Lady of the Pavements

LADY OF THE PAVEMENTS is not only DW Griffith's last silent film, it's among the last of his work in general. It is generally believed that Griffith lost his touch by the mid-1920s, but that's far from the case here. While the movie often seems more like a typical 1920s MGM product than the usual Griffith melodrama, it does have a few of his usual tropes: the innocent but spunky young woman, the (rather bland) male love interest, and a touch of social satire regarding the hypocrisy of the upper classes. Griffith's direction is superb, utilizing a series of creative tracking shots during one early sequence with William Boyd visiting Jetta Goudal's apartment. (Speaking of Goudal, she makes a great villain, absolutely hiss-worthy yet fabulous in her many elaborate gowns.)

The shining star of the effort is Lupe Velez, who plays an innocent young singer duped into a Pygmalion-style plot to pass her off as a noblewoman. This performance could have easily gone sour with a lesser performer: Velez is called upon to do the usual "hippity skippity" antics Griffith loved to see in his leading ladies, but she has such verve and charm that she manages to pull it off without becoming too irritating. It saddens me greatly that the discs for the sound sequences no longer exist-- I would have loved to hear her singing especially. As it is, we're lucky to have this little movie in the version we have at all. It's a charming fairy tale in the end and well worth the time of any silent film geek.