Phantom (1922) In this silent film, a store clerk risks his future to pursue his obsession with a beautiful, ghostly woman. Alfred Abel, Lil Dagover, Lya De Putti. D: F.W. Murnau.
–I’ve never seen it, but Murnau? Lya de Putti? Well worth a look-see. Oh, and Nosferatu and Metropolis are on Weds. morning the 1st, for those of you interested.
Wouldn’t it be great if they showed movies like that in primetime, and showed the 1960’s Elvis movies in the wee hours?
Elvis movies. On TCM. I can’t believe it.
[Maurice Chevalier] “Zank 'eaven for VCRs–For VCRs tape movies late at night . . .” [/Maurice Chevalier]
No more Treasures from the Vault? I thought there was one more this week.
Ah well, this works out better anyway. I can actually watch something I want to see tonight instead of taping the anticipated TftV and still get her Phantom later.
Sadly, it’s over- they’ve aired everything on that DVD over the last three Sunday nights.
Spectre, are you sure that you’ve seen Elvis movies on TCM? AMC’s the one that seems to air them round-the-clcok.
Eve- done watching your tape?
I know TCM has run some Elvis movies. I can’t fault them for it; Elvis movies are something of a genre unto themselves.
Speaking of tapes…Eve, have you watched Judex yet?
I’m about four episodes into Judex, and enjoying it. Just love Musidora! Taped Phantom last night but won’t be able to watch it till later this week.
I’m done with the AFI tape, but, frustratingly, it ran out of tape in the middle of Lady Windemere. I promised to loan someone the tape, just for the sake of Gus Visser—who was that?
Well, Phantom was a disappointment–atmospheric as all get-out, but ponderous and a rather dumb story of a sad-sack town clerk (Alfred Abel, a good 30 years too old for the part) who ruins his life when he falls for a mysterious Baron’s daughter and her gold-digging lookalike (both played by the wonderful Lya de Putti, in wigs nearly as bad as the one Murnau plunked atop poor Janet Gaynor in Sunrise).
The saving grace was the superb cast–great performances, especially by Aud Egede as his slutty sister, Grete Berger as his moneylending aunt, and Anton Edthofer as a gigolo.
Ah, well, glad I saw it, but it’s a “tape-over.”