The Great Gilbert

WAY FOR A SAILOR (1930) John Gilbert pairs up with Wallace Beery in this hi-knot nautical adventure whose rousing sequences are nothing short of astounding for an early "talkie". Unfairly maligned as part of the strange smear campaign, Gilbert's reputation unfairly suffered following his untimely passing. Way For A Sailor, and the other three Gilbert films we are releasing this week, are well overdue for a reappraisal as is the decidedly non-reedy, non-high pitched John Gilbert. In Way for a Sailor, Gilbert plays Jack, a solid seaman fully committed to the seafaring life and tramping around with pals Tripod and Ginger (Beery and Jim Tully). That is until he meets the girl who says "no" - Joan the "Eskimo" (Leila Hyams).

REDEMPTION (1930) In this most Russian of tragic romances, John Gilbert plays Feyda, a blue-blood whose heart hides a most Gypsy soul. Romancing Masha (Renée Adorée) away from her fiancé - and his pal - Victor (Conrad Nagel), Feyda tries to set up domestic shop but fails, sliding back into drink, gambling and girls. Now Feyda must struggle with how to free the woman he loves from the hell that is life with him. Directed by Fred Niblo.

GENTLEMAN'S FATE (1931) Mervyn LeRoy directs John Gilbert in this tale of a gentleman pushed by fate from the swells of society to the scum that provides the swill. Wealthy gentleman Jack Thomas (Gilbert) is soon to be married to Marjorie Channing (Leila Hyams) when he discovers a dark family secret. He is actually Giacomo Tomasulo and his never-before-met elder brother Frank (Louis Wolheim) expects him to join the family "business" when daddy don passes on. Struggling against the bounds of crime and family, Jack realizes his former life is over and makes a play for the rackets in Montreal. But the three sisters are not done playing Jack's loom...

THE PHANTOM OF PARIS (1931) Gaston Leroux (The Phantom of the Opera) penned the tale that provides the source for this phanto-nymous piece of adventure and romance set among the Cirque de Paris. Cheri-Bibi is the greatest escapist in the world, but when he is framed for his fiancee's father's murder he undertakes his most daring and wondrous escape of all - disappearing into the identity of the man who framed him in hopes of proving his innocence. With Leila Hyams, Lewis Stone, Jean Hersholt and C. Aubrey Smith. Directed by John S. Robertson.

LOS ANGELES SCREENINGS THIS WEEK

The LA Film Forum will be screening Eskimo (1933) on August 15 as part of their Mush! to the Movies series. Not only was it the first fictional feature film to be shot in a Native American language (Inupiat) and the first to be shot in Alaska but it also received the first Academy Award ever for Film Editing. Members of the family of Ray Mala, star of Eskimo, will be in attendance as well as an opportunity to visit the Nova Tuskhut, an installation of the only Arctic Trading Post on the North American Continent which located on the grounds of the Velaslavasay Panorama where the screening is held. Eskimo is also available on DVD.

The New Beverly calendar is chock full of rare entries from the WB library screened in 35mm (except for one in 16mm)! The week  heats up Wednesday with the original men from U.N.C.L.E. - Robert Vaughn stars in The Venetian Affair (1966) and David McCallum in Sol Madrid (1968). Then on Friday, prepare for a double feature of two of the original eight Man from U.N.C.L.E. movies, The Spy With My Face (1965) and One Spy Too Many (1966). These films were made for the European market by fusing two back-to-back American TV episodes together with additional material shot for that purpose. All of these films are also available on DVD.