Highlights:
Lowlights:
Overall not awful, but the deterioration in the second half was disappointing.
- Janet Gaynor. She has such an endearing face, and on her own makes the film worth seeing. She plays an impoverished young woman who tries to prostitute herself, resorts to stealing to try to pay for her dying mother's medicine, and then runs away with a travelling circus. It's a pretty canned plot and I don't think I ever really felt the character's destitution, but I was mesmerized by Gaynor nonetheless.
- Foggy, smoky atmosphere. The street shots at night at the beginning and end are nice, and director Frank Borzage makes use of things like shadows and tracking shots to make the film visually appealing.
- Storytelling in the first half. It doesn't shy away from showing us the link between poverty and prostitution, and while there are also some judgmental overtones, it also makes us empathize. The story isn't all that original, but Borzage moves things along and we're engaged, particularly when Gaynor's character meets an artist (Charles Farrell) she's initially annoyed by.
Lowlights:
- Pace in the second half. The scene where the policeman allows Gaynor to say goodbye to Farrell before turning herself in an hour later takes about 15 minutes of screen time, when it should have taken one or two. It is far, far too long, with Borzage trying to eke out every last bit of emotion by showing us Gaynor's teary face again and again. As a whole, the film is probably 30 minutes too long.
- Melodramatic, illogical, and cloying plot. I don't mind a little schmaltz (as those who have endured my Frank Capra film reviews can attest), but when it's wrapped up in actions that don't make sense and are elongated, it gets tough to enjoy. The whistling back and forth, had it been done once, would have been a plus, but repeated as it is, gets annoying.
Overall not awful, but the deterioration in the second half was disappointing.