Tol'able David

Prepared to find this silent feature mawkish and slow, I got a pleasant surprise. This story of a boy's coming-of-age in rural America before the age of the automobile is somewhat sentimental and melodramatic, but never gratingly so. (And I can't sit through the 1934 "Little Women.") Richard Barthelmess is simply superb as the hero, capturing the changing moods, the giddy grandeur, silliness, and seriousness of the adolescent male. It's superb silent acting: his face goes from boyish to mature as the scenes demand. Also excellent is Ernest Torrence as the chief villain, who plays his outlaw not as just mean or greedy but genuinely creepy: he revels in the suffering of other creatures. Thus the movie suggests interesting things about the nature of criminality. It looks great, too: shot on location, beautifully composed, and with effective use of tinted film stock.

This lovely and poignant silent film is almost lyrical and poetic in its construction. The cinematography is wonderful, since it was actually filmed on location in a little town in Virginia, and the cast is perfect, with the two leads, Richard Barthelmess and Gladys Hulette, simply breathtakingly beautiful to watch. One can easily see why Lillian Gish stated that Richard had the most beautiful male face in the movies.

The plot revolves around the coming of age of the lead male character, and how evil circumstances creep up on a simple country family, which force the youngest son (Barthelmess) to grow up quickly.

The only negative in my experience of watching the film came from the Robert Israel soundtrack. On the DVD version I watched much of the soundtrack sounds like it was recorded at 100% volume and a grating, blasting hum can be heard through many scenes, in the beginning especially. I don't know if the video version has the same fault. Whenever the piano played solo this wasn't a problem. I had to keep the volume really low so I wouldn't notice the blasts.

A lovely film otherwise. I rated it 9 out of 10.

Although it starts off seemingly on the wrong foot with one of my favorite heroes, Richard Barthelmess, forced to take part in some embarrassingly farcical scenes with a rain barrel, the movie soon settles down into high drama once the Hatburns come to roost at a neighboring farm. A vicious threesome, ostensibly led by Walter P. Lewis, the Hatburns are in fact dominated by a towering sadist, unforgettably played by hulking Ernest Torrence.

Although director Henry King does a lot of admirable scene setting with both his well-chosen locations and his hand-picked cast, this is a movie in which the minor players are just that: Minor! All play their parts most convincingly, but only Marion Abbott makes a lasting impression. Otherwise, this is strictly (as the script itself makes plain), a David versus Goliath confrontation. Even the sweet little heroine is relegated to the background once the action really starts. But that is all to the good, as that climactic fight-to-the-finish still packs a wallop that is unmatched in the cinema.

The above review, as published in my book, "Silent Films & Early Talkies on DVD", was based on the 94 minutes Image DVD version. I have just seen the 99-minute Grapevine version which is superior in a number of respects. For one thing, it throws more attention on Gladys Hulette who really comes to the fore in the beautifully tinted and toned dance sequence, which Image presents far less attractively in a faded, dull-as-ditch-water tint. And I must admit I greatly prefer the superbly synchronized canned music in the Grapevine disc to Robert Israel's adequate but by no mens riveting original score for Image.

Richard Barthelmess is a strange actor, an actor who performed in silent movies without pantomime. An actor who acted as if he were speaking dialogue. He was so natural an actor that in an era that that needed big gestures and flamboyance to convey emotion, he succeeded in doing this without the need. It is said he could have won many an Oscar if they had them in his hey days but it was not to be. He was nominated though, once. He wasn't one of those stars who died out because his voice didn't match the image when talkies came because his first sound picture was a hit. Rather, it was because he started to choose non-commercial or artsy movies so to speak. I watch them now and wonder who expected them to be hits. There is one movie he made that plays like a "new wave" picture of the sixties. Now to the movie in question. This picture itself is not complex. In some ways, make that lots of ways, it's heavy handed melodrama from Henry King, a man who survived to direct many a big budget sound picture and make one or two really good pictures. Easy to guess, this is a retelling of the David and Goliath story set in a small town where a bunch of really nasty escaped convicts who scream evil come to town. David is a cheerful boy who nobody expects much from. He is just so t'olable. As the nasties bring gloom to the cheeriness of the town, they also end up killing David's father and David is forced to sell the farm because he cannot tend it now that his Dad is dead. His mom in the death scene of his father has the longest heart ache scene I ever seen. She sits still staring into nothingness as her husband is dying for what seems like ten full minutes of screen time. Of course, there is the girl who ignores David because he isn't a man and David must prove himself to his family and the girl and save the town. What happens? Note: Watch for the scene where a sick David drives the horse cart.

Watch Barthelmess and learn the meaning of acting. I watched this movie at a revival house with a live piano score and it heightened a lot of the action and I felt as if I was back in the twenties. Not a great movie, passable entertainment but a good introduction to one of the forgotten silent greats. (If you care to know, this movie was a big hit.)

Tol'able David is a superb piece of Americana, a great film that reproduces a long-lost time in America as well as long-last attitudes.

Richard Barthelmess is superb as David, the younger son in a sharecropping family in Virginia around 1900. The town of Greenstream is idyllic in its beautiful country setting and harmony reigns. David is interested in Esther Hatburn (Gladys Hulette) who lives on the neighboring farm. And they perform the mating ritual of innocents without even knowing it.

Into this peaceful valley comes a trio of thugs on the lam. They decide to "visit" their cousins and lay low a while til the heat is off. As soon as they move in on the Hatburns they take over the lives of everyone they come into contact with. The lead thug (Ernest Torrence) is pure evil. His idea of fun is to squash a cat with a big rock.

David's brother is the local mailman and one day as he is passing the Hatburn place the dog (great little dog) goes after a cat in the front yard. Torrence grabs a board and clunks the dog dead. When the brother confronts him, Torrence throws a boulder at his head, leaving the brother a hopeless vegetable.

The family reacts in anger but as David and his father argue over revenge, the old man keels over from a heart attack. David races out to kill all the Hatburns but the mother runs after him in a great scene where she (Marion Abbott) is dragged through a mud puddle while holding his legs.

The climax of the film is exciting as David takes on the Goliath.

Tol'able David is pure melodrama, and the 1930 talkie version was a flop. But in 1921 with this cast and Henry King directing, it's a simple tale about simple people and is superbly done. The film is filled with great little scenes and bits of business: The drunk dancing alone outside the town hall where a dance is taking place. Barthelmess dancing alone in the moonlight because he is too shy to ask Esther. David and his dog fishing.... Just terrific little bits of innocence and whimsy from a long-gone time.

Richard Barthelmess is the heart of this film and his performance ranks as one of the best I've ever seen in a silent film. At 26 he has no trouble convincing that he is 16-ish. He was a very natural actor who always knows where to find the humor in simple situations. Gladys Hulette is also good as is Marion Abbott as the mother. Ernest Torrence is a memorable villain...

Tol'able David was another smash hit in Barthelmess' early silent carer, joining Broken Blossoms, Way Down East, and The Patent Leather Kid. He was also hugely popular in early talkies, winning two Oscar nominations.