Midnight Faces

Some think that silent films are by nature, inferior. I would not buy that in a million years. Some of my favorite films have been done by great directors of the silent era. That said, like with modern films, there are clinkers along the way. I consider this to be one of them. It is out of the Old Dark House tradition. Unfortunately, it's plot is silly, the characters are cardboard cutouts of real people, and it is filled with racism. Once again, the black servant is beyond ridiculous, probably because it was the only part available to him. There is a ridiculous fight that last about ten minutes, killing time so we can't mercifully get to the end. Don't bother yourself with this one.

I'd like to give this film a higher rating but the poor editing and lack of continuity hurt the film. While it seems to a rip-off of the Cat and the Canary and The Bat, Midnight Faces does offer an enjoyable almost hour of viewing (the film clocks in at 53 minutes. While the acting is static (it is apparent that this is a poverty row production) the plot is good but the directing is another story (message to directors: either be a writer or a director, don't try to impress moviegoers by being a triple threat! It rarely works.) Bushman is tall, handsome, and virile. Kathryn McGuire is an attractive flapper type, and the rest of the rest is adequate. The biggest problem with this film is that the end comes so quickly. Other issues I noticed, why do the other cast members stand and watch Bushman beating the pulp out of the villain instead of rushing to his aid? Also, why is Bushman's valet seen crawling on the ground at the end of the film attempting to sprinkle salt on a pigeon or it is a pathetically small chicken? Lastly, why is the action in the film taking place at midnight when it is obviously daytime? This could have been an impressive late silent era film but the crude presentation of it makes it a film few will want to see. Still, give it a look if for just curiosity sake.

A quickie of some interest, despite (or maybe because) of its similarity to both The Bat (a sensational success on the Broadway stage when it debuted in 1920 and ran for a colossal 878 performances at the Morosco) and The Cat and the Canary, an obvious imitator which opened on Broadway in 1922 and ran for 349 performances at the National. Perhaps even more to the point, the much publicized film version of The Bat had its New York premiere on 14 March 1926. And just eleven days later, Midnight Faces made its appearance. Co-incidence? Hardly.

Midnight Faces has all the standard ingredients of the creepy old house horror mystery, including clutching hands from a shadowy cloaked assassin who uses secret passages to make his escapes, a frightened heroine, stalwart hero, personable friend and comic butler. The house is sufficiently large and cavernously gloomy to lend color to the proceedings, and the pace is nothing if not brisk. It's good to see a young Jack Perrin in civvies as the ingratiating friend, while an equally youthful Bushman alertly holds down the role of the hero. Cohn (or Cohen, he was never quite sure how to spell his name) has directed with reasonable flair, though film editor Fred Bain has obviously had his work cut out to paper over some slips in continuity.

...from the long-forgotten Goodwill Productions company. Francis X. Bushman Jr. Stars Lynn Claymore, a nice young fellow who has inherited a large mansion in Florida swamp country. He arrives to take up residence with his attorney Richard (Jack Perrin), and his servant Trohelius Snapp (Martin Turner). Of course, it isn't long before a group of strangers show up, strange things start happening, people start disappearing, and a caped figure begins lurking in the shadows.

Cheap, dumb, and often ridiculous, this is a complete waste of time for all but the most ardent of horror/mystery completists. The plot makes little sense, and although it's less than an hour long, that's still too much.

Now, many people claim that "Midnight Faces" (!926), which was released very shortly after "The Bat", which is regarded today as the precursor of all the great classic mystery movies of the 30s, was in a way an 'imitation' - and yet (taking NOTHING away from "The Bat": it IS an absolute masterpiece!), "Midnight Faces" at this early stage ALSO contains about ALL the necessary ingredients for a really great, scary and at the same time entertaining mystery: an isolated old mansion, without electric light, of course, dark figures creeping through the hallways, shadows on the walls, a mysterious Asian hiding in the garden, a damsel in distress - and a Mantan Moreland-style secretary for the comical relief!

Besides, the plot is VERY clever and twisted, with a REAL surprise ending; and the acting is marvelous and quite natural for the time: starring young Francis X. Bushman Jr., the son of THE matinée idol of the 1910s, and pretty Kathryn McGuire whom we first pity and then suspect, "Midnight Faces", which has been overshadowed by "The Bat" for so long (and over the years almost sunken into oblivion), surely is another one of the GREAT forerunners of this wonderful classic mystery genre, and I think it does deserve more attention by classic movie buffs as well as by critics!