this movie is anything but a bio of Pearl White. In fact, aside from a brief re-enactment – at the wrong speed, which makes the sequence look ludicrous rather than funny – of one of Pearl's death-defying stunts on a fast-moving train engine, there is very little in the movie that captures even a feel for Hollywood in the period from 1910 (White's first film) to 1923. Most of Pearl's film were serials, although there were a few features along the way, including her final offering, The Terror, made in France in 1924. Betty Hutton plays Pearl with her usual enthusiasm – no "enthusiasm" is the wrong word. Betty attacks the character with her usual vigor, while William Demarest and Constance Collier do their best to follow Betty's lead. John Lund, however, seems all at sea and plays his role with an air of bewilderment that is sometimes appropriate, sometimes not. And alas, the color on the current DVD, whilst acceptable, signally lacks the real Technicolor gloss and black velvet shading.
Review of The Perils of Pauline
