The best remembered phase of Will Rogers' movie career is the period of his stardom at Fox Films in the early '30s, when he made features such as State Fair and Judge Priest. He also did a stint at the Hal Roach studio in the mid '20s, where he appeared in a series of two-reel shorts, and most of those comedies are available to be viewed today. But the silent features he made for producer Sam Goldwyn -- a baker's dozen, made between 1918 and 1921 -- are almost entirely forgotten. The reason is both obvious and unfortunate: most of the films are lost, and the handful of works that do survive are not readily accessible. For fans of the great humorist this is an unhappy state of affairs. "Jes' Call Me Jim," one of the survivors, is well made and interesting, and deserves a wider audience.
Although Rogers was a humorist, known for his homespun wit, most of his films were not really comedies in the traditional sense, or at least not like the ones his contemporaries Harold Lloyd and Buster Keaton were making at the time. "Jes' Call Me Jim" (named after a line of dialog spoken at a key moment) is a melodrama with occasional comic moments. Rogers always insisted he was no actor, and sometimes disparaged movie acting as "making faces," but his performance in this film is exceptionally moving, and understated in a way that feels modern. There's none of the over-the-top histrionics one sometimes finds in early films, the kind that can provoke the wrong sort of laughter at public screenings. I'm sure this film would score a hit with viewers supportive of silent drama.
Will plays Jim Fenton, a simple hunter who lives with his dog in a cabin in a remote forest. (Incidentally, I don't know where this movie was filmed but the locations are beautiful.) He's sweet on Miss Butterworth (Irene Rich), who runs a hat shop in a nearby village. Although the lady is unattached, she looks after a boy whose mother is dead, and whose father Paul Benedict (Raymond Hatton) is an inventor locked up in an insane asylum, a horrible place run like a prison. He was confined there by wealthy mill owner Belcher (Lionel Belmore) who, we're told, stole the man's patents and had him committed under false pretenses. Miss Butterworth seeks justice for Benedict, an old family friend. When she's unable to secure his release, Jim steps in and, in a highly dramatic courtroom finale, publicly exposes Belcher as a villain.
As the plot synopsis indicates, this is no comedy. Will's character Jim Fenton will occasionally delivers a wry quip about his situation, and in one amusing scene he flirts awkwardly with Miss Butterworth in her hat shop, but the situation itself is not at all funny, and the whole cast plays it straight. Rogers is especially impressive in a sequence with Hatton-a fine character actor who worked steadily through the silent era, and for many years thereafter. Benedict, Hatton's character, has escaped form the asylum and is staying at Fenton's cabin. He is gravely ill, and it is believed that he may die. Jim takes responsibility for his condition, and feels terribly guilty and distraught; when Benedict narrowly survives, Jim weeps with relief. It's a beautifully played scene, and a memorable highlight.
So, in sum, this little-known film offers very good performances, rich atmosphere, an engrossing story and nice touches of humor. Why is it so obscure? I think there's a ready audience of silent film fans who would greatly enjoy "Jes' Call Me Jim" if it were more widely available.
