Some early talkies snap, crackle and pop off the screen, being brilliant in the way that they hold up. However in the case of this early talkie, it is necessary to find a better-than-average print because certain ones crackle yes, but that is not in a good way. It's a decent story, a conflict between two brothers (cop Hal Skelly and gangster Chester Morris and the friction that explodes even more when because of their animosity, their mother ends up blind. Evelyn Brent is memorable in a showy, brief role as a gangster'soll who sets up further friction between the two brothers out of vengeance.
The film print I found looks like it was filmed through a telescope and features a distracting blue tint. Available prints also have varying lengths which makes the continuity often a bit sketchy. In spite of how slow it moves, it is surprisingly violent and tails in some very powerful human terms as to why siblings don't always get along and the impact that it has on everybody around them. Performances are a mixture of stagy (Skelly), intense (Morris) and over-the-top (Brent), making it a mixed bag that I most likely won't revisit.
The film print I found looks like it was filmed through a telescope and features a distracting blue tint. Available prints also have varying lengths which makes the continuity often a bit sketchy. In spite of how slow it moves, it is surprisingly violent and tails in some very powerful human terms as to why siblings don't always get along and the impact that it has on everybody around them. Performances are a mixture of stagy (Skelly), intense (Morris) and over-the-top (Brent), making it a mixed bag that I most likely won't revisit.