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Lonesome (1928)
In Hungarian-born director Pal Fejos' silent film (a
part-talkie actually) - a heart-warming, sentimental romantic melodrama
with a bit of sound (a few dialogue scenes featured synchronized
sound), and some innovative effects for the time (three color tinting,
superimposition and double-exposure effects, ie, the Roman numerals
of an enclosing clock around the female character, experimental editing,
and a roving kinetic camera):
- the opening - shots of the hustle-bustle of New
York City, with the title card's statement: "In the whirlpool
of modern life -- The most difficult thing is to live alone"
- the characters of two average, desperately-lonely
singles in NYC, who lived in tiny apartments: metal factory worker
Jim (Glenn Tryon) and switchboard operator Mary (Barbara Kent); there
were contrasting similarities and parallels between their two work-days
(and lives), and unbeknowst to them, they lived next-door to each
other
Jim with Mary at the Coney Island Beach
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- they casually met on a Fourth of July weekend trip
to Coney Island where the two fell in love (during typical activities
including a fortune teller, the beach, a photograph booth, a ball-tossing
carnival game, a spinning wheel, a fun-house mirror, fireworks,
and a roller coaster ride)
- their dilemma - they became separated during a thunderstorm
and only knew each other's first names!
- the key to finding each other was in the surprise
ending -- a 78 rpm spinning phonograph record of Irving Berlin's
1925 hit song Always, played in Jim's small apartment, with
the lyrics: "That's when I'll be there, always" (on the
soundtrack); it was the tune that he and Mary had danced to in the
Coney Island dance hall; the song was heard by Mary in her next door
apartment, who pounded on the wall in distress - Jim realized when
he entered her place that she was his next door neighbor!
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Record Label
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Listening Through Wall to Song: Always
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Reunited
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The Hustle-Bustle on the Streets of NYC
Mary (Barbara Kent)
Jim (Glenn Tryon)
4th of July - Coney Island
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