The Artist
The Artist has nothing to do with any of the aliases adopted by Rogers Nelson (sometimes a.k.a. Prince). It’s a French financed film with a lot of Hollywood faces. There are also a lot of subtitles but not because of no English dialogue –this is a silent film that apes the black and white method acting that died when talkies changed the face of cinema overnight. Much like the legendary Valentino (even in name) George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) is the 1927 Hollywood A-lister who has the clout to rescue the career of the fetching young hopeful Peppy Miller (Bérénice Bejo) as it is about to be nipped in the bud by Al Zimmer (John Goodman), the stogy-chomping studio head honcho. The sparks that fly between George and Peppy are quenched by Doris (Penelope Ann Miller) George’s dowdy hateful wife, but they never really die out. Meantime as Peppy’s name edges up the star system in the new age of sound, George’s popularity plummeted just like his fortune on the stock market until he’s left with nothing but his faithful dog and manservant Clifton (James Cromwell). There are many delightful moments as Peppy and George work towards their inevitable happy ending but the retro idea does start to wear thin. This should have been a sweet little two-reeler but it goes on about one reel too long.