Bessie Love shines in a cute fantasy short film

The Little Knight (aka "The Adventures of Prince Coraguous: The Litte Knight") (1923)

Starring: Bessie Love, Arthur Trimble, Monte Collins, and Charles Belcher

Directors: Fred Becker and Charles R. Seeling

Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

A wandering knight (Belcher) is cursed by an evil witch to appear to all who see him as a little boy (Trimble). He soon meets and falls in love with Princess Bernice (Love) who is being forced into an arranged marriage with the cowardly, villainous Duke Craven (Collins). Will our hero overcome his curse, rescue the damsel in distress, and win her heart?  

"The Little Knight" is a fun fantasy short film that was intended to be the first in a 12-part series meant primarily as a vehicle for child actor Arthur Trimble (and produced by a film company bearing his name). Ultimately, only three were finished and released. 

Sharing top billing with Trimble was Bessie Love who in 1923 was near the top of her all-too-brief stint as a Hollywood superstar. While everyone else in the picture can be described giving adequate performances, Love is as attention-commanding as ever when she's on screen. Only Monte Collins comes close to rivaling her in being remarkable as he hams it up as the film's main bad guy. But, Love's cuteness, if not her acting skills, are eclipsed by Little Arthur Trimble; it's easy to see why he was tapped for child-stardom. 

A few plot threads are left dangling when "The End" flashes on the screen, but what we have is still basically a complete story. If you like classic fantasy and can get past the opening swordfight with the world's smallest giant, I think you'll find the 16-minutes you'll devote to watching "The Little Knight" time well spent.

And if you've made it this far, why don't you click below to check out "The Little Knight" and see if you agree with our take on the film. And please let us know with a comment, either here or on the video itself.

Sunday Funnies!

 

It's Fanny Friday!

 

Between International Days

This year's International Dance Day is behind us, and International Nude Day is roughly a month away. With this post, we look both forward and backwards.

Sunday Funnies!

Click on the comics page for a larger, more easily read version.

By Shelby Sampson, originally published in Manhunt #1 (1973).

It's a Fanny Friday

Meremay is gone and June is here!

Mermaids and the gnomes are planning to party all month long with their special guest, the Frog King!

We open the month with a drawing that originally appeared as an ad, in the pages of legendary German arts and culture magazine Jugend. It's the sort of illustration that we would use today if we were trying to sell booze to players of old-school fantasy roleplaying games!

It's Fanny Friday!

Mermay continues... and the mermaids continue to emerge from the deep!

'The Lady and the Monster' has both good and bad

The Lady and the Monster (1944)
Starring: Vera Ralston, Richard Arlen, Erich von Stroheim, and Helen Vinson
Director: George Sherman

Rating: Six of Ten Stars

A millionaire's mind is preserved after death through weird science... and he soon begins to telepathically force his will upon others in revenge and to carry on with his evil ways. 

"The Lady and the Monster" is a great-looking film, with stylish sets and beautiful cinematography that takes full advantage of the black-and-white format. The excellent cast--headed by Erich von Stroheim, Vera Ralston, and Richard Arlen--give decent performances despite the fact that they are delivering some truly awful dialogue at times. The film is further undermined slightly by something of a tone-shift at the halfway point, but all in all, the good outweighs the bad here and it's a film that's worth your time. 

And speaking of your time, we are happy to make it easy for you to watch "The Lady and the Monster" by embedding it in this very post, via The Screening Room on YouTube.

(If elements of the story and some of the characters seem familiar, it's possible you'll either read the novel upon which it was based, or seen one of the other two films based upon the same source--"Donovan's Brain" by Curt Siodmak. This was the first screen adaptation, however.)