West of Zanzibar (1928 film): Difference between revisions
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==Reception== |
==Reception== |
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The motion picture trade journal ''[[Harrison's Reports]]'' warned its readers: "If you run ''West of Zanzibar'', you will run it at the peril of alienating many of your regular customers. What mother will allow her young daughter to set foot into your theatre again?.... The stupidity of producers seems to be unbounded. They know that 95 per cent of the people of the United States do not want such trash as they have been putting out. And yet they insist on putting it out....How any normal person could have thought this horrible syphilitic play could have made an entertaining picture, even with Lon Chaney, who appears in gruesome and repulsive stories, is beyond comprehension. Demand that it be taken off your contract!"<ref name=SFSFF>{{cite web |url=http://www.silentfilm.org/archive/west-of-zanzibar-1928 |title=West of Zanzibar (1928) |author=Brian Darr |publisher=[[San Francisco Silent Film Festival]]}}</ref> Despite this, the film proved to be a success, both domestically and internationally, although it had censorship problems in the British colony of [[Tanganyika (territory)|Tanganyika]] for its portrayal of Africans. |
The motion picture trade journal ''[[Harrison's Reports]]'' warned its readers: "If you run ''West of Zanzibar'', you will run it at the peril of alienating many of your regular customers. What mother will allow her young daughter to set foot into your theatre again?.... The stupidity of producers seems to be unbounded. They know that 95 per cent of the people of the United States do not want such trash as they have been putting out. And yet they insist on putting it out....How any normal person could have thought this horrible syphilitic play could have made an entertaining picture, even with Lon Chaney, who appears in gruesome and repulsive stories, is beyond comprehension. Demand that it be taken off your contract!"<ref name=SFSFF>{{cite web |url=http://www.silentfilm.org/archive/west-of-zanzibar-1928 |title=West of Zanzibar (1928) |author=Brian Darr |publisher=[[San Francisco Silent Film Festival]]}}</ref> Despite this, the film proved to be a success, both domestically and internationally, although it had censorship problems in the British colony of [[Tanganyika (territory)|Tanganyika]] for its portrayal of Africans. |
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After the film's premiere, the trade journal ''[[Motion Picture News]]'' advised: "If you do not have a Standing Room Only sign in your theatre, you had better order one immediately before playing this picture."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.silentfilm.org/archive/west-of-zanzibar |title=West of Zanzibar |author=Dennis Harvey |publisher=San Francisco Silent Film Festival}}</ref> |
After the film's premiere, the trade journal ''[[Motion Picture News]]'' advised: "If you do not have a Standing Room Only sign in your theatre, you had better order one immediately before playing this picture."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.silentfilm.org/archive/west-of-zanzibar |title=West of Zanzibar |author=Dennis Harvey |publisher=San Francisco Silent Film Festival}}</ref> |
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Revision as of 21:09, 14 July 2022
| West of Zanzibar | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Tod Browning Harry Sharrock (A.D.) |
| Written by | Elliott J. Clawson (screenplay) Joseph Farnham (intertitles) |
| Produced by | Irving G. Thalberg |
| Starring | Lon Chaney Lionel Barrymore Mary Nolan Warner Baxter Kalla Pasha |
| Cinematography | Percy Hilburn |
| Edited by | Harry Reynolds |
| Distributed by | MGM Jury-Metro-Goldwyn (England) |
Release date |
|
Running time | 65 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | Silent film (English intertitles) |
West of Zanzibar is a 1928 American silent film directed by Tod Browning. The screenplay concerns a vengeful stage magician named Phroso (Lon Chaney) who becomes paralyzed in a brawl with a rival (Lionel Barrymore). The supporting cast includes Mary Nolan and Warner Baxter. The screenplay was written by Elliott Clawson, based on a play named Kongo by Charles de Vonde and Kilbourn Gordon.[1] Walter Huston starred in the stage play and later played Phroso again in the 1932 sound film remake of the same story which was also called Kongo.
