All three films in the “Reginald Denny Collection” are entertaining, delightful and if you are a silent film fan, you will not be disappointed. The 4K restoration is fantastic, each film no doubt showcase the talents of Reginald Denny but this is probably one of the best silent film comedy collections available on Blu-ray.Highly recommended!
© 2020 Kino Lorber Inc. All Rights Reserved.
TITLE: Reginald Denny Collection
DATE OF FILM RELEASE: The Reckless Age (1924), Skinner’s Dress Suit (1926), What Happened to Jones? (1926)
DURATION: The Reckless Age (76 Minutes), Skinner’s Dress Suit (76 Minutes), What Happened to Jones? (71 Minutes)
BLU-RAY INFORMATION: 1:37:1 aspect ratio, 1080p, Black and White/, Intertitles
COMPANY: Kino Lorber
RATED: Not Rated
RELEASE DATE: August 25, 2020
Reckless Age (1924)
Directed by Harry A. Pollard
Novel by Earl Derr Biggers
Scenario by Rex Taylor
Cinematography by William Fildew
Skinner’s Dress Suit (1926)
Directed by William A. Seiter
Titles by Walter Anthony
Story by Henry Irving Dodge and Rex Taylor
What Happened to Jones? (1926)
Directed by William A. Seiter
Based on the play by George Broadhursat
Adaptation by Melville W. Brown
Scenario by Melville W. Brown
Starring:
Reckless Age (1924)
Reginald Denny as Dick Minot
Ruth Dwyer as Cynthia Meyrick
John Steppling as Spencer Meyrick
William Austin as Lord Harrowby
Tom McGuire as Martin Wall
Fred Malatesta as Manuel Gonzales
Skinner’s Dress Suit (1926)
Reginald Deny as Skinner
Laura La Plante as Mrs. Honey Skinner
Ben Hendricks Jr. as Perkins
E.J. Ratcliffe as McLaughlin
Arthur Lake as Tommy
Hedda Hopper as Mrs. Colby
Lionel Braham as Jackson
What happened to Jones? (1926)
Reginald Denny as Tom Jones
Marian Nixon as Lucille Bigbee
Melbourne MacDowell as Mr. Bigbee
Frances Raymond as Mrs. Bigbee
Otis’ Harlan as Ebenezer Goodly
Emily Fitzroy as Mrs. Goodly
William Austin as Henry Fuller
Nina Romano as Minerva Starlight
Zasu Pitts as Hilda
John Elliott as The Bishop
NEW 4K RESTORATIONS FROM UNIVERSAL PICTURES! The Reginald Denny Collection gathers three silent features from the career of the debonair British star: The Reckless Age, Skinner’s Dress Suit, and What Happened to Jones? The former amateur boxing champion made his name in a series of two-reelers about the fighting life, The Leather Pushers (1922), but soon made his way up to leading man. In the romantic comedy The Reckless Age Denny plays an insurance agent who insinuates himself into the case of a wealthy heiress. In Skinner’s Dress Suit, directed by comedy ace William A. Seiter (Sons of the Desert), he is a shy clerk who asks his boss for a raise at the urging of his wife. His request is rejected, but he lies to his wife, who immediately goes out and buys an expensive suit, an act that upends his once-ordered life. And in What Happened to Jones?, also directed by Seiter, Denny plays a wealthy young bachelor on the night before his wedding. He is convinced to attend a poker party which is promptly raided, sending him on the run in a series of increasingly hilarious disguises.
When it comes to actors who worked during the silent era and also had a successful career during the talkies and even later in Hollywood, Reginald Denny is one of the few well-known actors from Hollywood.
In fact, Englishman Reginald Denny was an observer/gunner during the First World War for the Royal Air Force and while acting, he developed his own model planes and also along with his partners, created a target drone, the first for the military US Army. And he formed his company Radioplane Company which a young assembler named Norma Jean (Marilyn Monroe) worked and would be discovered and suggested to work as a model.
So, Denny was a multi-talented, successful individual as an actor and in his business life.
But when it comes to acting, when it comes to his film oeuvre, despite his extensive work, a lot of is not available for purchase and his silent work is even harder to find.
Kino Lorber is now releasing the “Reginald Denny Collection” feature three Universal Pictures silents starring Reginald Denny which have received new 4K restorations.
Featured are three films “The Reckless Age” (1924), “Skinner’s Dress Suit” (1926) and “What Happened to Jones?” (1926) on two Blu-ray discs.
