Walking Back

Last updated

Walking Back
Walking Back lobby card.jpg
Lobby card
Directed by Rupert Julian
Cecil B. DeMille (uncredited)
Written by Monte M. Katterjohn
Based on"A Ride in the Country"
by George Kibbe Turner
Starring Sue Carol
Cinematography John J. Mescall
Edited byRupert Julian
Distributed by Pathé Exchange
Release date
  • May 21, 1928 (1928-05-21)
Running time
62 minutes
CountryUnited States
Language Silent (English intertitles)

Walking Back is a 1928 American silent drama film directed by Rupert Julian [1] and an uncredited Cecil B. DeMille. [2] Prints of the film exist. [3]

Contents

Plot

A young jazz hound, "Smoke" Thatcher (Richard Walling), is failing his academic studies due to his fondness for partying and liquor. His foremost concern is to convince his pragmatic father (Robert Edeson) to allow him to use the family car so he can accompany bob-haired flapper Patsy Schuyler (Sue Carol) to a ritzy party.

His father refuses to loan Smoke the car and chides him for lacking proper respect for authority, but his speech is interrupted by the maid announcing the arrival of the dad's private bootlegger. Undaunted, an enterprising Smoke steals the neighbor's car and drives to Patsy's house. He arrives too late. Patsy has already gone to the party with Smoke's arch-nemesis Pet Masters (Arthur Rankin). Smoke nonetheless proceeds alone to the party and intrudes upon inebriated couples dancing the Charleston. Jealous and possessive, Smoke causes an ugly scene. Smoke convinces Patsy to leave with him, and they walk to the parking lot. While attempting to leave with Patsy in the stolen car, Smoke becomes engaged in an automobile battle against Masters which ends with the near ruin of both vehicles.

Smoke and Patsy drive the neighbor's wrecked car to a nearby garage. To pay for the considerable repairs, Smoke naively agrees to act as a chauffeur for several men on a routine trip. However, their trip is revealed to be a bank holdup, and Smoke's father is shot by the robbers. A remorseful Smoke foils the bank robbers by crashing their vehicle through a police station window and then confesses to his misdeeds.

Cast

Critical reception

The New York Times observed that the film is "about that younger [Jazz Age] generation whose status was originally promulgated by Scott Fitzgerald." [4] The paper further observed that the film "is no worse than the general average of those dealing with wine, automobiles and the biological gropings of persons under the age of 24. As a matter of fact, it is a little better. Miss Carol, as Patsy, is pretty, and Mr. Walling, as Smoke, looks as though if he had the right opportunity to be intelligent, he might fool everyone." [4]

Sidne Silverman wrote in Variety that the film captured the era's "jazz mad world" and was likely intended by Pathé Exchange to catapult Sue Carol's nascent career and to make her the new "It" Girl à la Clara Bow. [5] Silverman asserted that the film's best sequence "is an auto duel between two youths over who is going to take the girl home. Youngsters start bumping and chasing each other around the yard until both cars are practically demolished." [5]

Film Daily described Walking Back as a "drama of modern youth" and as "fair entertainment of youth and jazz made for the flapper and college vote." [6] The newspaper noted that "they were making [this subgenre of film] two years ago along the same pattern" and, consequently, "nothing new has been added, but there is a certain freshness in the work of Sue Carol and especially Richard Walling that makes it fairly entertaining." [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Edeson</span> American actor (1868–1931)

Robert Edeson was an American film and stage actor of the silent era and a vaudeville performer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virginia Lee Corbin</span> American actress (1910–1942)

Virginia Lee Corbin was an American silent film actress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Mulhall</span> American actor

John Joseph Francis Mulhall was an American film actor beginning in the silent film era who successfully transitioned to sound films, appearing in over 430 films in a career spanning 50 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Worthington (actor)</span> American actor (1872–1941)

William Worthington was an American silent film actor and director.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dell Henderson</span> Canadian-American actor, director, and writer (1877–1956)

George Delbert "Dell" Henderson was a Canadian-American actor, director, and writer. He began his long and prolific film career in the early days of silent film.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barbara Bedford (actress)</span> American actress (1903–1981)

Barbara Bedford was an American actress who appeared in dozens of silent movies. Her career declined after the introduction of sound, but she continued to appear in small roles until 1945.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albert Conti</span> Austrian-American actor (1887–1967)

Albert Maroica Blasius Franz Maria,RitterConti von Cedassamare, commonly known as Albert Conti, was an Austrian-American actor. He was a member of the noble Kaboga family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louise Carver</span> American actress (1869–1956)

Louise Carver was an American actress who performed in grand opera, stage, nickelodeon, and motion pictures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lon Poff</span> American actor (1870–1952)

Alonzo M. "Lon" Poff was an American film actor who appeared in almost 100 films between 1917 and 1951.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dot Farley</span> American actress (1881–1971)

Dorothea "Dot" Farley was an American film actress who appeared in 280 motion pictures from 1910 to 1950. She was also known as Dorothy Farley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Claire McDowell</span> American actress (1877–1966)

Claire McDowell was an American actress of the silent era. She appeared in 350 films between 1908 and 1945.