The Hays office, the official Hollywood censor, banned the stage play "Kongo" from the screen, so to bypass the ruling, MGM changed the title first to SOUTH OF THE EQUATOR, then finally to WEST OF ZANZIBAR. Owen Moore was originally set to play Doc, but the role went to Warner Baxter instead. Cedric Gibbons and Richard Day designed the sets, and David Cox handled the costumes.[2]
West of Zanzibar is intriguing to Lon Chaney fans because of the lost or excised sequences that Browning allegedly shot for the film that no longer exist; in particular, Phroso (Chaney) in costume as The Human Duck in a freak show act and scenes showing Phroso and his troupe when they first arrive in Africa. Stills of Chaney in the duck costume exist, but it is unclear whether the scene was actually shot, or merely planned and publicity stills were taken.
The film was in production from June 25, 1928 to July 31, 1928, and cost $249,000 to produce. Its worldwide box office gross was $921,000. The film was released both silent and with sound effects and a synchronized music score.
Film historian Jon C. Mirsalis wrote that Waldemar Young was involved in writing the screenplay (but no other sources mention him) and that the film was released on December 28, 1928 instead of November 24th. Stills exist showing Chaney as the crippled Phroso[3] [4][5]..
The film is today readily available on DVD. MGM Home Video released it with the synchronized music score on laser disc in 1993. The film also turns up frequently on the Turner Classics Movies cable TV channel and on PBS stations. Print exists in the George Eastman Museum film archive [35mm positive][6]Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page). Despite this, the film proved to be a success, both domestically and internationally, although it had censorship problems in the British colony of Tanganyika for its portrayal of Africans.
After the film's premiere, the trade journal Motion Picture News advised: "If you do not have a Standing Room Only sign in your theatre, you had better order one immediately before playing this picture."[7]
"Lon Chaney has gone cripple again for the sake of the public, but not for art's sake.....it seems a great pity that such a good actor should indulge in charlatan tricks." ---Photoplay
"Lon Chaney is back at his old gruesome habits. This time he's a thing that crawls, dragging himself around on the palms of his hands with his useless legs behind him. And very convincing too...This is a mad, weird grotesque and completely nutty melodrama."---Motion Picture Magazine
"With Lon Chaney in the principal role the picture is certain to be a box office drawing card, but there is nothing about the film itself that will cause anyone to go out and rave about it." ---Motion Picture News
"WEST OF ZANZIBAR indicates an over-worked Chaney. The star is there, but the rush of getting his quota on the release schedule is taking its toll in the most important phase of production--preparation. In this respect Chaney's latest impresses as having exhausted the property men and the casting director and allowing Tod Browning to follow religiously one of those cuff scripts...Musical score is regular. Attempts at sound effects are worse, the chanting of savages reproducing like a college boy chorus." ---Variety[8]
"In a grim, ingenious, but somewhat artificial tale, with a background of an African swamp festooned with cannibals, Lon Chaney once again returns to the impersonation of a cripple...It is a well concocted narrative and Mr. Chaney gives one of his most able and effective portrayals as he drags himself through scene after scene without using his legs." ---New York Times
In a much more recent review, Dennis Schwartz described it as a "strangely curious relic", but praised the "virtuoso performance of Chaney".[9]
References
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
SFSFFwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ http://lonchaney.org/filmography/153.html
- ^ http://lonchaney.org/filmography/153.html
- ^ https://silentera.com/PSFL/data/enwiki/w/WestOfZanzibar1928.html
- ^ http://lonchaney.org/photos/a_west_of_zanzibar.jpg
- ^ https://silentera.com/PSFL/data/enwiki/w/WestOfZanzibar1928.html
- ^ Dennis Harvey. "West of Zanzibar". San Francisco Silent Film Festival.
- ^ http://lonchaney.org/filmography/153.html
- ^ Dennis Schwartz. "West of Zanzibar". Ozus' World Movie Reviews.
External links
- 1928 films
- 1928 drama films
- Silent American drama films
- American silent feature films
- American black-and-white films
- 1920s English-language films
- Films about magic and magicians
- American films about revenge
- American films based on plays
- Films directed by Tod Browning
- Films set in Tanzania
- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films