From · The Silent West

1916 · Directed by Charles Swickard

William S. Hart as Blaze Tracy, 1916, produced by Thomas Ince, directed by Charles Swickard from a C. Gardner Sullivan script. A weak minister and his sister Faith arrive in the town of Hell's Hinges. Saloon man Silk Miller hires Tracy to run them out; Tracy falls for Faith instead. The church burns. Clara Williams is Faith. Joseph August photographed it. Selected for the National Film Registry in 1994. The town's name is the argument.

From · Spotlight: Anna May Wong

1931 · Directed by Lloyd Corrigan

Lloyd Corrigan, Paramount, 1931, from Sax Rohmer. Anna May Wong is Princess Ling Moy, a nightclub performer who learns she is Fu Manchu’s daughter and is pointed at Scotland Yard. Sessue Hayakawa is Ah Kee, the detective; Warner Oland, again in yellowface, is Fu in his last turn in the part. Wong and Hayakawa, two stars the studios would not let play ordinary leads, share a thriller that still needs a white couple in the background. Seventy minutes, early sound. Wong’s voice is low and exact. The dragon is Rohmer’s.

From · Spotlight: Louise Brooks

1929 · Directed by Frank Tuttle, Malcolm St. Clair

Malcolm St. Clair shot this Paramount Philo Vance picture silent in 1928; Frank Tuttle did the sound retakes. Louise Brooks is Margaret Odell, a blackmailing showgirl. William Powell is Vance. Brooks was already in Berlin and would not come back to record lines. Margaret Livingston spoke them, and doubled some shots from behind or in profile. Trade papers noticed. The silent cut is the one that still looks like Brooks.