Starring Jean Hersholt, Phyllis Haver and Belle Bennett
Produced by Feature Productions
Businessman William Judson has done it again.
Splashed across the front page of the newspaper is his latest real estate deal, celebrating both the man and the sizable check he has coming. His barber is suitably impressed as Judson arrives for his latest trim.
Unfortunately for Judson, the barber's not the only one taking note. Gold digger Marie is sitting one chair over from the tycoon and begins hatching a scheme. Working with her boyfriend Babe Winsor, Marie conspires to move into Judson's apartment building and seduce the man, taking him for all he's worth.
Her task will not be easy. William is happily married and dotes over two teenage children. That's not to say Marie has no hope. As she's plotting a scheme to lure the target into her apartment as he passes by, she spies a mouse and shrieks. The brave Judson bursts in to investigate, which is all it takes for Marie to sink her claws into him.
Soon, the husband and father is "working late" every night. Life in the Judson abode is becoming strained. The family matriarch takes the kids out to the new club where they run into the cheating couple. Mr. Judson moves out, his wife contemplates suicide and his daughter is desperate.
Can the girl bring her family back together again? And will it take a... (*dramatic pause*) murder?
The Battle of the Sexes is one of the final films from D.W. Griffith, a true film pioneer whose work changed the way movies were made. The Birth of a Nation. Intolerance. Broken Blossoms. The man literally created the language of cinema and we still see his influence on the big screen today.
He also seemed to lose his mojo in the 1920s. Way Down East. America. Sally of the Sawdust. None of them are terrible, but they certainly seem a far cry from the ambition of his earlier work.
So where does The Battle of the Sexes fall?
Sadly, it's right down the middle. It's an okay film, but certainly not great or even good. Thought there are aspects of the old Griffith that peek through.
More than any other director of the silent era, Griffith told stories with strong women characters. It takes a while to get going here, but when Judson's daughter Ruth finally emerges as our plucky heroine, she becomes the center of the story. She's desperate to save her mother and bring back her father from his "sickness."
Even if that means killing the mistress.
Of course, when the moment comes and the gun is in her hand, she cannot pull the trigger. She needs to act, but she's still a good person. And her father's despicable actions cannot drive that out of her.
When it's Ruth's story, I like the film a lot. Sadly, there's a lot of the tale that is William Judson and Marie's alone and that is where the cracks show. There are pacing issues. One minute, the father has provided his wife a thoughtful gift, looking into her eyes to see the reaction as she opens it. The next scene, he's falling for Marie. There's no build to it. We do not see a reason why he falls for her. It just happens.
There are tonal problems as well. Sometimes, the film does blend its comedy and pathos well, like when William buys a fat burning machine that provides us both a humorous and a pathetic image. However, the last act of the movie wants to have a zaniness to it that is impossible when the emotions of Ruth are at the center of the situation and there's an attempted suicide hovering over the scene.
As to the acting, Sally O'Neil's Ruth was the only standout. She a bit too cloyingly naive at the beginning, but her confusion and sadness upon seeing her father at the club are perfect. So too are her panic as she prevents her mother's suicide and her turmoil when the moment comes to off Marie. The rest of the actors here are fine in their roles.
Which is a good way to leave The Battle of the Sexes. It's not bad. It's not good. It's fine. You won't mind watching it, but you won't remember it in a year or even a month. And if that sounds like damning with faint praise? Well, it is.
**1/2 out of *****
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