Mothers Cry (1930) Online

The archetypal creaky early talkie, Mothers Cry stars Dorothy Peterson as the hard put upon mother of four whose bad seed son (Edward Woods) brings ill repute and woe upon the family. Her one note performance is only outdone in ineptitude by Woods, who rolls his eyes and snarls through a mask of heavy pancake makeup and distracting lipstick. In all honesty, he looks like Michael Jackson. The rest of the family is portrayed by David Manners and Helen Chandler (a year away from starring together in Dracula), neither of whom distinguish themselves, and Evelyn Knapp, who delivers the best performance here, though that isn't saying much. Reginald Pasch appears as Knapp's German husband, a decent sort who sounds like he's seen one too many El Brendel pictures. The best thing about Mothers Cry? It's literally the final shot of the film, as Peterson admires the Anton Grot designed handiwork of her architect son (Manners). For very hardcore '30s buffs and masochists only.

This family weepie takes full advantage of the static, austere feel of genre filmmaking in the early sound years. In no way exceptional, even for 1930, "Mother's Cry" and its actors nonetheless do the job, despite some talky speechifying and a particularly tacked-on ending. Edward Woods (not the 50s schlock director, although they share a fondness for heavy eyeliner) plays eldest brother Danny Williams, gangster in the making and prime mover of the plot. With his insane mugging, canned "I'll-say-she-isms" and tight-vested jazzbo suit, he's a regulation foot soldier in the Vitaphone crim army. Woods is better, and better remembered, as sidekick to Jimmy Cagney in "The Public Enemy," made the following year. The family home, where the camera stands as still as the 1900 furniture, offers a bit of subtext for dedicated pre-Coders. Silver-haired Ma Williams clucks and gushes in expected manner over budding architect Artie (beta-male lead David Manners) and baby sister Beattie (the exquisitely fragile Helen Chandler). These two cuddle, kiss and coo in a way not at all appropriate for siblings. Meanwhile, older sister Jennie marries much older Karl, whose only role is to add German (Yiddish?) comedy relief and father cuddly twin babies. Danny's crimes eventually strike closer to home than we expect, as he falls victim to an appalling failure of judgment. Here, near the end, occurs some real heart-tugging drama. The ultimate happy ending isn't worthy of that pre-climax (to give you an idea, it implies Artie has designed the Chrysler Building, which changes appearance three times in one short sequence).