Silent movies - The Musketeers of Pig Alley

If I'm not wrong, I haven't shown you a gangster film yet. It's not a genre I'm very fond of, old or new.
"The Musketeers of Pig Alley" is from 1912 and I read that some consider it to be the first gangster movie while others don't. At any rate, it's one of the earliest ones.
We meet Lillian Gish from "The Wind" here again, this time in a film by D. W. Griffith, another famous film pioneer.

Public domain

Here's the plot (with spoilers).

A young couple - called The Musician and The Little Lady - are living in New York together with The Little Lady's sick mother and are trying to make ends meet.
While he has to travel for his job, she does laundry at home. When she leaves to deliver a bundle of laundry, she's seen by Snapper Kid, the chief of the Musketeers gang, who makes a move on her. Although she slaps him in the face, he's smitten with her.
Coming home, she finds her mother dead.
To make things worse, The Musician has returned and shows the Musketeers the money he has made (he doesn't seem to be a very smart guy). Snapper Kid and his sidekick follow him to his home, knock him down, and steal the wallet. He's determined to get his money back.
Next a friend picks up The Little Lady to cheer her up and take her dancing. There, another gangster invites her for a drink which he spikes, but Snapper Kid takes it before she can drink from it.

Their rivality over The Little Lady ends up in a shootout. When Snapper Kid is hiding around the corner to avoid the police, The Musician happens to see him and takes his wallet back. He runs home to show his wife.
Snapper Kid also enters the flat which shares a hallway with the pub. He's surprised to find The Musician there, tells The Little Lady how he saved her from the other gangster and wants her to go with him.

When he hears that she and The Musician are a couple and gets ready to leave (now isn't that a nice gangster), a policeman turns up. Grateful to him for protecting The Little Lady from the other gangster, however, the couple gives him an alibi.

I'm often amazed how much could be packed into an old short film and how influential those could be (this short, for example, is "credited for its early use of follow focus", according to Wikipedia, and Snapper Kid's outfit is said to have inspired Al Capone and other gang members).

The acting was good and quite natural, but I was a bit confused by the plot.
I was fine with the start until the gangsters started following each other in groups round and round, in the pub and in the alley. That time could definitely have been used better for some more narrative until we came back to the couple's flat.

What exactly I had expected from the ending, I couldn't tell you, but not this mix of fun and happy ending, that's for sure.
So Snapper Kid saved The Little Lady from the spiked drink, but only because he wanted her for himself, and of course he was the one who not only stole The Musician's wallet, but also knocked him on the head. Maybe I have a different idea of second chances. Or is it supposed to say something about the dynamics in that kind of neighborhood back then? "We" versus the police? What do you think?
It also bugged me that the mother's death didn't even get a second mention. Did The Musician even notice?

So yeah, it was quite good and easy enough to watch, but I don't share the opinion of those who think it's a masterpiece.

My September books

Ready for the September roundup?
To me it's interesting to see how many books I have finished in a month (not necessarily started in the same month) and how many I read to the cats which of course takes longer, those are marked with 😸
I will be adding a short explanation why I chose a book and possibly if it's a re-read candidate, but I'm not going to add real reviews or ratings (the cats also refuse to give ratings 😉)

1. "Neighbors and other stories" by Diane Oliver, first published in 2024

In 1966, Diane Oliver died in an accident, only 22 years old.
Four of her short stories had been published then, two more got published posthumously, and only much later eight more were found.
This book contains all of those stories about race and racism in the USA of the 50s and 60s, mostly told through the eyes of young women.

I found the book on Overdrive by accident when I was looking for a different name, and the description drew me in.

2. "The Grace of Wild Things" by Heather Fawcett, first published in 2023

12 year old Grace runs away from the orphanage offering herself as an apprentice to the witch living in the forest nearby.
They make a deal. If Grace learns how to cast all of the 100 1/2 spells in the witch's grimoire before the old cherry tree is blooming again, the witch will take her on as apprentice, if she fails, she'll have to give the witch her magic.

This one was mentioned in the comment to a blog post and sounded good. It's inspired by "Anne of Green Gables", but in a witchy, a bit dark way.

3. "Wenn Geister sterben" = "Death of a Ghost" by Margery Allingham, first published in 1934
(Albert Campion 6)

When a young painter is killed during a (more or less) private unveiling of a painting by the late Lafcadio, Campion, who's a friend of Lafcadio's widow Belle, has to investigate in the surprisingly murky world of the London art scene.

This is still part of my vintage crime project for which I keep getting books by Marsh and Allingham.

