Frente a Frente

Charming silent comedy, wherein Mary Astor, a Midwesterner who somehow became an impoverished Italian princess, decides to visit her old hometown, and Aunt Louise Fazenda and Uncle Lucien Littlefield. For plot reasons not worth going into, she infiltrates the household and at first impersonates a dressmaker, and reestablishes contact with old flame Lloyd Hughes. Complications, as they say, ensue, and the happy ending's never far away. After playing so many heavy-breathing romantic leads, this must have been a pick-me-up for Mary, who's gorgeous and spirited, and she's well paired opposite the unassuming Hughes. There's a lovely small-town atmosphere, the title cards are witty, and it has pace.