The Duchess of Buffalo (1926)
(Sidney Franklin, US 1926, 75 min., 16mm)
Of the famous Talmadge sisters, Norma Talmadge was the drama queen and Constance Talmadge the comedienne. (The youngest, Natalie, was Buster Keaton’s first wife and love interest in his Our Hospitality.) Constance’s talents emerged playing the spunky Mountain Girl in D. W. Griffith’s Intolerance (1916) and quirky romantic comedies showed her innate wit and vivacity best, often directed by Sidney Franklin (later famous for The Barretts of Wimpole Street and The Good Earth). She and Joseph M. Schenck (then married to sister Norma) produced her later films themselves, such as this lively farce about an American dancer in Russia masquerading as a duchess to protect her lover from the vindictive actions of another suitor. Keystone comedy veteran Chester Conklin also appears as a bewildered hotel manager, and it spins along with infectious humor, romance, risqué complications, and general good fun.
Live piano accompaniment by Philip C. Carli.