1924 silent adventure
Rating: 14/20
Plot: A dangerously irresponsible man-child flies off with three impressionable children and takes them to Michael Jackson's ranch, a land filled with stereotypical Indians and effeminate pirates. Adventure ensues!
Fun special effects in this one with Tinkerbell, the construction of a house, and all that flight. Some scenes with static camera use were almost unbearably long, but there was a lot to enjoy with the effects. You also have to appreciate John's top hat, the crocodile actually eating Captain Hook (sorry for the spoiler), anti-medicine propaganda, what might be the first lesbian kiss in cinema history, some mermaid action, and the inexplicable appearance of an American flag. There's also a wonderful concluding intertitle that makes a claim about children being "Innocent, gay, and heartless." Heartless? What the hell?
Betty Bronson plays Peter Pan, this little incarnation of irresponsible joy. I suppose a woman has to play the titular fairy boy because it was part of a tradition, but I don't think it's something that Trump would be happy about.
There's a part of this movie that nearly made me drop it 10 full points to a 4/20. It was a breaking-of-the-fourth-wall moment where Bronson tells the audience to start clapping so that Tinkerbell doesn't die. I don't want my movies treating me like I'm a toddler watching an episode of Blue's Clues, and I refused to participate. In fact, I'm surprised that Tinkerbell didn't die. Luckily, it didn't seem like her life actually depended on my participation.
What saves this movie is Nana the Dog, a character played by a guy in an unblinking dog costume. It was fucking awesome! I looked up the name of the actor who played him, and the guy's name is George Ali. George Ali played Nana the Dog in Peter Pan and nothing else. He was also married to Helen Jerome who was an actress appearing in one television movie in 1946 and nothing else. I'm not sure if that's interesting to anybody but me, but here it is on the shane-movies blog.
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