Henry B. Walthall: Film Reviews--The Silents 1916-1927
A Tribute Page to the Silent Film Star

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Too sexy for this website: Handsome postcard promoting False Faces.

Note on the grading system: The "Walthall Factor" Grade is not an evaluation of Henry B. Walthall's acting skills as he never gave a bad performance even when the film, and his part in it, was lame. The Walthall Factor is a combination of Walthall's time on screen, the treatment of his role (was the character he played worthy of his talents), and--ultimately--whether or not I enjoyed watching him in the role (it is, after all, my website).

 

Probably Henry Walthall's best performance
in the hunk department. As the Lone Wolf
in the 1918 film False Faces

 

• False Faces (1918): Film on the "Further Career and Adventures of the Lone Wolf." Walthall has the lead role as Michael Lanyard, the fictional thief/good guy "Lone Wolf." The film begins on the Western Front during the Great War. Lanyard, who had posed as a German secret agent, crawls under British fire and search lights to reach a British trench. He identifies himself as the Lone Wolf who is out to get revenge on the German spy Ekstrom. Ekstrom had led an attack on a Belgium town which resulted in the death of Lanyard's sister and nephew. Lanyard takes on a variety of different "faces" on his way to America for a final showdown with Ekstrom. One scene finds the Lone Wolf on a submarine commanded by the captain who sank the Lusitania (the film was released only four years after the sinking). Faces, which also starred Lon Chaney, is a fairly fast-moving film (I had problems following it at times) that is action-packed. Walthall has plenty of physical scenes and his overall performance is extraordinary, especially when showing sensitivity while recalling the attack on his family. The sexy mustache doesn't hurt either.
  Walthall Factor: A+ Film Grade: A-
  

   

  
  Father Bartlett taking pity on all creatures.

   

• The Confession (1920): The Confession gave Walthall one of his best characters of the 1920s; the leading role of Father Bartlett. Bartlett hears the confession of a murderer but, due to his holy vow of confidentiality, cannot reveal this information even though Bartlett's brother is tried and convicted of the crime. Time is running out, and Father Bartlett must convince the real murderer (who is being tormented by his guilty demons) to make a public confession before Bartlett's brother meets the gallows. The film runs about 78 minutes, is fairly fast-paced and very easy to follow. Walthall puts on a brilliant performance and his character is the primary focus from beginning to end. Walthall Factor: A Film Grade: A
  

   

  
  "I told you we should not have bet against our son's team."

   

• The Plastic Age (1925): In this Clara Bow classic, Henry Walthall plays Henry Carver, the nervous, proud, yet stern (and may I say adorable) father to a football star headed for Prescott University (Hugh Carver played by Donald Keith). Mr. Carver has to admonish his son after he failed in a track meet (young Hugh was distracted by Bow's character). Walthall is also seen at the football game cheering on his son (now a senior) who will, of course, be the hero of the game. As a football fan, I enjoyed seeing those old-time training routines and game strategies. A fun film full of fraternity pranks, rowdy club raids, etc. And, if I may mention again, Walthall is very cute in this one. Walthall Factor: A- Film Grade: B+
  

   

  
  With another silent hunk, Lars Hanson.

   

• The Scarlet Letter (1926): Walthall's first Scarlet Letter film starred Lillian Gish and the very handsome Lars Hanson (no I am not changing allegiance). Hanson was excellent in one of my favorite silent films Flesh and the Devil. Karl Dane is also cast in his usual goofy (yet more sympathetic) role. The majority of the film focuses on the love affair between Hester Prynne and Minister Arther Dimmesdale. Walthall--who plays Hester Prynne's absent husband who is reunited with his wife only to discover her unfaithfulness--enters the film after the halfway point. He is made to look like a creepy little troll, probably to assure that the audience's sympathies would lie with the cute lovers. Unfortunately, the copy I have (from a television broadcast) cut out what I think was a large portion of Walthall's part (including the scene pictured in Lahue's book Gentlemen to the Rescue). Walthall's performance was brilliant as always, but I was disappointed at how short a time he was on screen. It's probably unfair to mete out a Walthall Factor grade without seeing all the scenes, but I'll give it a tentative grade for now until I can find a more complete copy. Walthall Factor: C Film Grade: A
  

   

  
  "So...you're with the church, huh?"

   

• The Road to Mandalay (1926): Interesting story about Joe the "horrible man from Singapore" (Lon Chaney) who admires a young shop clerk (unbeknownst to her, he is her father). Walthall has a very significant role in this film as Father James, Joe's brother. James tries to convince his brother to reveal his identity to his daughter, but Joe is too ashamed of his wicked roots in the slums of Singapore. Meanwhile, his daughter falls in love with a man from those very slums. Joe is intent on crashing their wedding against his brother's insistence that the bridegroom has changed. Joe takes the groom back to Singapore "with the yellows, browns, and blacks" (yes, there is a lot of racist stereotyping in this one). Joe's daughter follows them to Singapore and ends up stabbing her father to protect her fiance. Understanding the love the two share, Joe ends up protecting them from an evil Chinese man. He ends up collapsing from his stab wound right as his brother arrives. Walthall's character is in the final scene at his brother's bedside. This film seems to be a very important addition to Walthall's repertoire, as--next to Birth of a Nation--I've seen more screen shots of this film in books with chapters on Walthall than any other. Walthall Factor: B+ Film Grade: B
  

   

  
  "I'd rather send your mother off to war."

   

• Wings (1927): Walthall plays a very limited and sorrowful role in this first Academy Award winner for Best Picture. Although, he was only 49 when this movie was filmed, he is made up to look like a decrepit old man mourning his son's departure off to war and, later, his son's death. As Joe Franklin noted in Classics of the Silent Screen Walthall "milk[ed] his emotional scenes for all they were worth" (p. 93). Unfortunately, these scenes only make up 7 1/2 minutes of a very long film. Despite Walthall's limited part the film is quite astounding. Although silent goddess Clara Bow headlines the cast, I was surprised how limited her role in this movie was. The plot she is tied to is very weak and I don't think the conclusion helps it too much (Clara's character leaving the war and her love interest changing his affections so effortlessly once he returned home). Her sexy image is really toned down as well. One scene has her luring her drunken boyfriend (a very funny drunken boyfriend) from a Paris night club in a skimpy number. The dress didn't fit the character's girl-next-door image at all. The real storyline is between pals Jack Powell and David Armstrong (played expertly by Buddy Rogers and Richard Arlen). Anyone interested in the First World War will find this film a real treat! The training scenes I found particularly interesting. Then there are the many aerial fighting scenes. They are so well done they look like documentary footage. Scenes shot from the pilot's point of view put the viewer right into the action! Scenes like these make the "two guys in love with the same girl" plot seem so insignificant.
  Walthall Factor: C+ Film Grade: A-

   

  
  Is this the face of a murderer?

   

• London After Midnight (Stills Reconstruction) (1927/2002): No, I've never seen this famous lost film. I did, however, see the version that was reconstructed using movie stills which Turner Classic Movies broadcasted last Halloween. The plot is difficult to follow or even to understand sometimes. The Lon Chaney vampire scenes that make this lost film so desirable look rather silly in this format (and maybe in the actual film). I don't think I'm ruining any reader's day by giving away this 75-year old ending, but Walthall's character (Sir James Hamlin) is the murderer. The film has many stills of Henry as well as a very sweet close-up of him and Marceline Day.
  Walthall Factor: A- Film Grade: C
  
  

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