Exoticalot People are voting emotionally.

Baseshment I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Roman Sampson One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Allissa .Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

ksf-2 Spoilers below, mateys.Finally, an early silent that held my interest! Stars Rudolf Valentino and Dorothy Dalton in a swashbuckler complete with pirates and shanghai-ed sailors. Valentino made this one after his biggie, The Sheik. (He made four that year...busy guy.) Some interesting early photos of San Francisco... the title card accompanied by a photo of the harbor entrance, known as "the golden gate", 15 years before there was a bridge across it. They also showed the turntable at the end of the SF cable-car line. Some early gender-bending here - they call the rich playboy "Lillee of the Vallee", and the captain's daughter is quite mannish, and has no interest or use for men. The title card actually says "I never could care for a man... I'm not made for men. I ought to have been born a boy." The use of different color tints was a little distracting... when Moran is fighting off the evil pirate near the end, they switch back & forth between the blue and yellow tints. Also, the director frequently uses a close-up camera circle pinpoint to point out something. Probably since the medium was so new, he wasn't sure if the audience would catch what he wanted them to see. Good, steady plot. The set up, the adventures, and we see the conflicts get resolved so they can live happily ever after.Directed by George Melford, who had started out making shorts in the the early days of the film biz. Turner Classics is showing the 2006 restored version. I can seldom stand silents, as the plots are usually too simple for my taste, but this one was pretty good. If you appreciate the history of the film business, this one would be a good one to watch.

Michael_Elliott Moran of the Lady Letty (1922) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Somewhat entertaining silent melodrama from director George Melford who went on to do the Spanish version of Dracula. A rich playboy (Rudolph Valentino) is liquored up and kidnapped onto a rough shipping boat with a no nonsense captain (Walter Long). The two feued at first but they quickly become friends until they rescue a woman (Dorothy Dalton) at sea and the captain has rather mean plans including rape. This was my first film with Valentino and after hearing so much about his legendary looks, I must say I didn't get much of a romantic feel so at first I'm a little puzzled over his reputation as a ladies man. Perhaps he just didn't have any chemistry with the leading lady who really wasn't all that interesting here. The film runs a short 71-minutes and includes a wonderful, action filled fight but outside of this everything is rather bland. The film is certainly watchable and entertaining but nothing much comes out of it. Long is certainly the scene stealing and you might remember him from some later day Laurel and Hardy films as well as playing the rapist, in blackface, in The Birth of a Nation. On another note, it's quite clear that several scenes here influenced the much better Captains Courageous.

ducdebrabant It's hard to know whether Dorothy Dalton was always a dud or if she simply hasn't worn well, but her appeal these days is not readily apparent. Since that's true of a number of ladies who once made multitudes salivate in the silents, I'll give her the benefit of the doubt. Her acting's okay. Despite her top billing, it's absolutely Rudy's picture, and he's very good in it. He never looked better, and it's a nice, varied, physical part. Despite his exotic looks, and the fact that he's given a Latin background, this is still a nice-boy part. Wallace Reid could have played it.As with so many silents, one of the main draws is the realness and thereness of the exteriors. No need to record sound, so they go on location to San Francisco, they shoot on water, and I wouldn't take anything for the scene in front of a small movie house, where you get a feel of what it was like to walk in. TCM showed it in an absolutely marvelous, digitally restored print.

Craig Smith He was rich. She was not. He had no goals, no ambitions, no cares. Yet he recognizes that he is missing something. She sails the oceans and knows how to work and enjoys what she does. Then Ramon is shanghaied. There he learns to work and how to fight. In the process he admits to being the happiest he has ever been. Then through a series of misfortunes the Lady Letty is taken by the smugglers and Moran is taken as a prisoner. Ramon becomes her protector and to care for her. Finally Moran comes to care for Ramon. Then the question--what happens when they return to port? Like so many good movies there are many levels to this one. It is a well crafted movie that moves at a strong pace yet goes beyond being just a love story and an action movie. It is also a very good study in what is important in life. This is definitely a movie that can be enjoyed more than once.Finally, Rudolph Valentino is excellent as an action actor. The climax is loaded with exciting action!