4. "The Three Investigators in The Mystery of the Fiery Eye" by Robert Arthur, Jr. (the books were published attributed to Alfred Hitchcock), first published in 1967 😸
(The Three Investigators 7)

Where is the mysterious stone hidden that Horatio August left to his great-nephew August August?
Will the Three Investigators be able to help Gus find it? Is that a dumb question because we all know Jupiter will solve this riddle, anyway?

I read this series a long time ago and am going through it again bit by bit after writing a blog post about it. This book is the seventh in the series.

5. "Trau keiner Lady" = "The Beckoning Lady" by Margery Allingham, first published in 1955
(Albert Campion 15)

Campion just wanted a small vacation with his wife Amanda, son Rupert and his friend, Chief Inspector Luke, but there's no rest for them, instead there's a body under a bridge.

This is still part of my vintage crime project for which I keep getting books by Marsh and Allingham.

6. "Der Geist der Gouvernante" = "The China Governess" by Margery Allingham, first published in 1963
(Albert Campion 17)

When adopted heir Timothy Kinnit wants to find out more about his biological parents before marrying American heiress Julia, Campion is asked to look into the matter.
Things are even more complicated - and murderous - than expected, though.

This is still part of my vintage crime project for which I keep getting books by Marsh and Allingham.

7. "Meet Me at Rainbow Corner" by Celia Imrie, first published in 2024

This is the story of Dot, a nurse, and Lilly, a driver/secretary, who are posted to London during World War II, and the people they meet at Rainbow Corner (also known as the American Red Cross Club) which will be changing both of their lives.

The book was a random find at Overdrive.

8. "Es geht noch ein Zug von der Gare du Nord" = "The Chalk Circle Man" by Fred Vargas, first published in 1991
(Kommissar Adamsberg ermittelt 1)

This is the first case for the unorthodox Commissaire Adamsberg in Paris.
Who is the man drawing the strange blue chalk circles around random items on the streets of Paris? No one pays them much attention except Adamsberg - until a body is found in one of them.

My little brother told me about the Vargas series a while ago already, I thought I'd give it a try. Only afterwards, he told me it was a DNF and he had only read one of the others of the series 😂

9. "Judaslohn" = "Traitor's Purse" by Margery Allingham, first published in 1941
(Albert Campion 11)

Albert Campion wakes up in hospital. He suffers from amnesia not knowing who he is and what it is he has set out to do, except that it's something really important.
On the run from the police and the enemy, he finds out bit by bit what kind of catastrophe he has to avert.

This is still part of my vintage crime project for which I keep getting books by Marsh and Allingham (as you can tell I had a good month and got several Allinghams at a good price from one seller).

10. "The Three Investigators in The Mystery of the Silver Spider" by Robert Arthur, Jr. (the books were published attributed to Alfred Hitchcock), first published in 1967 😸
(The Three Investigators 8)

After meeting the young Prince Djaro of Varania, the Three Investigators are asked by the Secret Service to travel to Varania because of a rumor that there's a plot to dethrone Djaro. When the symbol of power, the silver spider, is missing and turns up in their room, Jupiter, Peter, and Bob have to run from the current regent Duke Stefan and his conspirators, helped by Djaro's friends.

I own the German version of this book which was published in 1981, but haven't read it in a long time. Persons and setting were changed, but the plot is basically the same, a plot, the silver spider and the escape with the help of friends, in this case from the current managing director.
Actually, this book is about Lars, the heir of a company in a small Swedish colony in Texas that cultivates old Swedish traditions.
Maybe they just wanted to avoid stereotypes about European monarchies like that?

I read this series a long time ago and am going through it again bit by bit after writing a blog post about it. This book is the eighth in the series.

11. "Mord vor vollem Haus" = "Light Thickens" by Ngaio Marsh, first published in 1982
(Roderick Alleyn 32 (the final one))

Strange and disturbing things happen during the rehearsals for "Macbeth" at the "Dolphin" in London which feed the idea of the play being cursed.
Then the lead actor gets beheaded during a performance. Who killed him and why?

This is still part of my vintage crime project for which I keep getting books by Marsh and Allingham. What am I going to read when I'm done with them? (Still missing ten of the Marshs and six of the Allinghams (not counting some of the short stories), but we're getting there).

