Kino Lorber in partnership with Paramount has just released another title in an ongoing series of silent movies from the Paramount vaults which started back in 2017 with THE COVERED WAGON and BEGGARS OF LIFE. This time it's William Wellman's YOU NEVER KNOW WOMEN, an engaging comedy-drama that was his penultimate film before the monumental WWI epic WINGS which made his reputation. Clocking in at a tight 71 minutes WOMEN tells the story of an unlikely love triangle between a Russian acrobat (Florence Vidor), her associate (Clive Brook) and a wealthy man about town (Lowell Sherman).
A rich cad falsely takes credit for saving a young woman from a falling girder at a construction site. He then follows her to a theater where she is performing with a troupe of Russian acrobats. The troop is led by a magician who is clearly patterned after Harry Houdini. He loves her but is too shy to express it. The cad is not. She responds to the cad's attention which depresses the magician. All this takes place on the eve of a very dangerous stunt involving handcuffs and a locked box dropped into the NYC harbor. The trick goes awry, the cad shows his true colors, and it all leads to a satisfying conclusion.
WOMEN was Wellman's 10th film and he is already showing what he could do with a camera and with the imaginative staging of scenes that carry the story without distracting from it. The performances from the 3 principals keep us engaged and there is wonderful comic support from vaudeville veteran El Brendel and a performing goose. The story may be old hat but the treatment of it is not. While the title is taken from one of the title cards, it is very misleading along with the original poster art which is replicated on the cover. In the story it is the woman being manipulated, not the two men.
This restoration is taken from a copy of an original 35mm print in the Paramount archives and it looks very good. You can tell it's original by the title cards which are all of a piece and suffer from very minor print deterioration. The new music score from Donald Sosin has a slightly Russian flavor that adds to the overall enjoyment one experiences. Not a major film from one of classic Hollywood's legendary directors but one that would be an ideal introduction to silent movies for a modern audience. The background commentary provided as an extra from the director's son is very informative...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.