“The Reckless Age” is a film directed by Harry A. Pollard and stars Reginald Denny, Ruth Dwyer, John Steppling, May Wallace, William Austin and many more.
The film is an adaptation of the novel “Love Insurance” by Earl Derr Biggers and was made to a film back in 1919 by Paramount. The 1919 version is considered lost but fortunately this 1924 remake is intact and received restoration by Universal Pictures.
The film begins with the wealthy Lord Harrowby (portrayed by William Austin) who is to marry Cynthia Meyrick (portrayed by Ruth Dwyer). He takes out a $100,000 insurance policy just in case his marriage falls through.
Reginald Denny plays the role of Dick Minot who is sent by the insurance company to watch over Lord Harrowby and to ensure the marriage goes through.
While traveling to make sure Lord Harrowby marries Cynthia, Dick meets a beautiful woman in the train. He is smitten by her but because the train is running so slow, the two end up taking a jalopy ride to their destination and they have a lot of fun.
While they both end up at their destination, when Dick tries to know who the beautiful woman is, she tells him that her name is Cynthia Meyrick and she is marrying Lord Harrowby.
We learn that Cynthia is also smitten towards Dick, but she is to marry Lord Harrowby and even Dick knows his job is to make sure she marries him, despite his heart telling him that he loves Cynthia.
Meanwhile, there are others who catch wind about the insurance policy and they pretend they are also Lord Harrowby.
The second film on the Blu-ray is titled “Skinner’s Dress Suit” from 1926 and is directed by William A. Seiter and based on the story by Henry Irving Dodge. Denny stars alongside with Laura La Plante, Ben Hendricks Jr., Arthur Lake, Hedda Hopper, Lionel Braham and many more.
The Universal Pictures film is a remake of a 1917 Essanay Company film and also received a 4K film restoration courtesy of Universal Pictures.
This film would be the film that made audiences recognize actress Laura La Plante and also continue to establish actress Hedda Hopper as a “high society” actress, roles that she was no doubt typecasted for but would prove to be beneficial as she would transition to becoming one of America’s well-known Hollywood gossip columnists with over 35 million readers and was a proponent in naming suspected communists of the Hollywood Blacklist.
“Skinner’s Dress Suit” revolves around Skinner (portrayed by Denny), a cashier for a nuts and bolts company. He keeps to himself, doesn’t interact with his co-workers and does his job.
His wife Honey Skinner (portrayed by Laura La Plante) wants her husband to move up in the world and cajoles him to asking his boss for a raise. As he leaves for work, they see their neighbors with a brand new car, something the Skinners don’t have.
As Skinner goes to work (and is late because he misses the train), he tries to work up the courage to talk to his bosses but not knowing that the company has lost one of their largest accounts. Unfortunately, due to a prank caused by his co-workers, he loses the confidence to ask for a raise and after work, he heads back home.
When he gets home, Honey is convinced he asked for a raise and got it that she told others. This leads to Skinner fibbing about getting a $10 raise a week (note: $40 a month is equivalent to a $574 raise in 2020).
Immediately, Honey wants to start buying many things. To the point that she wants him to buy a suit, so they can attend a party where all the high society people in town visit.
This leads to Honey and also Skinner purchasing things with money they don’t have and as for Skinner, he knows he’ll need to talk to his bosses and ask for a raise. While at work, he sees one of the female workers dancing and Skinner needs to learn how to dance, so he asks her to teach him the popular modern dance that’s in. And he teaches Honey the new dance moves he has learned.
As Skinner and Honey go to the high society party, the two sit alone, not knowing any of the rich but when they get onto the dance floor, they become the life of the party, everyone in town and are a member of high society wants to know their name.
But to become part of high society, that means spending more money. And putting Skinner in predicament. Can he ask for that raise and will he get it?
The third and final film included in the “Reginald Denny Collection” is titled “What Happened to Jones?”.
The film is directed by William A. Seiter and is based on the 1897 play by George Broadhurst.
Denny stars alongside with Marian Nixon, Melbourne MacDowell, Frances Raymond, Otis Harlan, Emily Fitzroy, Margaret Quimby, William Austin, Nina Romano and Zasu Pitts.
The film revolves around Tom Jones (portrayed by Denny) who will soon be marrying Lucille Bigbee (portrayed by Marian Nixon). While alone, Lucille’s father (portrayed by Melbourne MacDowell) tells him that he knows nothing about Tom and if he finds out that he is a bad character, he will not let him marry his daughter.