12. "Carbonel" by Barbara Sleigh, first published in 1955 😸
(Carbonel 1)

Ten year old Rosemary wants to help her widowed mother and go cleaning in her holidays. Convinced she will have to bring her own equipment, she goes to the marketplace where she buys a broom and a black cat from an old lady.
Her surprise is huge when the cat starts talking, telling her the old lady is a witch who has stolen him as a kitten and kept him bound by a spell, so he can't try to gain back his throne as the rightful king of cats. Rosemary and her new friend John do their best to help him.

The book, a middle grade novel, was recommended by book blogger Nicole from Momlit. It is adorable and so fun to read. I'm hoping the other two in the series are just as good.

13. "Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves" by Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, first published in 1963
(Wooster and Jeeves 13)

Bertie Wooster is an English gentleman, one of the idle rich, and Jeeves is his valet whose intelligence saves Bertie and his friends from one or the other pickle.
The pickle in this case that Madeline Bassett tries to turn her fiancé Gussie Fink-Nottle into a vegetarian which is a strain on the relationship. Wooster is afraid they will break up and Madeline will be trying to marry him. Matters get complicated even more by an amber statuette, a vicarage needed for another marriage, and the daughter of an American millionaire working as a cook.

Lisa from Boondock Ramblings started reading "Jeeves and Wooster" stories, and since my last Wodehouse read had been ages ago, I'm having a go as well.

14. "Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries" by Heather Fawcett, first published in 2023
(Emily Wilde series 1)

Emily Wilde is a dryadology scholar in Cambridge where she works on putting together an encyclopedia of fairies in different countries. To finish it, she visits the village Hrafnsvik, but she learns and experiences more there than she could have expected.

This one was mentioned in a blog post and sounded like fun.

15. "Raffles: The Amateur Cracksman" by Ernest William Hornung, first published in 1899

A. J. Raffles - national cricket hero and gentleman thief in late Victorian Great Britain. Together with his younger friend Harry "Bunny" Manners, he steals preferably jewelry from the upper society, not just for the money but also the thrill. 

This is the first collection of the "Raffles" short stories (all of them were published as "Engelhörnchen" in German, by the way). I put it on my list after watching the silent movie with John Barrymore.

16. "Skinner's Big Idea" by Henry Irving Dodge, first published in 1918 😸

The third book in the Skinner series (which also inspired a silent movie which is considered to be lost, though) tells about Skinner's partners going on a long business trip and leaving him with the task to fire several of the "old men" in the office.
Skinner, however, doesn't want to do that and has a big idea ...

I read the first book after watching one of the silent movie versions of it and added the others to my list for quick reading.
It's interesting that the Disney Studio had it in their library (but passed it on to another library, there was another tag). I wonder why.

17. "The Dancing Floor" by Barbara Michaels, first published in 1997 

After the death of her father, Heather travels to England to see gardens, a trip they had wanted to do together.
In Troytan House, she finds more than a lost garden, though. Heather is drawn into an adventure of witchcraft, family problems, and love.

Barbara Michaels is one of the pen names of Barbara Mertz. I know a lot of the books she wrote under the name Elizabeth Peters, but not one she wrote as Michaels.
After I DNFed the first one, Erin from Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs recommended this one to me.

18. "The Bookshop on the Corner" (also as "The Little Shop of Happy Ever After") by Jenny Colgan, first published in 2016
(Happy Ever After series 1)

Nina is a librarian in Birmingham, but her library branch is shut down and she's out of a job.
How about turning a van into a mobile bookshop? Nina builds a new life for herself in a small village in Scotland, love included.

This was a random find on Overdrive. Librarian, bookshop, Scotland, worth a try for a quick, light read, right?


DNF:

1. "Coffin, Scarcely Used" by Colin Watson, first published in 1958  😸
(A Flaxborough Mystery 1)

Who's killing off respectable men in the city of Flaxborough? How respectable are they really, though?

I made it through three quarters of the book, but got more and more bored with it and skipped to the end which didn't surprise me.
Only then I remembered I used to have the box set of the TV show made after some of the 12 Flaxborough novels and found those boring, too. Duh.

2. "Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands" by Heather Fawcett, first published in 2024
(Emily Wilde series 2)

Emily Wilde is a dryadology scholar in Cambridge where she works on putting together a map of the otherlands after finishing her encyclopedia of faeries.
To help her friend (and possibly more) Wendell to find a door to his realm, she travels with him to Austria.

I got through half of the book, but it was just too repetitive for my taste. Getting attacked by faeries, escaping, making a lot of notes, getting attacked by different faeries, escaping ... repeat.
When I noticed I was only really interested anymore if her Black Dog Shadow would stay alive, I stopped reading in the middle of a sentence (and of course checked the ending for Shadow).