Lilac Time

In 1918, flighty farm girl Colleen Moore (as Jeannine Berthelot) becomes attached to seven British fliers, who are stationed near her home, in France; and, the airborne group is just as fond of the charming Ms. Moore. Sadly, one of the pilots dies, after a typically dangerous mission; quickly, he is replaced by Gary Cooper (as Phillip Blythe). Mr. Cooper has arrived to do his "bit" for his British country, and fiancée. Although they may not acknowledge the fact, it's obviously love at first flight for Moore and Cooper. Once Moore and Cooper pledge their love, he and his men are ordered out on a suicide mission...

The popularity of Moore and the aviation theme were enough to make "Lilac Time" bloom at the box office. Moore handles the comedy/drama characterization well; and, Cooper is a handsome love interest. Their overblown love story becomes too maudlin, however. Although Moore (especially) and Cooper play their romantic meeting and courtship exceedingly well; the comic set-up, and proceeding situation, makes it all quite ludicrous. The fate of the squadron, the bombing of Moore, and the Grande Finale may combine to induce feelings of nausea.

****** Lilac Time (8/3/28) George Fitzmaurice ~ Colleen Moore, Gary Cooper, Jack Stoney

Lilac Time which starred Colleen Moore was a big boost to the career of Gary Cooper. He played the British flier who was stationed on a base at Colleen Moore's farm during the World War. He cuts quite a dashing figure as a British air ace and son of British General Burr McIntosh.

This film is a great example of the universality of silent films where the very American speaking Cooper and Moore could get away with playing a British and a French national respectively. In Cooper's career afterward, when playing in a foreign setting it was always explained he was Canadian, he was one of the first of Hollywood leading men to have that gambit used when sound arrived. But in the silent era the only demand was that one be photogenic and no one was more photogenic than Gary Cooper.

Lilac Time was a play written by and starring Jane Cowl on Broadway during the 1917 season. It was one of Cowl's bigger hits on Broadway and a pity she didn't do the screen version. It concerns a small base of the Royal Flying Corps established on the farm of Eugene Besserer and her daughter Colleen Moore. Moore is something of a mascot to the men, but when she spots Cooper she doesn't want to be thought of as a pet.

As for Cooper he's got a fiancé back home, one of those aristocratic arranged marriages and his fiancé is played by Kathryn McGuire. At first he and Moore do not get along, he regards her as a nuisance. But the chemistry kicks in after a while.

Lilac Time made at the tail end of the silent era was one of the first films to have a music score written for it. The copy I have is a compilation of old World War I era ballads, but with the popular standard written expressly for this film, Jeannine, I Dream Of Lilac Time. This was one of the first songs written directly for the screen, albeit for a silent film. It and the rest of the score is done on a Wurlitzer organ and the song makes this film a candidate for revivals at festivals. Gene Austin had a big selling record of this song in 1928 when the film came out.

Viewed over 80 years after it came out, Lilac Time still holds up very well, a bit melodramatic, but a nice romance.

British and American pilots launch attacks during World War I from a small town in France. A caring Colleen Moore is dedicated to providing moral support to these pilots. Gary Cooper replaces a downed pilot. Antagonism between Moore and Cooper precedes romance and provides a comic beginning. As romance develops, the pilots, including Cooper, are sent on a dangerous mission. A commercially available release of this film allow interested viewers to find Cooper's fate and the end result of Moore's trials and tribulations to also find his fate. This end of the silent era movie is worth the effort to ferret out for viewing.

The theme song of the motion picture, "Jeannine, I Dream of Lilac Time," is commercially available. It was recorded by well over a hundred top artists, including Louis Armstrong, Skitch Henderson, Guy Lombardo, The London Symphony Orchestra, opera star John McCormack, Mitch Miller, The Platters, Lawrence Welk, and Paul Whiteman. Many of these recordings have been transferred to commercially available CDs. For example, a recording by the composer, Nat Shilkret, is included in the ASV CD "Dancing With Tears In My Eyes," which is available from amazon.com.

LILAC TIME (First National Pictures, 1928), a John McCormick Presentation under the direction by George Fitzmaurice, became the studio's contribution to current trend of war related themes that rebirth the cycle with THE BIG PARADE (MGM, 1925). Borrowing the aerial battle used heavily from Paramount's WINGS (1927) and the romantic angle highlighted from either WHAT PRICE GLORY (Fox, 1926) or SEVENTH HEAVEN (Fox, 1927), LILAC TIME benefits from the aforementioned titles right down from borrowing Gary Cooper from his few minutes in WINGS to co-starring status opposite Colleen Moore, then one of the most popular actresses of the silent screen. Though Moore is remembered most as a flapper hair-styled comedienne, she demonstrates her great ability in heavy dramatics as proven in LILAC TIME. Coming late into the silent era that would soon end with the new medium of talkies, LILAC TIME, regardless of its age, holds up remarkably well today, in spite of how forgotten it has become through the passage of time.

Taken from the popular 1917 stage play by Jane Cowl and Jane Murfin, the story, set during the Great War in 1918, opens in a Lilac farm near a French village where lives Jeannine Berthelot (Colleen Moore) and her Aunt Marie (Eugenie Besserer). British fliers land their airplanes nearby to use their farmhouse for rest and relaxation until orders are given for them to fly out the next day. Jeannine is a young French girl with her love for lilacs and passion for Joan of Arc. Her biggest fear is seeing the lives of seven British fliers diminish with few returning from their dangerous air battle. After a crashlanding that puts the "Unlucky One" (Arthur Lake) out of commission, he is soon substituted by Captain Philip Blythe (Gary Cooper). Because Jeannine accidentally caused him to crash land on her farm, Philip, not knowing she's a girl dressed in mechanic's clothes, gives her a swift kick. Forming a strong dislike for one another, Philip, who happens to be engaged to Lady Iris Rankin (Kathryn McGuire) begins to have second thoughts about Jeannine. As the pilots receive orders to fly a suicide mission where they are not to return until all enemies are killed, Jeannine promises to wait on the farm for Philip. During his absence however, Jeannine and the other villagers are forced to evacuate with no means of knowing where they are going and whether she'll ever see Philip again. Co-starring Burr McIntosh (General Blythe); George Cooper (The Mechanic's Helper); Cleve Moore (Captain Russell); Emile Chautard (The Burgomaster) and Paul Hurst.

Although a straight drama with well-acted love scenes, LILAC TIME includes some amusements, including that from George Cooper (no relation to Gary) as a mechanic's helper, to Colleen Moore lifting the spirits of the fliers by dressing herself as a mustached soldier juggling champagne bottles.

Reportedly released with original musical scoring, sound effects and theme song to "Jeannine, I Dream of Lilac Time," circulating prints, either accompanied by organ (90 minutes) or piano scoring (110 minutes) bearing different length times are currently available either on Youtube or DVD from a private collector. To date, LILAC TIME has never been televised. It had been scheduled to show on Turner Classic Movies in 2016 only to be cancelled and substituted by another movie instead. If LILAC TIME should ever be televised, be sure not to miss it. (***)

Dashing young WWI pilot Gary Cooper falls for village girl Colleen Moore in this late silent. It's well-staged and the aerial fights and crashes are shot well, but I can't shake the feeling that they shied away from the tragic ending towards which the movie seems to be heading.