Earlier this year, the
modern-made silent comedy The Artist
swept the Academy Awards, and rightfully garnered wide critical acclaim. As an
amateur film buff, I loved the movie, but that’s for another review. The Artist, in part, deals with a young
woman who makes her way to Hollywood and gradually makes it big. It’s a film
for classic film lovers, and Hollywood historians will find much to love.
However, The Artist was not the first
silent film to address such themes.
Souls
for Sale, from 1923, explores (to a limited extent) similar territory.
Of course, there is a lot more at play in The
Artist, but both films show a girl with a dream to make it big in Hollywood
in the 1920s. In Souls for Sale,
silent film star Eleanor Boardman plays that girl. I won’t go too much into the
plot, but I will say that this film is a real treasure. It not only tells an
entertaining story, but also serves as a valuable time capsule. The film shows
the early studio system, and contains several great shots of 1920s Hollywood
and Los Angeles. We also get the privilege of seeing several famous faces
appear in cameo roles, including behind-the-scenes footage of Charlie Chaplin
filming A Woman of Paris (a rare
drama film from the famed comedian).
And while the film is just shy of ninety years old (!), the humor has held up remarkably well. Many
silent comedies relied on slapstick, because audiences obviously couldn’t hear
dialogue. However, Souls for Sale foregoes
this and contains some very funny lines presented through the intertitles. An
example of the film’s humor is a scene in which Boardman is upset because she
realizes she has failed a comedic screen test miserably, and most likely will
not see her dreams fulfilled. The director, not wanting her to be sad, realizes
she might have a chance with dramas and exclaims, “I will make you a star if I
have to break your heart and every bone in your body to do it!” At this,
Boardman becomes joyful, hugging the director and thanking him profusely.
Classic movie lovers will also catch a few digs at the then immensely popular
Rudolph Valentino. The film possesses a sarcastic wit, and has no problem poking
fun at Hollywood.
For decades Souls for Sale was thought to be among
the many lost films of Hollywood’s early days, until prints resurfaced in
several private collections. Thanks to Turner Classic Movies and the Warner
Brother Archives, this rare film is now restored and available on DVD. Souls for Sale is one of the most obscure
films I have in my collection, and I realize that an eighty-nine year old
silent film won’t appeal to everyone. But, if you’re a history lover, or a film
lover, there is a lot to appreciate in this forgotten tale.