THE VALIANT (Fox Films, 1929), directed by William K. Howard, marked the movie debut of stage actor, Paul Muni. While many might claim his movie career began with either 1932 successes of SCARFACE (United Artists) and I AM A FUGITIVE FROM A CHAIN GANG (Warner Brothers), this is actually where the legend of Paul Muni began. Long before assuming many faces for biographical roles of Louis Pasteur, Emile Zola and Benito Juarez, he assumed his actual face as his movie introduction. Adapted from the stage play by Holworthy Hall, Muni's first screen performance was to be a man behind bars, yet, a screen test before doing one better in the Chain Gang movie three years later that has made his name better known throughout the years.
A full-fledged talkie, the opening credits features an organ underscore that would make one believe this to be either a silent or part- talking production. After its cast introduction and opening title card reading, "A city street - where laughter and tragedy rob elbows," it becomes apparent this to be a full-length talkie while hearing noises of cars and children playing on the streets in the tenement area of 191 East 8th Street in New York City. Then suddenly, a gun shot is heard. A shadow of a man (Paul Muni) comes out, and later enters a police station to confess his crime. He tells the desk officer that he's not sorry for what he did and that the man he killed, John Harris, deserved to die. Unable to remember his own name, the killer identifies himself as James Dyke. Taken to trial for murder, the jury finds him guilty and the judge (Henry Kolker) gives him the death sentence. While in prison, Mrs. Douglas (Edith Yorke), an elderly woman from Pennington, Ohio, reads an article about this man. After seeing his photograph, she believes him to be her son she hasn't seen since he enlisted in the war some in 15 years ago. Wanting to meet with this prisoner before his execution, her daughter, Mary (Marguerite Churchhill), finding her mother unable to take an extensive trip, agrees to take the train ride over to the prison to visit with the mystery man who might or might not be her older brother. Accompanied by her fiancé, Robert Ward (John Mack Brown), Mary visits with the prisoner at great length, only to learn more than she realized. Others in the cast include Richard Carlyle (The Prison Chaplain); and DeWitt Jennings (The Warden).
While THE VALIANT starts off with the impression of a 1932 melodrama than 1929 early talkie, it reveals its stage origins most during its 17 minute long one-on-one talk between Muni and Churchill, a scene that's a sure mix of interest or boredom, especially without any mood music. As much as Muni gives a satisfying performance, as always, Churchill seems a bit wooden through her acting methods in certain areas of the plot. It can be forgiven since this, too, was her movie debut, and possibly she was a little uneasy working in front of the movie camera and microphone. Muni did well enough, however, to earn an Academy Award as Best Actor, leading the Fox Studio to reunite Muni and Churchill once more in the now lost and forgotten, SEVEN FACES (1929). SEVEN FACES would be an interesting find watching Muni assuming seven different characters in one movie.
For THE VALIANT, Muni plays a man of mystery. Surprisingly short at 60 minutes, the story leaves some questions unanswered: "Why did he murder that man and what he did do to deserve being killed?" "Who is the man who doesn't know his own name?" along with few others that remain unclear to the viewer. THE VALIANT was remade by 20th Century-Fox (1940) as THE MAN WHO WOULDN'T TALK starring Lloyd Nolan, another good but underrated actor like Muni, yet, it would be interesting comparing these two now forgotten movies to determine which one gives a better screen presentation.
Still very much unknown and forgotten, its only known cable television broadcast happens to be from Turner Classic Movies (TCM premiere: December 14, 2011) as part of its tribute to films from the George Eastman Collection. Paul Muni's performance alone makes THE VALIANT worth viewing today, for that "Valiant is the Word for Muni." (***)
A full-fledged talkie, the opening credits features an organ underscore that would make one believe this to be either a silent or part- talking production. After its cast introduction and opening title card reading, "A city street - where laughter and tragedy rob elbows," it becomes apparent this to be a full-length talkie while hearing noises of cars and children playing on the streets in the tenement area of 191 East 8th Street in New York City. Then suddenly, a gun shot is heard. A shadow of a man (Paul Muni) comes out, and later enters a police station to confess his crime. He tells the desk officer that he's not sorry for what he did and that the man he killed, John Harris, deserved to die. Unable to remember his own name, the killer identifies himself as James Dyke. Taken to trial for murder, the jury finds him guilty and the judge (Henry Kolker) gives him the death sentence. While in prison, Mrs. Douglas (Edith Yorke), an elderly woman from Pennington, Ohio, reads an article about this man. After seeing his photograph, she believes him to be her son she hasn't seen since he enlisted in the war some in 15 years ago. Wanting to meet with this prisoner before his execution, her daughter, Mary (Marguerite Churchhill), finding her mother unable to take an extensive trip, agrees to take the train ride over to the prison to visit with the mystery man who might or might not be her older brother. Accompanied by her fiancé, Robert Ward (John Mack Brown), Mary visits with the prisoner at great length, only to learn more than she realized. Others in the cast include Richard Carlyle (The Prison Chaplain); and DeWitt Jennings (The Warden).
While THE VALIANT starts off with the impression of a 1932 melodrama than 1929 early talkie, it reveals its stage origins most during its 17 minute long one-on-one talk between Muni and Churchill, a scene that's a sure mix of interest or boredom, especially without any mood music. As much as Muni gives a satisfying performance, as always, Churchill seems a bit wooden through her acting methods in certain areas of the plot. It can be forgiven since this, too, was her movie debut, and possibly she was a little uneasy working in front of the movie camera and microphone. Muni did well enough, however, to earn an Academy Award as Best Actor, leading the Fox Studio to reunite Muni and Churchill once more in the now lost and forgotten, SEVEN FACES (1929). SEVEN FACES would be an interesting find watching Muni assuming seven different characters in one movie.
For THE VALIANT, Muni plays a man of mystery. Surprisingly short at 60 minutes, the story leaves some questions unanswered: "Why did he murder that man and what he did do to deserve being killed?" "Who is the man who doesn't know his own name?" along with few others that remain unclear to the viewer. THE VALIANT was remade by 20th Century-Fox (1940) as THE MAN WHO WOULDN'T TALK starring Lloyd Nolan, another good but underrated actor like Muni, yet, it would be interesting comparing these two now forgotten movies to determine which one gives a better screen presentation.
Still very much unknown and forgotten, its only known cable television broadcast happens to be from Turner Classic Movies (TCM premiere: December 14, 2011) as part of its tribute to films from the George Eastman Collection. Paul Muni's performance alone makes THE VALIANT worth viewing today, for that "Valiant is the Word for Muni." (***)