Walk Cheerfully (1930)
(Hogaraka ni ayune, Yasujiro Ozu, Japan 1930, 95 min., 35mm, Japanese Intertitles w/English subtitles)
Director Yasujiro Ozu is usually known for his pensive and serious tones. But prior to those staid dramas of the 1940s and ‘50s, Ozu made films inspired by the imported cinema he grew up with. This fast-paced American comedy-style story about a gangster who decides to mend his ways after falling in love with a virtuous woman demonstrates his passion for Harold Lloyd and Ernst Lubitsch. In the director’s own words, this is the story of “a delinquent who goes straight.” His name is Kenji the Knife (Minoru Takada) and he casts off his spurs only for the love of a good woman, Yasue (Hiroko Kawasaki). He needs a good reason to walk the line because Walk Cheerfully depicts the life of a hoodlum as mostly jovial. Walk Cheerfully provides a look into the minimalist master's work before he shirked the conventions of fading, close-ups, and panning.
Upcoming Events in this Series
Film Screenings | Hotel Imperial
Silent Tuesdays The first of three 1927 collaborations between Polish-born star Pola Negri and Finnish-born director Mauritz Stiller, Hotel Imperial is based on the 1917 Hungarian play of the same name.
Film Screenings | The Kid Brother
Silent Tuesdays Harold Lloyd teams with his frequent co-star Jobyna Ralston for the final time in this romantic comedy.
Film Screenings | The Cat and the Canary
Silent Tuesdays | Spooky Season Paul Leni came from Germany to work for Universal in 1927 and was essentially the founder of the studio’s reputation for horror films, starting with this iconic adaptation of John Willard’s hugely popular “old dark house” play The Cat and the Canary (which, surprisingly, still gets an occasional outing on the stage even today).