![]() Worse than the worst would-be thriller meller staged on Broadway and impressing as a pointless souffle burlesquing them all" concluding that the film was "a one hundred percent lemon." įilm critic and historian Troy Howarth, declared that "If the film is any indication of Barrymore's overall directing talent, it's no surprise that he eventually returned his focus exclusively to acting." and found the film "painfully creaky and melodramatic.unfolding in painfully static medium and long shots". In contrast, Variety declared the film "a hopelessly involved script handled by Lionel Barrymroe in a way that would discredit a quickie director. You will never guess the real murderer until the denouement" and praised the performances of Dorothy Sebastian. Roland Young and Dorothy Sebastian are great." A review in Movie Age noted that "we have seen this on previous occasions in various forms as far as plot is concerned but treatment and direction lifts it out of the rut." A reviewer from Film Daily found that "the story has been done before in various forms" but that Ben Hecht's "masterly story telling style made it appear better than the theme and plot really are." New Movie Magazine stated that the film was "a bully mystery melodrama and the best of months. ![]() Reception Contemporary reviews įrom contemporary reviews, Photoplay declared the film a "Swell mystery story, artistically directed by Lionel Barrymore. It was Feyder's first sound film, and the first French-language film ever made in Hollywood as well. Dorothy Farnum and Yves Mirande adapted the screenplay. This French-language version was never released in the US. īarrymore co-directed (with French director Jacques Feyder) a French-language version of the film called Le Spectre Vert ( The Green Ghost) which was released in France. The Unholy Night was distributed theatrically by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Distributing Corp. Lionel Barrymore took over as director, which would be his second sound film as a director. It has not been determined if any of Julian's work was retained in the released film. Īn article in Motion Picture News, Julian voluntarily withdrew from the production stating he was not comfortable directing a sound film, and wanted to earn more experience with shorts first. ![]() The films intertitles were by Joe Farnum. The film's screenplay was written by Edwin Justus Mayer and adapted by Dorothy Farnum based on the short story The Green Ghost by Ben Hecht. Initially, Rupert Julian was signed to direct the film as his first 100% dialogue feature. Boris Karloff as Abdul, the lawyer (uncredited) Īccording to Exhibitors Herald-World published on April 20, 1929, the film began production under the working title The Green Ghost on 1 March 1929.Natalie Moorhead as Lady Violet 'Vi' Montague.Dorothy Sebastian as Lady Efra Cavender.
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