PAINTED FACES (Tiffany-Stahl Studios, 1929), directed by Albert S. Rogell, stars comedian Joe E. Brown in one of his early film roles. Though best known for his comedy works, especially those movies produced for Warner Brothers in the 1930s, for anyone familiar with the Joe E. Brown style, would find PAINTED FACES a disappointment mainly because Brown isn't funny. That's not to say Brown isn't funny in a sense of not really being funny, but actually playing a serious role with no comic touches involved.
Set in New York City's theater district, the story begins with backstage preparations for an upcoming show as stagehands work on props along with actors coming in and about their dressing rooms. Entering the theater are Buddy Barton (Barton Hepburn) and Lola Barnes (Dorothy Gullliver), a song and dance team engaged to be married. On the same ill is Wally Roderick (Lester Cole), a fresh actor who has made advances on Lola. At first Buddy decides to leave the theater, but although Lola convinces him to remain, he tells her if Roderick gets fresh with her again, he will "get him if it's the last thing I'll do." Later that night as Lola is performing on stage, gun shots are heard in the background. A crowd gathers backstage with Buddy standing there holding a gun with Roderick in his dressing room dead on the floor. Though Buddy claims he didn't kill Roderick, he is arrested anyway, put on trial and awaits the jury to deliberate his fate. With the foreman of the jury (Purnell B. Pratt) having the jurors place their deciding votes inside the passing hat, all but one juror writes his "Not Guilty" verdict. The lone juror turns out to be Herman (Joe E. Brown), a circus clown by profession, who feels Barton is innocent because this is a crime nobody saw. Five days pass, with Christmas day fast approaching, the eleven jurors still stand on their decision of guilty, while Herman's decision continues to cause the other jurors to become restless and angry. To abide his decision, Herman gets the jurors to sit down and listen to his story as to why he feels Barton to be innocent. Others in the cast are: Richard Tucker (District Attorney); Mabel Julienne-Scott (Mrs. Warren); with William B. Davidson and Jack Richardson in smaller roles. Songs heard in this photo-play include: "Bashful Baby," "If I Had You" and two reprises of "Somebody Like You."
After getting through the film's first ten minutes with plot development and backstage murder story, one tends to forget Joe E. Brown is actually in this movie. He's finally seen after the trial sequence followed by twelve jurors entering the deliberation room. One of the biggest surprises is not that fact that Brown's not the subject matter on trial for murder, but an accented speaking juror of Dutch background. The only scene pertaining to the Brown comedy style comes when he has the angry jurors smiling and laughing a bit while showing what he does professionally. The "painted faces" title only comes through the flashback sequence with Brown in clown attire and facial painting. While the first half of the story set in the jury room holds great interest, the flashback sequence revealing Herman's background as Beppo the Clown slows its pacing a bit with melodrama and pathos with Herman acting as surrogate father to his deceased friend's daughter, Nancy (Helen Foster). She then returns to him after being away in school to get herself involved with a man Herman feels to be all wrong for her.
PAINTED FACES offers a grand mix of two separate stories in one that would make one immediately think about its two sources involved - a 1923 Broadway play or screen adaptation of POPPY (1936) starring W.C. Fields, to the much later 12 ANGRY MEN (United Artists, 1957), a jury drama starring Henry Fonda. As much as Brown was a well-known comedian in his day, after getting adjusted to his accented speaking character in PAINTED FACES, he shows how convincingly he can be as a serious actor without provoking unintentional laughter by contemporary viewers.
With so many backstage themes hitting theaters in 1929, at least PAINTED FACES offers some originality to hold interest, especially with Joe E. Brown in an offbeat role. For being an independent production by Tiffany-Stahl, PAINTED FACES fortunately has survived. Though sources claim this to be 75 minutes at length, circulating prints available on DVD is five minutes shorter. Regardless of length and weak moments, PAINTED FACES is certainly both a rare treat and interesting film from the early days of "talkies." (** clowns)
