A Lady of Chance

I don't watch many silent films (wish they'd take the time to get the speed right) but this one was okay, partially because I didn't have to put up with Norma Shearer's exaggerated acting voice! Silent (and pleasantly so), she did a good job as a former con artist who thought she married money but ended up in love, only to discover her new husband may soon be the wealthy man she thought he was! Just when she's about to have it all, her past comes back to haunt her.

Will she allow herself to be blackmailed? Will her husband find out the truth? Will it matter to him if he does? Will she beat her former associates at their own game?

Tune in and find out.

Lady of Chance, A (1928)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

MGM silent film about a con artist known as "Angel Face" (Norma Shearer) who lures rich, married men to her apartment so that she can blackmail them. After a con goes wrong she flees from the police and meets her next target (Johnny Mack Brown) but after marrying him she lears that he's actually poor, which doesn't sit well with her partners who want cash. This is a pretty typical story of a bad girl falling in love and then trying to go straight. What sets the film apart is the performance from Shearer who is very good as both the good girl and the vamp. There are several pre-code elements ranging from her lifting her skirt up to show off her legs to some other heated moments, which makes the film somewhat better. The biggest flaw is that we've seen this type of film countless times even before this one was released.

While Warner Brothers and many of the other American studios were making more and more talking pictures in 1928, the world's largest and most prestigious studio, MGM, was still firmly convinced that sound was a fad that would soon pass. This is one of the main reasons that this film is a silent, though in a slight nod to the trend, it did feature sound effects and music.

During most of her career, Norma Shearer played rather nice ladies and that's why I enjoyed seeing her in this film, as she was a nasty piece of work. Not only was she a career criminal, but she had no qualms about cheating "suckers" out of their money. Eventually, though, she thinks she's ready for a big score when she meets a man who she thinks is really rich--though after they marry and move to his home she finds he's not rich but owns a small concrete business. What happens next is pretty interesting but I'd rather cut the summary short because it might spoil the film.

The film has decent writing (though at times it is predictable) and the acting is generally very good as well. Most importantly, it is fun to watch and entertaining. While not among the best silents, this is still worth a peek--especially if, like me, you are a huge fan of early film.

In a "ritzy" hotel, seductive Norma Shearer (as Dolly "Angel Face" Morgan) uses her job as telephone operator to connect with wealthy gentlemen. Recently paroled, Ms. Shearer shows off her thighs under torn stockings while sharing a hard luck story, then lures the men to her apartment. There is, of course, a high price to be paid; in case on screen, Shearer makes out with a tidy $10,000. The plot thickens when Shearer's crooked cohorts Lowell Sherman (as Bradley) and Gwen Lee (as Gwen) want a piece of her solo action. Shearer successfully scams the pair, but they turn up to cause more trouble when she sets her sights on handsome cement tycoon Johnny Mack Brown (as Steve Crandall), who has a surprise of his own to reveal...

This was Shearer's last "silent" film; though MGM seemed reluctant to move their stars into talking pictures, several of them became even bigger stars, so the delay worked out very well for those. Curiously, this film has been shown without its "Synchronized Musical Score and Sound Effects" (SSE) on "Turner Classic Movies" (TCM). TCM premiered "A Lady of Chance" with an "all-new" music score in 2001, but had host Robert Osborne discussing the original soundtrack before a 2012 "Silent Sunday" airing, apparently unaware TCM was not showing the original version. Late 1920s "silent films" (which were never "silent") were typically released with SSE. Hopefully, the original soundtracks will be restored; the present trend needs reversing.

***** A Lady of Chance (12/1/28) Robert Z. Leonard ~ Norma Shearer, Lowell Sherman, Johnny Mack Brown, Gwen Lee

Story of female con artist who falls for her scam victim is just a backdrop for Shearer, who photographs beautifully and shows a remarkable range without uttering a word (check out the "wedding veil" scene, where she moves from mocking the idea of marriage to momentarily embracing the idea, all within a few seconds of subtly-evolving facial gestures). Entertaining, even if plot takes a couple of slightly unbelievable twists, with nice balance of comedy and drama (again, Shearer's range of emotion in the last scenes of the film are impressive and engaging). Clearly shows why Norma Shearer was a major MGM star even before the advent of sound.