BootDigest
Such a frustrating disappointment
Brightlyme
i know i wasted 90 mins of my life.
Pluskylang
Great Film overall
Pacionsbo
Absolutely Fantastic
sbasu-47-608737
Even at the late 1920s standard, (This is a 1927 movie.) this is a very amateurishly made movie. Except showing of the beauty of Marion Davies, and she was beautiful, one can't blame Hearst for falling head over heels in love, there is nothing in the movie worth mentioning. If I limit myself to Hollywood, it may not be that low scoring, but if I move out, in to European masters Sjostroms, Murnau, Stiller, Sternberg or even Renoir, this is an infantile effort. In fact it is interesting to compare the quality of Hollywood with European movies and then see the situation reverse somewhere around thirties. Probably migration associated with environment that strangled the art there ? There is no doubt of Marion's talent, but that talent could be unearthed only when she was out of Hearst's complete control. Well she remained under emotional control, but not the financial one, after the depression wiped off his fortunes. And the quality of her movies then had a dramatic change, and especially once she moved into talkies. This movie is supposed to have Romance, Drama, Horror and Comedy, unfortunately one has search to appreciate depiction of either of these factors. Probably Arbuckle has over-stepped in capability.
Not worth the time, unless one just wants to watch Marion at her full youth and beauty (that too in last quarter).
Antonius Block
Marion Davies may not have the highest comedic talent in this film, but she does have a certain girl-next-door appeal, and 'Red Mill' was reasonably entertaining. She plays a Dutch servant who is used cruelly by her boss, a tavern owner played by George Siegmann with appropriate snarl and meanness. In one scene, he's dragging her near-frozen body along the ice back to work; in another, he's literally whipping her. She keeps a little ray of sunshine in a pet mouse who lives in a large hole in one of her clogs, and then soon sees and falls for a young man played by Owen Moore. It's not so straightforward, however, in that her identity is confused with another woman (Louise Fazenda), who has her own troubles, being betrothed to an old man but wanting another (Karl Dane). It gets a bit silly and some of the intertitles are oddly worded, but there are some nice scenes at the end in the "haunted" old mill, especially as the chase moves outside to the windmill blades themselves. There is also a brief scene of riches in the imagination of the young lovers which then returns to the present, a touching reminder of what the important thing is in life – true love.
preppy-3
This silent takes place in Holland (for some reason). Tina (Marion Davies) is a maid at the Red Mill. Her boss treats her like dirt, she's lonely and has no friends. One day she meets hunky Dennis Wheat (Owen Moore) and falls in love. Naturally he barely knows she exists. It all comes to a head a few months later.This movie is, to put it mildly, way too plot heavy. The main plot goes all over the place and brings in some wildly improbable turns. There's tons of unfunny slapstick (the part where Davies struggles to put up an ironing board was especially painful to watch) and the movie wavers uncomfortably between romance, comedy and drama. It's well-done and well-directed and the acting helps--Davies is beautiful and full of life and Moore is unbelievably handsome and hunky. But, all in all, I was bored and couldn't wait for it to end. I give this a 4.
Brian Ferrari
This is yet another movie that should be shown to anyone who might doubt the talents of Marion Davies. She is delightful in this performance, with some wonderful bits of physical comedy. Director Fatty Arbuckle surely deserves the credit as well. The supporting players are also quite good, but make no mistake - this is her film.