Chicago (1927)*** (out of 4) The first screen adaptation of the Broadway hit has Phyllis Haver playing Roxie Hart, a morally questionable young woman who murders her lover (Eugene Palette) in cold blood when he says he's leaving her. Her husband (Victor Varconi) must try and raise money to hire a lawyer (Robert Edeson) but even he is quite crooked and things don't get any easier once the trial becomes a media sensation. CHICAGO was turned into an Oscar-winning musical in 2002 and Ginger Rogers played the role in a 1944 film (ROXIE HART) but this silent version has been pretty difficult to see up until a few years ago when UCLA restored it. There was a lot of hype going into this movie because so many people have talked it up to be something terrific and while it really didn't reach that level, it's still a pretty entertaining little movie. Frank Urson does a nice job directing the film and I really enjoyed that free-spirited, Jazz-like feeling he brings to the movie. There are some very strong moments including the opening murder sequence, which I've read was extended here compared to what was on the stage at the time. The way the murder scene breaks down was quite interesting visually and the way they show the murder was pretty ambitious. Another terrific sequence happens when Roxie enters the jail and is introduced to the various characters in there. May Robson plays one of the women and does a nice job but the cat-fight that breaks out between Roxie and another woman was very well done and quite a lot of fun. Then, there's some nice drama as the husband is forced to do some crooked things just to protect the wife who was cheating on him. The entire cast does a nice job but there's no doubt that the picture belongs to Haver. She's perfect as the freewheeling girl and I really loved the breezy nature she brought to the character. I thought the way she just floated on screen really brought the character to life and just look at the way she brings out that flirtatious nature. Edeson is just fine as the crooked lawyer and Varconi really stands out as the husband. Palette would become a very well-known character actor and it was a lot of fun seeing him in this early bit. CHICAGO does have a few problems with one of them being that it runs a tad bit too long. I think a few of the scenes just run on and on and a little bit of editing would have helped. Producer Cecil B. DeMille's stamp is all over the picture but at the same time I can't help but wonder what he might have done with the subject matter.

I read the Maureen Watkins play after seeing "Chicago" (2002) and "Roxie Hart" (1941). I was definitely looking forward to seeing this long lost 1927 version. While, I did enjoy many things, there were also some disappointments.The good things are the little comic bits that are added which the play and other two movies do not have. These include Roxie putting black stockings on her door to pretend that someone inside has died to trick a repo-man and putting her husband's tie around her neck to show what the hangman's noose will look like. The rehearsal of her "looks" before the jury is hilarious, so are the three gum chewing young women spellbound by the trial as if watching a movie. These little bits really brighten the movie.Unfortunately, probably because conservative, religious nut Cecil B. DeMille was the producer, the sharp satire of the play and the two other movies is sharply curtailed. What we get instead is a quite melodramatic subplot which takes up almost one quarter of the film. It involves the husband and his stealing money from the lawyer Flynn and his relationship with a housekeeper. This subplot is dull and undercuts the sense of sexiness and gallows humor that the play and the other movies thrive on.While a good film and certainly worth seeing, it doesn't match the greatness of the later films or earlier play. The DVD does have some nice extras, including a well done documentary short looking at the real trial, Maureen Watkins original newspaper articles, a 1950 documentary on the 1920's and "The Flapper Story" a delightful 1985 documentary.

Phyllis Haver stars here as Roxie Hart in a story based on a hit Broadway play from 1927. Just about everyone is familiar with the story. Roxie plugs her lover and tries to pin it on her sap of a husband Amos. But while in jail she becomes a tabloid queen, especially after lawyer Billy Flynn enters the picture. He's an expert on law and headlines, especially after he gets his $5,000.Haver, who looks a lot like Laura La Plante here) is terrific as the hard-boiled Roxie as she learns the ropes in prison and in the court room. Haver never misses a comic or ironic beat. Victor Varconi plays the hapless Amos, but he has a whole subplot here that's not in the famous musical versions of this play. Billy is played by Robert Edeson, the matron is played by May Robson, and Casley is played by Eugene Palette. There is no Velma Kelly in this story but Roxie's rival in prison, who is unnamed, is played by Julia Faye.The film was produced by Cecil B. DeMille and although Frank Urson gets credit for direction, many think the film was directed by DeMille.This new DVD release by Flicker Alley is a gorgeous print with solid music by the Mont Alto Orchestra. The sound effects are amusing.

I really liked this film, viewed from the UCLA print. Phyllis Haver, now all but forgotten, shines as Roxie Hart, a good time girl who despises her husband and seeks sugar daddies for fun. As soon as you see her pretending to sleep, having discarded her garter with bells attached, you know she's trouble.So Roxie kills, and goes to jail, and because she's blonde and pretty, she's taken up by the media in this wild world of flappers and jazz. Those familiar with the musical film with Renee Zellweger and Catherine Zeta-Jones will be wondering 'where's Velma?' but that character isn't in the forefront at all. This film is all about Roxie, and, more than the musical version, to some extent about her cuckolded husband Amos. Here we see his point of view on several occasions, and even follow him in scenes where Roxie doesn't appear. Victor Varconi puts in a lovely performance as Amos in this film.Haver might dominate the proceedings, and lights up what is already a fast-moving and effective bit of jazz fluff, but there's a good, if brief performance from Eugene Palette as well. As Casely he is very watchable indeed.As this was a late silent, the acting styles are mainly naturalistic, and the fact that it does not have sound, only titles, doesn't matter a bit when it comes to following the story. Miss Haver acts her heart out anyway and you can feel her contempt, her fear, her desperation, just as you would if you could hear it.A superior film, and one which occasionally makes it out for public showings. A great pity it isn't on DVD as it is extremely enjoyable and deserves a wider potential audience.