The Battle of the Sexes


 "The Battle of the Sexes" 1928 directed by D.W. Griffith, written by Daniel Carson Goodman and Gerrit J. Lloyd, Produced by Nicholas Schenck.

Jean Hersholt, Phyllis Haver, Belle Bennett, Don Alvarado, Sally O'Neill, William Bakewell, John Batten, Rolfe Sedan, Harry Semels.
I have always read that D.W. Griffith was out of step with the Jazz Age, but this amazingly saucy film indicates otherwise. Griffith wisely lets Phyllis Haver give her bad girl character all she's got as she had done in "Chicago" 1927, and the results are hilarious, intriguing, and one can't help but to kind of like her. Haver's onscreen energy is amazing, and she has never been rediscovered like Louise Brooks has and Haver deserves credit. The direction and writing is superb and there's not a minute that is excess filler and should have been edited. Jean Hersholt is fine and so is Belle Bennett, but it is Sally O'Neil who gives balance to Haver's role and their scene together is brilliant. Don Alvarado is ridiculously gorgeous and that is a running joke within the film itself. There's not a whiff of Lillian Gish in this Jazz Age comedy-drama. The edition I saw of this film is the David Shepherd DVD edition from 2000 which is beautiful to look at with a superb new score. I have no idea if it is "streaming" anywhere.
Phyllis Haver and Jean Hersholt.

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