User Reviews

In this two-reeler, "Baby Peggy" Montgomery -- in December of 2012 she may be the last living silent movie star -- invades Chaplin territory as she becomes a match seller in a cold, snowy mews that looks a lot like the street set of Chaplin's EASY STREET. The jokes are an amiable mix of slapstick and mime as she does things like put hot potatoes in gentlemen's silk hats and apes the hoity-toity manners of the well-to-do.

Baby Peggy mugs engagingly for the camera. The photography is often old-fashioned -- her reaction shots are irised, a style which had gone out of fashion some time before, but suited the conservative style favored by the Stern Brothers, her producers. It's an interesting and amusing effort and short enough to engage the patient modern viewer who is not familiar with the conventions of silent films.

I am not sure who thought of the plot to "Such Is Life", but to me it seems like it was a bad idea. However, the star, Baby Peggy, was very popular, so I assumed even a dumb plot like this one still sold a lot of tickets!

The film begins with Baby Peggy living on the streets and trying to sell things to survive--much like Hans Christian Andersen's "Little Match Girl". You can tell she is poor because she's wearing rags, BUT she also is a bit pudgy and her hair VERY well coiffed! To me, this made the film ridiculous--and perhaps a bit offensive. Later, after being ignored by everyone, she sneaks into a party and treats herself to the food. What's next? See this one...or not.

To me, this film was a great example of a star becoming so popular that they could put them in anything and it simply didn't matter--people flocked to see it anyways. It just seemed like a 3rd-rate script and perhaps it might have worked better with Jackie Coogan (who was much better playing such roles). For me, this just didn't work and I think the studio dropped the ball on this one.

By the way, pay attention to the scene involving the walnut and the Black butler. It's pretty sad to see a man being treated that much like an object--a sad sort of thing that people thought was funny back in the day.

Such Is Life (1924)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Mildly amusing take on "The Little Match Girl" theme has Baby Peggy playing an orphan out in the snow who decides to sell matches in order to buy food. While out on the street she gets picked on by a rich woman and her snob daughter but soon the two are going to be thankful for Peggy. As many other reviewers have pointed out, Baby Peggy was so popular in 1924 that it seems the studio was willing to put her in anything and it didn't depend on the quality. I've seen a couple films from this period and I really haven't been won over mainly because the films themselves are just cheap imitations of much better movies and stories. The "Little Match Girl" story is one of the greatest of all time but it's pretty much watered down here and the majority of the film rests on the shoulders of Baby Peggy. She's quite charming here as she stumbles in and out of the cold but even she can only do so much. The highlight of the film is a showdown she has with a snowman that comes to life. I must admit that I thought the look of this "snowman" was quite unique and I'm sure it creeped out quite a few back in 1924.