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REVIEW OF CINEFEST 26 Cinefest 26 was held in Syracuse, NY again, March 16-19.  This year was a particularly rare collection of _title_s.  With 23 _title_s I had never seen before I was in the screening room morning, noon, and night...almost too heavy a load for me.  Next year I'll ask for more repeats!  The themes this year seemed to be Frances Dee (COMING OUT PARTY, THE STRANGE CASE OF CLARA DEAN), Pat O'Brien (THE PERSONALITY KID, THE STRANGE CASE OF CLARA DEAN), and men coming back from the past (THE MAN FROM YESTERDAY, THE STRANGE CASE OF CLARA DEAN, WILD GOLD). Specific reviews follow ranging from * to ****. MICHAEL O'HALLORAN (1937, Republic) Wynne Gibson, having been busted at one too many nightclubs, finds her ex-husband suing for custody of her children.  She takes in two orphans to generate positive p.r., and starts to fall for them. A cute, but totally predictable tale.   The picture for reel 5 is missing (sound survives), which explains why this has never turned up on TV, making this ideal Cinefest fare because you won't see it anywhere else.  **½ THE COCK-EYED WORLD (1929, Fox) Raoul Walsh directs and Edmund Lowe and Victor McLaglen reprise their Sgts. Quirt and Flagg roles from WHAT PRICE GLORY.  WWI is over, but they still find themselves getting into battles with enemy rebels and each other.  What this sorely lacks is a Dolores Del Rio to spice it up, but it's still a lot of fun, with a very hot Lily Damita and the bizarre idea of El Brendel being a successful ladies man. *** THE PERSONALITY KID (1934, Warner Bros.)  Standard fare of Pat O'Brien as a cocky prizefighter who isn't aware that he is winning all the time because all his fights are fixed.  Glenda Farrell is his wisecracking wife.  We've seen this plot a zillion times before, but it's still irresistibly likable. *** THE MARKET OF VAIN DESIRE (1916, Triangle) An incredibly young H.B. Warner stars as a small town preacher who comes to the big city where he preaches against mothers selling their daughters into loveless marriages simply to attain status.  Meanwhile, the girl he loves is being married off by her mother to a slimy count.  Definitely odd and slow, but interesting. (Gabriel Thibaudeau on piano) **½ SUBMARINE (1928, Columbia) An early Frank Capra with Jack Holt and Ralph Graves as sailors frequently battling for the same girl, especially an extremely hot Dorothy Revier.  A sassy, exciting action/adventure buddy movie that feels more like Raoul Walsh than Capra.  One of the big hits of the weekend.  (Jon Mirsalis on piano except for the last reel that had the original music and effects score) ***½ A SOUTH SEA BUBBLE (1928, Gainsborough) Ivor Novello, down to his last penny, finds suckers to finance a mission to a South Seas island to look for a treasure left by his pirate ancestor.  Benita Hume (pre-Mrs. Ronald Colman) is a reporter who tags along to expose the trip for the scam it is.  Sort of a cross between THE CRUISE OF THE JASPER B and Fairbanks' DOWN TO EARTH.  There's a decent picture lurking in here, but at 9 reels it was way way too long.  (Phil Carli on piano) **½ THE MAN FROM YESTERDAY (1932, Paramount) On the eve of his departure for the WWI battlefields, Clive Brook marries Claudette Colbert, and they consummate their marriage in the backseat of a taxi!  He goes to war, is reported dead, she finds she is pregnant, takes up with surgeon Charles Boyer....and then Brook returns.  Strange cross between MY FAVORITE WIFE and RANDOM HARVEST, is quite good, though Brook's stiff upper lip anti-charisma is no match for the suave Boyer. *** BRONCHO BILLY PROGRAM.  Two Broncho Billy shorts

THE ISLE OF LOVE (1918, 1920, or 1922, Fred Balshofer) OK, I take the blame for recommending this dog.  A very odd film made in 1918, shelved until 1920, then recut in 1922.  We saw the 1922 reissue and it is of interest only for appearances of Julian Eltinge, Rudolph Valentino, and Virginia Rappe.  It has something to do with an attempted coup on a tropical island.  A totally incoherent mess of a movie. (Phil Carli on piano) *½ Jon, do any of the earlier versions of this film exist in any archive? I doubt it would make much more sense, but, dog that it is, I *still* want to see it. Sounds like a great weekend. Why don't I have the time and money to go to ALL of these conventions?

REVIEW OF CINEFEST 26 THE ISLE OF LOVE (1918, 1920, or 1922, Fred Balshofer) OK, I take the blame for recommending this dog.  A very odd film made in 1918, shelved until 1920, then recut in 1922.  We saw the 1922 reissue and it is of interest only for appearances of Julian Eltinge, Rudolph Valentino, and Virginia Rappe.  It has something to do with an attempted coup on a tropical island.  A totally incoherent mess of a movie. (Phil Carli on piano) *½ <sniff.  I told you.  Would love to have heard Phil's score on this. How do you do a pianistic Hunh? So was Virginia's character named Vanette or Zana? Frederica ( Your American ladies are different! )

ALI BABA GOES TO TOWN (1938). Movie-crazy fan Eddie Cantor stumbles on to a movie company filming an Arabian night story in the desert, gets hired as an extra, takes some cold pills and then dreams himself back in time to old Bagdad.. I liked this one way more than I thought I would because I'm not a big Eddie Cantor fan, but it was a very entertaining little musical, and Eddie did just great. I had a blast the whole weekend. Endless popcorn to munch on, great people to hang out with. And I learned a new phrase, courtesy of Leonard Maltin: carpet filler . Who could ask for anything more ?

And I learned a new phrase, courtesy of Leonard Maltin: carpet filler . Meaning a movie that fills the carpet in the lobby with people avoiding watching it?