Street Angel

Data
Title: Street Angel
Year: 1928
Length: 102 minutes
Director: Frank Borzage
Writers: Marion Orth, Philip Klein & Henry Roberts Symonds, with H.H. Caldwell & Katherine Hilliker, based on a novel by Monckton Hoffe
Starring: Janet Gaynor, Charles Farrell
Music: don't know, can't find info online, but it's a synchronized score
Distinctions: Oscar for Best Actress (Gaynor, for three films) (1929); (unofficial) Oscar nominations for Best Cinematography and Best Art Direction (1930)



My reaction
Synopsis: an escaped convict falls in love
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), yesterday
Concept: Indifferent.
Story: Indifferent.
Characters: Indifferent.
Dialog: Bad.
Pacing: Bad. The first half is fine. The second half drags painfully.
Cinematography: Great.
Special effects/design: Good. It usually looks like a stage, but it's a nice-looking stage.
Acting: Good. Nothing special by modern standards, but pretty good for the 20s. My wife suggests that they can get away with more because the characters are Italian.
Music: Good.
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay). It's kind of frustrating. There's a lot to like, and it's great to look at. I feel like it could have been a really good film, but (1) it's just so damn slow in the second half, and (2) the melodrama is taken to ridiculous extremes of melodramadery.
Objective Rating: 2.3/4 (Okay).