MikeMagi "West of Broadway" is a fascinating movie for film buffs, an opportunity to watch two stars, John Gilbert and Lois Moran, who would soon vanish from the screen for totally different reasons. John Gilbert made "West of Broadway" after plummeting from silent screen stardom via a series of embarrassingly bad "talkies." The myth that it was Gilbert's high, squeaky voice that wrecked his career is palpably untrue. He had a rich, robust voice which he put to good use both in this picture and his dual role as a Houdini-like magician and a malevolent marquis in his other good "talkie," "The Phantom of Paris." But he couldn't overcome the hatred of Louis B. Mayer whom he openly ridiculed, a growing taste for booze and a heart condition -- and he died of cardiac arrest at the age of 39. Had he lived, he almost certainly would have found a second shot at stardom as a character actor. His co-star, Lois Moran, was also a silent screen player who'd made the transition to sound -- and made it splendidly. She was blithe, funny, winsome and charismatic. But she fell in love, married aviation pioneer Clarence M. Young, the assistant Secretary of Commerce under presidents Hoover and FDR, and "West of Broadway" was her last screen appearance for nearly 25 years. Otherwise, there's every likelihood that she'd have enjoyed a lusty career in screwball comedy. As for "West of Broadway," it centers on a wealthy young war hero who comes home, gets jilted, gets drunk, marries the first girl he meets and escapes to his ranch out west. That's where she shows up, smitten with him. Sure,the plot is pitted with potholes, but somehow Gilbert and Moran manage to make it remarkably entertaining and more than just a chapter in motion picture lore.

lshelhamer This picture features John Gilbert who appears to have suffered Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from WWI, and then marries Lois Moran on the rebound while drunk. She then pursues him across the US to prove she really loves him. El Brendel, "Swedish", not Hispanic as you might suppose from the name, is featured as ethnic comic relief. Perhaps more interesting for latter day viewers is the question of what was so charismatic about John Gilbert to silent screen audiences. While his acting (and voice) is adequate, it's certainly not outstanding, and while handsome, his appearance is leading-man ordinary (does anyone else think his nose is too big when seen in profile?).

drednm You get the feeling this might have been a bigger picture. The tacked on ending ruins the preceding hour, which showcases John Gilbert, the great romantic idol of silent films. Certainly one of the most controversial figures of the dawn of talkies. Gilbert's great career crashed fast and fatally. His voice was fine, and he was a terrific actor. But he was never able to recover from the debacle of his starring talkie debut in His Glorious Night. Despite terrific performances in Downstairs and Queen Christina (with Greta Garbo) Gilbert made no headway as the 30s moved along. Several of his talkies were downright awful, but West of Broadway isn't bad at all despite the hacked up ending. Gilbert plays a cad who gets married to a woman because his fiancée jilts him. He then spends the rest of the movie trying to unload her. Lois Moran is quite good as the unwanted wife; Madge Evans is the snooty fiancée. El Brendel (playing his usual fake Swede) and Willie Fung as the Arizona houseboy have a funny scene trying to understand each other. Hedda Hopper, Ralph Bellamy, and Frank Conroy co-star. Gilbert was married to stage actress Ina Claire, who happened to be my grandfather's cousin, so I've always felt a connection to John Gilbert. What a tragedy. He should have been as big a star in talkies as he was in silent films.

Arthur Hausner I'm always leery about a plot that begins with a drunk marrying a girl for almost no reason, only to find out the next day what a mistake it was. And the plot gets worse as people seem to behave without reason. I couldn't believe a minute of the film. (Preview audiences laughed at the goings on.) Still, it is a good film to watch if only to dispel any myths about Gilbert's voice being the cause of his demise as a star in the sound era. His voice is not high-pitched or squeaky (which I had heard) but is rather strong, low-pitched and quite good. You could see he still was an excellent actor. Beautiful Lois Moran was excellent as Gilbert's co-star; I wondered why she virtually quit making movies after 1931. There was one comedy scene I liked, with El Brendel and Willie Fung speaking their broken English and trying to understand each other. Otherwise, even the comedy relief, mostly supplied by El Brendel, was pretty bad.