... from director Anthony Asquith. An intense young man (Uno Henning) escapes from prison and makes his way cross-country to a secluded farmhouse, where he finds a young woman (Norah Baring) with a small child. The film then flashes back to show the story of how these characters intersected in the past, as the man and woman worked at a barber salon, he giving shaves and she a manicurist. He was hopelessly in love with her, but she had eyes for a frequent customer (Hans Adalbert Schlettow) who has money. As the young man's jealousy grows, his mental state becomes fragile, leading to violence and tragedy.
This was made right at the end of the silent era, and it uses many of the best cinematic innovations of that era. The sound era was encroaching fast, though, and part of the film takes place in a movie theater showing a "talkie", and how the audience reacts to it as opposed to the silent Harold Lloyd short they see before the feature. Henning is phenomenal as the distraught young man, giving a performance that makes the Oscar winner from that year (Warner Baxter from In Old Arizona) look like amateur hour. Baring and Schlettow are also fine. This was a real surprise.
This was made right at the end of the silent era, and it uses many of the best cinematic innovations of that era. The sound era was encroaching fast, though, and part of the film takes place in a movie theater showing a "talkie", and how the audience reacts to it as opposed to the silent Harold Lloyd short they see before the feature. Henning is phenomenal as the distraught young man, giving a performance that makes the Oscar winner from that year (Warner Baxter from In Old Arizona) look like amateur hour. Baring and Schlettow are also fine. This was a real surprise.