Powerful

Expected more

best movie i've ever seen.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Even more impressive than most of the well-known silent titles, this movie is a real discovery! In fact, pictorially and dramatically it is one of the best silents ever made! Alan Crosland's riveting "Old San Francisco" (1927) would be most difficult to go past. For one thing, Dolores Costello is surely the most convincingly beautiful heroine of all time. On the other side of ledger, name someone who can present a more thoroughly nasty display of villainy than that so masterfully enacted by the great Warner Oland. The support cast is likewise legendary: Charles Emmett Mack as the hero (a fine actor who was killed in a car accident three months before this film was released); Angelo Rossitto in perhaps his largest and most sympathetic part; always-welcome Anna May Wong in a promising but ultimately small role; and the Prologue's Martha Mattox, casting aside her sinister persona. (You can't have everything, even in a lavishly directed masterpiece such as this). Available on a 10/10 Warner Archive DVD.

With a wonderful rousing score by Hugo Riesenfeld and synchronized by the Vitaphone Symphony Orchestra, this film (a pristine print) was obviously a jewel in the crown for Warner Brothers. Produced by Darryl F. Zanuck (one of his first as both a writer and producer, although an uncredited one), it starred Warner's reigning screen Goddess, Dolores Costello. The film has everything - romance, adventure, tension between the races, white slavery, an earthquake - but it did drag a bit. The prologue, featuring Tom Santschi and Martha Mattox (from "The Cat and the Canary"), showing how San Francisco was founded, went on for almost 10 minutes but was completely unnecessary to the story - a few titles would have sufficed.Then "The Story" starts in 1906 - Dolores (Dolores Costello) is the apple of her grandfather's eye but he has worries. He is desperately trying to ward off unscrupulous buyers who want to buy his ranch for peanuts!!! Dolores also catches the eye of Terence O'Shaughnessy (Charles Emmett Mack), a young partner in his uncle's law firm. They are acting on behalf of an evil businessman, Chris Buckwell, the "Czar of the City" - he wants the ranch and he will stop at nothing to get it. Played by Warner Oland, who made a career out of playing Orientals such as Fu Manchu and Charlie Chan, even though he was in fact Swedish. The twist to the story is that he is Chinese (shock!! horror!!) - a secret known only to his brother (Angelo Rossitto), a dwarf, whom he taunts and keeps in a cage and a "flower of the Orient" (Anna May Wong) his partner in crime.The appearance of slimy Don Luis (John Miljan, who else!!) sets the wheels turning. Hernandez hopes he will save the ranch but finds he is only lusting after his grand-daughter, as does Buckwell, who arranges for Hernandez to be in the city so he can be alone with Dolores!!! Only an earthquake can save her from a fate worse than death!!! No, not that fate - she has rebuffed Buckwell, who in his rage carries her to his "inner circle" where she is all set to become the latest export for the white slave trade. She has also discovered his secret!!! Dolores Costello is "preposterously beautiful" as John Barrymore once claimed. From the little you see of her, Anna May Wong is very fetching. Charles Emmett Mack, who, sadly, died the same year in a car accident, was sufficiently heroic and Warner Oland showed how wonderful he was in duplicitous roles. The earthquake was quite spectacular with tinted scenes of red and purple.Highly Recommended.

In turn of the the century San Francisco the noble Vasquez family are threatened with the loss of their property by the unscrupulous Mongol, Chris Buckwell. Buckwell, a Chinatown denizen holds considerable influence and sway in Frisco and does not hesitate to acquire by dubious means a piece of the action from local area merchants and land owners. The Vasquez family who has fought and died to keep their land over generations now must pin their hopes on the beautiful daughter Dolores (Dolores Costello) of the patriarch who aligns herself with a rambunctious Irishman (Charles Mack) to combat the diabolical Buckwell who in turn has lascivious designs on Dolores.Despite being wrought with bias and ethnic stereotyping, Old San Francisco is a splendid example of visual poetry that displays the silent art form in all it's glory. Camera movement is minimal (but used brilliantly at the films climax) with nearly every image a beautiful tableaux of light and composition in group shot and close-up. The underground Chinatown that Buckwell moves between from his 112 Sierra avenue address is a dark, mysterious nether world, both exotic and threatening.Warner Oland as Buckwell is a superb villain. In addition to desiring all things Vasquez he uses his formidable connections to shake down local Chinese merchants who claim that while "he is of the blood he is not of the breed". In addition to his greed and pursuit of power he worships false idols, exploits the religious fervor of others and keeps his dwarf brother in a cage. For the most part he remains stoic, utilizing an evil sneer that understatedly sums up his consummate villainy.While director Alan Crosland (The Jazz Singer) is at best a footnote in film history he helms a work as good as any silent master. Once he gets past a boiler plate prologue his use of light and shadow, close-up and reaction shot as well as utilization of props as insignificant as a broken gate show the work of a storyteller in complete control. Combined with a beautiful musical score and title cards of polished prose Old San Francisco is a feast of esoteric ambiance and textbook silent film making.

Old San Francisco (1927) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Fifth Vitaphone production from Warner is silent all the way through with the exception of some sound effects used in small places. The film tells the story of a Spanish family who moved to what would become San Francisco to set up their ranch but in 1906 an evil Chinese landowner (Warner Oland) tries to steal it away. The Spanish daughter (Dolores Costello) must try and save her land even though the odds are against here and all the fighting leads up to the famous earthquake. This is a decent movie at best, which works on some levels but is rather disappointing in others. This type of revenge story isn't anything new and had been going on as early as the Griffith shorts at Biograph. Storywise nothing new is really done here but a few nice things happen with the new setting of Chinatown. Today the racial stereotypes of the Chinese folks would be considered racist but what we see here was accepted in 1927. Costello is pretty good in the lead role as she brings some energy to her character that helps the film. Oland is also very good as the Chinese man who pretends to be white in order to try and steal the land. Charles Emmett Mack and Anna May Wong have supporting roles and are pretty good as well. I'm not 100% certain but the final earthquake sequence appears to have scenes borrowed from the Lon Chaney film The Shock, which was also set in San Francisco and featured the legendary earthquake. With that in mind, the final earthquake sequence really isn't that impressive but there are some newly filmed scenes mixed in of building burning and these effects look pretty good. The Vitaphone sound effects are all rather small and include a few gunshots early on, bells ringing and a few screams during the earthquake.