PICCADILLY (1929)

This British film from the late silent era is, plotwise, a run-of-the-mill romantic melodrama; it is notable today for two things: the inventive style of German director E.A. Dupont and the performance of Chinese-American actress Anna May Wong. This may have been a career peak for them both: Dupont went on to do mostly B-movies in Hollywood, and Wong's career started on a downward slide three years later after her memorable co-starring role with Marlene Dietrich in SHANGHAI EXPRESS. Wong is third-billed here, but she has the most interesting role. The stars are ostensibly Jameson Thomas, as the owner of the Piccadilly Club, and Gilda Gray, as his dancing star Mabel. The two are carrying on a affair, unbeknownst to her dancing partner, Cyril Ritchard, who has been trying unsuccessfully to woo her. When Ritchard's attentions become overbearing, Thomas fires him, even though he is the stronger draw, and sure enough, business drops. One night, after an irate customer (Charles Laughton in a cameo) complains about a dirty plate, Thomas discovers Wong, a dishwasher, dancing on a table instead of working. He fires her, but finds himself attracted to her, and after a secret "late night audition," he re-hires her to supplement Gray in the floor show. This doesn't sit well with Gray, particularly when she discovers that the two are carrying on behind her back. Another person disturbed by the affair is Jim (King Ho Chang), Wong's lover (she refers to him as her cousin, but it's never made clear if he really is). Things come to a head one night when Gray goes to Wong's apartment with a revolver in her purse. Wong indeed winds up dead, but was the killer Gray? Or Chang? Or maybe Ritchard has come back in the picture?

The opening credits are presented as posters on the sides of double-decker buses, and the movie is filled with creative, fluid cinematography; the camera is constantly winding through the crowds at the club, swinging up and back from the dancers, and surprising us with shots from interesting angles. Wong gives the best performance, though her dancing leaves something to be desired. The relationship between Wong and Chang is unusual; at first, I thought he was coded as gay because, when Thomas and Wong go to a costume shop to find a dancing outfit for the show, Wong makes Chang put it on. We are told they are cousins, though later we assume they are lovers, although even that is not made crystal clear. I enjoyed seeing stage actor Ritchard in one of his rare movie appearances--he is best known for playing Captain Hook in the Mary Martin "Peter Pan." The DVD from Milestone has been restored fairly well, but the new score is irritating; it doesn't sound contemporary to the time of the film, and though it has some nice melodies, they are used too often and sometimes with little regard for the mood of a scene. There is also a strange, static little prologue, shot in sound and presented as an extra, which adds nothing to the story. An interesting if predictable film which should be seen for its unique style. [DVD]