Review of Piccadilly (1929) by Cassandra M — 10 Feb 2011

Piccadilly is just amazing. Right from the start I was instantly impressed with the costumes and settings, obviously being a silent film set in the period it was made, it felt like I was watching a piece of history, like being put in a time machine for a few hours.

The look and feel of the film are worth a ten on their own, to be honest, but in reviewing it, I felt I could only give it a good review if it's other elements, plot, acting etc. were up to scratch, and they were too.

In the few silent films I've seen, the acting has been very "stage acting" over the top and dramatic, so I was expecting to see more hams than I'd see in a butcher, but I got some really great performances, I was really impressed, especially by King Ho Chang who played Jim.

Right, plot summary then, the film is about the Piccadilly Club losing it's main attraction, a dancer named Victor, and discovering his successor in the club's own scullery. What then follows is a typical love triangle plot, between the new dancer, Shosho, the club owner, Valentine and Victor's old dance partner, Mabel.

As simple as the plot sounds, despite being made 77 years ago it manages to not come off clichéd, which is a remarkable achievement. The fact that it is a silent film I think helped it in my eyes. To be honest, if this were made as a "talkie" I think I would have found it harder to like, as the great constant score gave these images a beautiful dreamlike quality and to strip it away for just a few seconds to hear actors speaking dialogue would have certainly destroyed it.

Maybe it was just that Piccadilly was the first really decent silent film I've sat down and paid attention to, maybe it's that I was in the mood for it, or maybe it is just a great film.