Meanwhile, at another wealthy family home, the Goodly’s. Ebenezer Goodly (portrayed by Otis Harlan) and his daughter’s boyfriend Richard (portrayed by Ben Hendricks, Jr.) are sneaking out to go gambling, something they try to make sure the often cold Mrs. Goodly (portrayed by Margaret Quimby) doesn’t find out.
As Goodly and Richard go gambling, they all await Tom Jones to arrive. Jones doesn’t want to get into any trouble the day before his wedding but he ends up gambling with the others.
Unfortunately, the police are tipped to illegal gambling and everyone starts to panic and escape. Jones and Ebenezer try to allude the police and break into a women’s health spa place where both try to pretend they are women.
What will happen if either men are caught? Will Jones never marry his beloved Lucille?
VIDEO & AUDIO:
All three films are presented in B&W (with color tinting, ie. in silent films, night time typically uses blue tinting) and presented in 1080p High Definition. All films received a 4K restoration and look magnificent for its age. I didn’t notice any major damage to the film, granted for “The Reckless Age”, there is a chase scene and you can tell the difference of how things were filmed. But there are no blemishes or anything negative about either film.
The presentation of these three films on this Blu-ray is no doubt the definitive version of these films to watch. Blacks are nice and deep, whites and grays show magnificent contrast. These three films look incredible in HD!
The stereo soundtrack feature wonderful music by Jake Monaco (The Reckless Age), Leo Birenberg (Skinner’s Dress Suit) and Anthony Willis (What Happened to Jones?).
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“Reginald Denny Collection” comes with an audio commentary by Anthony Slide. I will have to say that these audio commentaries are not just informative but also a delight to hear. Slide’s audio presentation is no doubt a modern take, informative but at times hilarious to listen to.
For example, in “The Reckless Age”, Slide discusses the use of blackface in a scene, talks about the historical context but also acknowledging in today’s age of how people could be upset by it. Not many film historians discuss that in audio commentary, avoiding that subject. Slide discusses it.
Anthony Slide is no doubt one of the well-known writers about cinema but he is erudite when it comes to early cinema. Even Lillian Gish hailed him as “our preeminent historian of the silent film”.
I hope Kino Lorber continues to consider having Mr. Slide provide more audio commentaries for silent film. He knows what to talk about, knows how to make it entertaining to listen to but also taking today’s modern take of yesterday’s filmmaking into context.
The “Reginald Denny Collection” is a collection of three entertaining, delightful films which I had a lot of fun watching.
I have a large collection of silent films and surprisingly, I have not watched any Reginald Denny silent films. In fact, the last film which I had watch starring Reginald Denny was an early talkie titled “Of Human Bondage” starring Bette Davis, and Reginald Denny was not even the main star (Note: During the 1930’s, Denny became more of a supporting actor).
But these three comedies showcase the actor’s style of comedy, his reactions and even partaking in action, dance, etc. He manages to dazzle onscreen and this British film actor no doubt was one of those rare qualities of being a dashing leading man which women love and men want to be.
Surprisingly, all three films deal with characters are that are wealthy or somehow associated with high society and I can see how these films would also lead to interest those who are focused on the fashion trends of the time. It’s an interesting juxtaposition when comparing to other films starring Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin or Harold Lloyd.
Films such as “The Reckless Age” shot outdoors for many scenes, gives us a look of old Southern California, as it was shot at Universal City, Los Olivos (part of wine country in Santa Barbara county in California) and the Beverly Hills hotel. For those who love seeing classic train footage, one will see the old Pacific Coast Railway, Los Olivos railroad station and Locomotive No. 106 in this film. And yes, the scenes were filmed as both Denny and actress Ruth Dwyer were riding on a train.
Of the three films, if I had to choose one which I enjoyed the most. That would be difficult because I enjoyed all three films so much. But if I had to choose one, it would be “Skinner’s Dress Suit”. Often in cinema, there are movies that generate dance trends and I wonder if the dancing on “Skinner’s Dress Suit” during the party sequence generated interest of people wanting to learn these dance moves right after watching the film.
But all three films in the “Reginald Denny Collection” are entertaining, delightful and if you are a silent film fan, you will not be disappointed. The 4K restoration is fantastic, each film no doubt showcase the talents of Reginald Denny but this is probably one of the best silent film comedy collections available on Blu-ray.
Highly recommended!