Film Review
As the opening titles to this film point out,
The County Fair was
a play that had been performed in just about every town and city in America
for over twenty years, so by this time it was already an 'old classic' of
the stage. Although written by Charles Barnard, the name most strongly
associated with the play was Neil Burgess, the genius impresario who made
it a massive hit, thanks in part to his portrayal of the central character,
Aunt Abigail (he was one of America's leading female impersonators at the
time). By 1920,
The County Fair was unequivocally a nostalgia
piece, so it's hardly a surprise that Maurice Tourneur's film adaptation
appears quaintly antediluvian even for the era it was made in. Its
main point of interest is that it is one of the few silent comedies directed
by Tourneur which survive virtually intact to this day - most of his early
work has long perished and what remains are his more ambitious, more modern-looking
and more sober productions.
The bucolic setting of
The County Fair doubtless appealed to Tourneur
far more than its homespun, almost infantile story. More a pictorialist
than a conventional director, Tourneur's chief talent was in composing stark
and often beautiful images to convey the mood and feelings that underpin
the subject of his film. In
The County Fair, he and his cinematographer
René Guissart conjure up a sun-drenched rural locale that is so tangible
and enticing that it effortlessly draws you into it. So vivid are the
impressions of the titular County Fair that having watched the film you almost
felt you were there, gorging on peanuts and pink lemonade and watching hoards
of children chasing frantically after a greased pig.
In every other respect, the film is a pretty humdrum affair, and there's
none of the anarchic fun that we find in Tourneur's later French comedies,
Les Gaietés de
l'escadron (1932) and
Lidoire
(1933). The characters are pretty bland archetypes whose names are
just about the most interesting thing about them. Solon Hammerhead
is a name to savour, but William V. Mong's two-dimensional portrayal prevents
him from being the juicy villain the film requires to bring it to life.
Helen Jerome and David Butler likewise make next to no impression as the
amorous juveniles, so Edythe Chapman and John Steppling, two likeable eccentrics,
have an easy job stealing the film as the kindly Aunt Abigail and her secret
admirer.
The County Fair is by no means the most distinguished or entertaining
of Maurice Tourneur's early films, but it has its charms and it leaves you
with a longing for a simpler age when the pace of life was slower and out-and-out
cads were more instantly recognisable (by the fact they have toothbrush moustaches
and are named after threatening items of ironmongery). And it's hard
to dislike a silent film with inter-titles that look like a collaboration
between Mark Twain and P.G. Wodehouse, witness: 'the Hammerheads seek to
destroy Cold Molasses...' and 'the greatest aggregation of living freaks
ever gathered together'.
© James Travers 2016
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Next Maurice Tourneur film:
The Last of the Mohicans (1920)
Film Synopsis
Sally Greenway and her aged aunt Abigail live a dull but contented life in
the sleepy hamlet of Somerset, Massachusetts. Threatened with eviction
from their ample farm by the cold-hearted money lender Solon Hammerhead,
Sally has no option but to consent to marry Hammerhead's equally odious son,
Bruce. What makes this so particularly painful is that Sally is already
in love - with the handsome farmhand Joel. One night, a stranger breaks
into the Greenways' homestead looking for food. The intruder turns
out to be Tim Vail, a former jockey fallen on hard times. Aunt Abigail
takes pity on Tim and gives him a job on her farm. Tim soon realises
that his employers' horse, Cold Molasses, has racing potential and persuades
Abigail to enter him in the horse race at the County Fair. If the horse
wins, Aunt Abigail stands to win three thousand pounds - enough to pay off
her mortgage and allow Sally to marry the man of her choice. Unfortunately,
the Hammerheads also have a horse running in the race, and they have no intention
of losing...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.