Mabel Normand sure had funny-looking eyebrows in "The Extra Girl." But she was so charming, even her funny-looking eyebrows did not in any way detract.
Madcap Mable, as she was often called, gave a superb performance here, far beyond the knockabout roles she might be best known for.
She was simply adorable.
And she was ably aided by a cast of talented performers, most of whom are not well known today, but who should be at least by silent movie fans.
Director F. Richard Jones used a moving camera to brilliant effect, and I was frequently sitting open-mouthed at his work when watching "The Extra Girl" on Turner Classic Movies' Sunday Night Silents 10 April 2016.
His fight scenes were the most realistic I have ever seen in films prior to the choreographing by Yakima Canutt and his ilk. Very believable and I wondered if the actors escaped uninjured.
Mack Sennett gets credit for the story, which bounces around a lot, but always holds together, perhaps credit for which goes to script writer Bernard McConville.
The ending seemed tacked on, but again even the toddler gave such a good performance, one should not complain.
There were, to stress the point, so many excellent performances, it is hard to brag about all of them in a limited space.
Vernon Dent, though, so often a cardboard or stereotyped tough guy, gets a real role here, and plays it perfectly. I was surprised, having seen him so often against such as Charlie Chaplin, to see he was actually rather short, certainly as contrasted to the very likable Ralph Graves, who gave what must have been one of his best performances in one of his best roles.
Probably TCM will show this again, on its regular schedule if not On Demand. I do urge you to see it. It is excellent.
Madcap Mable, as she was often called, gave a superb performance here, far beyond the knockabout roles she might be best known for.
She was simply adorable.
And she was ably aided by a cast of talented performers, most of whom are not well known today, but who should be at least by silent movie fans.
Director F. Richard Jones used a moving camera to brilliant effect, and I was frequently sitting open-mouthed at his work when watching "The Extra Girl" on Turner Classic Movies' Sunday Night Silents 10 April 2016.
His fight scenes were the most realistic I have ever seen in films prior to the choreographing by Yakima Canutt and his ilk. Very believable and I wondered if the actors escaped uninjured.
Mack Sennett gets credit for the story, which bounces around a lot, but always holds together, perhaps credit for which goes to script writer Bernard McConville.
The ending seemed tacked on, but again even the toddler gave such a good performance, one should not complain.
There were, to stress the point, so many excellent performances, it is hard to brag about all of them in a limited space.
Vernon Dent, though, so often a cardboard or stereotyped tough guy, gets a real role here, and plays it perfectly. I was surprised, having seen him so often against such as Charlie Chaplin, to see he was actually rather short, certainly as contrasted to the very likable Ralph Graves, who gave what must have been one of his best performances in one of his best roles.
Probably TCM will show this again, on its regular schedule if not On Demand. I do urge you to see it. It is excellent.