<i>Wine of Youth</i> 1924 film

Wine of Youth is a 1924 American silent comedy drama film directed by King Vidor, and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, shortly after the merger which created MGM in April 1924. Vidor did not consider it important enough to mention in his autobiography, although it did advance the careers of three young stars-to-be: Ben Lyon, Eleanor Boardman, and William Haines.

<i>Million Dollar Kid</i> 1944 film by Wallace Fox

Million Dollar Kid is a 1944 American film directed by Wallace Fox starring the East Side Kids.

<i>Sally of the Sawdust</i> 1925 film

Sally of the Sawdust is a 1925 American silent comedy film directed by D. W. Griffith and starring W. C. Fields. It was based on the 1923 stage musical Poppy. Fields would later star in a second film version, Poppy (1936).

<i>The Caveman</i> (1926 film) 1926 film

The Caveman, also styled as The Cave Man, is a 1926 American silent comedy film produced and distributed by Warner Bros. Lewis Milestone directed the Darryl Zanuck scripted story taken from the play The Cave Man by Gelett Burgess. Matt Moore, Marie Prevost, and Hedda Hopper star. A small role is played by a young Myrna Loy, who was just starting out in her long career.

<i>The Perfect Flapper</i> 1924 film by John Francis Dillon

The Perfect Flapper is a 1924 American romantic comedy film directed by Earl Hudson and starring Colleen Moore. This was Moore's second "flapper film" after Flaming Youth. It was released after Through the Dark and Painted People.

<i>Broken Laws</i> 1924 film by Roy William Neill

Broken Laws is a 1924 American silent drama film directed by Roy William Neill, remarkable for the appearance of Dorothy Davenport, who is billed as "Mrs. Wallace Reid".

<i>Ridin on a Rainbow</i> 1941 film by Lew Landers

Ridin' on a Rainbow is a 1941 American western musical film directed by Lew Landers and starring Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette and Mary Lee. Written by Bradford Ropes and Doris Malloy, based on a story by Ropes, the film is about a singing cowboy whose investigation of a bank robbery takes him to a showboat, where he finds that a teenage singer's father has been working with the robbers to provide for her future. The film received an Academy Award nomination for best original song for "Be Honest with Me".

<i>His Mothers Boy</i> 1917 American film

His Mother's Boy is a 1917 American silent drama film directed by Victor Schertzinger and written by Ella Stuart Carson. The film stars Charles Ray, Doris May, William Elmer, Josef Swickard, Jerome Storm, and Gertrude Claire. It is based on the short story "Where Life is Marked Down" by Rupert Hughes. The film was released on December 24, 1917, by Paramount Pictures.

George Washington Cohen is a 1928 American silent comedy drama film directed by George Archainbaud and starring George Jessel, Robert Edeson and Corliss Palmer. It was based on a vaudeville sketch The Cherry Tree by Aaron Hoffman. It was produced and released by Tiffany Pictures during John M. Stahl's period as head of production for the studio. survives in Cinematheque Francais.

References

  1. ↑ Bennett, Carl. "Progressive Silent Film List: Walking Back". Silent Era. Retrieved December 13, 2008.
  2. ↑ "Detail view of Movies Page". American Film Institute (AFI). Retrieved September 16, 2017.
  3. ↑ "Walking Back". American Silent Feature Film Survival Database. Retrieved January 10, 2014.
  4. 1 2 Hall, Mordaunt (June 12, 1928). "'Walking Back' Up-to-Date; Picture Revolves Around a Young Couple, Bandits and Autos". The New York Times . p. 33. Retrieved October 14, 2019.
  5. 1 2 Silverman, Sidne (June 13, 1928). "Walking Back". Variety . p. 13. Retrieved October 14, 2019.
  6. 1 2 "Walking Back". Film Daily . June 17, 1928. p. 3. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.