Something to Think About

The DeMille/Swanson pairing teamed up once again in October 1920's "Something To Think About." This is one of the first movies, if not the first, to have a disable person as a romantic lead. Actor Elliot Dexter suffered a stroke a few months before filming and became partially paralyzed. The Jeanie MacPherson script was reshaped to reflect the actor's condition. Dexter, an admirer of the Swanson character dating way back to childhood, befriends her father and secretly pays for her college tuition. Once an adult, Swanson's attentions are elsewhere, much to the consternation of her father. An accidental death by her now husband sends Swanson in a tizzy, and Dexter steps up his game to get her attention.

Dexter, supported by a pair of crutches, is undoubtedly not cinema's most romantic catch. But a spiritual awakening happens to Swanson, a moral message the audience comes away with a deeper understanding of relationships and the layers of complexities each person brings into marriage.

DeMille directed Swanson in only one other movie the next year after a string of bonanza hits. They appeared together 29 years later in Billy Wilder's 1950 'Sunset Boulevard."

Gloria Swanson is growing up, the apple of her father, Teddy Robert's eye. Wealthy Elliot Dexter offers t send her off to a finishing school. When she comes back, Mr. Dexter is smitten and Mr. Roberts' tells his daughter the man is too shy to express his love because he is a cripple; Dexter had suffered a stroke and his condition was written into the script. So Gloria proposes to him, and all are happy.... except for strapping Monte Blue, who loves Gloria and, it turns out, she loves him. So they run away to New York, Dexter's heart is broken, and Roberts, cursing his daughter, is struck blind.

Gloria and Monte's love is complete when she tells him she is expecting. However, tragedy strikes when Monte is killed in an industrial accident. Gloria cannot hold down a job, and eventually makes her way back home.... to anger and suspicion.

It's not one of DeMille's movies in which everyone has a wild time until they repent in the last reel. People are just people, and it's up to the hand of G*d to set matters aright by heavy-handed coincidence and the constant proselytizing of Claire MacDowall as Dexter's housekeeper. As such, it didn't move me and its tone set my teeth on edge.

Where Demille shows good form is in the small details: Julia Faye et al. as local gossips; the pie Gloria trims as Monte is drowning; and the hangman's noose that Gloria bumps into when she is at her trough in the barn. It shows a master's hand at work, but the master is Demille, and the story lacks the grand visual appeal and the gracefulness of good storytelling in its rush to get its message over. It's excellent visually -- of course it is! It's a Demille film. It's just not one of his best ones from this period.

David Markley suggests that Luke Anderson, the village blacksmith, send his daughter Ruth away to school. Three years later, Ruth returns and decides to marry Markley, despite his being a cripple. But then she falls for the happy-go-lucky Jim Dirk. The two elope, leaving Anderson angry and Markley defeated. Several tragedies later, there is a happy conclusion.

The movie features solid acting by all concerned. The first half of the film is so-so, but then it picks up after Ruth and Jim's marriage ends tragically. Swanson is a delight to watch. Theodore Roberts, as Luke Anderson, wears a pretty bad beard, but, as usual, does a good job and steals plenty of scenes. Mickey Moore, as Ruth and Jim's young son, is adorable and has a cute scene when he meets Roberts, who is fishing.

Claire McDowell, who portrays the Anderson's housekeeper, is somewhat over the top with her biblical musings, but hey ... this is a DeMille picture. As for the title, I have no idea how it fits into the picture.

This was the first time I've seen Elliott Dexter, and he carries off his role quite well. He elicits sympathy as a cripple, but also elicits some disdain for his later behavior. The finale, in which he tosses away his crutches, is a bit hokey, but DeMille was going for a nice ending.

Initially, I was not taken with Monte Blue, but as the film wore on, I came to appreciate his performance. In his most impressive scene, he is trapped in a tunnel which is being flooded. I won't give away what happens.

If you love classic movies, there's a very high likelihood you've seen Humphrey Bogart's classic film "High Sierra". In this story, a criminal falls for a disabled lady and he decides to use his ill-gotten gain to pay for some expensive operation which will make her better. So, that means even more robberies until one day he has enough. She gets the surgery...and soon falls for some other man!

I mentioned this plot because the plot to "Something to Think About" is very similar and came out two decades earlier. A disabled rich man takes an interest in the blacksmith's daughter, Ruth (Gloria Swanson), and agrees to pay for her to get a proper education. Three years later, she returns and her father assumes the two will be married. However, despite being very grateful, she falls for another guy and runs off...leaving a note to explain her decision to her father and the rich guy. How he handles this is the subject of much of the story.

Because it is a DeMille film, naturally religion is thrown into the mix. I doubt if DeMille was a particularly religious man, as his films often mixed religion with sex, but having a character telling the rich guy that God will take care of him is just the sort of message you'd expect from one of his films. And, like DeMille, the path the guy chooses is a nasty one!

In addition to the religious message, the film also has some very heavy-handed intertitle cards. This wasn't too unusual for the day. However, despite my complaints, I actually did like the film...much more than most DeMille films I've seen. The acting is amazingly restrained, the cinematography very lovely and the film ages much better than many of his other silents.