To be honest, I watched this because I am an avid silent film geek and love von Stroheim's movies-- in addition to Indiana Jones.
Really, this episode seems more like it would appeal to silent film nerds rather than IJ fans. It focuses on the excitement and discovery of early Hollywood, with Indiana Jones mostly peripheral, especially when we get to the John Ford segment (I'm guessing the filmmakers are Ford fans, because boy, the fan service is strong with this one, though I'm not complaining). However, I imagine most silent film fans will raise an eyebrow at the rather telescoped view of film history on display here. It's 1920, but the film is still acting like two-reelers are the biggest and most common part of movie business when features pretty much took over the market by 1915? About the only people having that trouble were the comedians like Chaplin and Keaton, and even then, there were feature comedies before The Kid (1921). Also, they made von Stroheim a cartoonish German ("VAT DAS IST--?!"), when he was actually Austrian. A strange oversight, considering there are plenty of sound films featuring von Stroheim and his lovely voice.
The romantic subplot, observing the love triangle between Indy, the writer Claire, and her clumsy boyfriend Tony, is at times poignant, and at other times painful. And by painful I mean the dialogue is wretched, prefiguring the "love scenes" to come in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones with their gooey, stilted awfulness, blech. That Claire and Indy barely shared much chemistry didn't help.
Of course, the lack of smugness regarding silent cinema is refreshing. The filmmakers give this unique medium respect, which I appreciated immensely as a fan. And that ending shot, of Indy driving off into the sunset, is just a perfect cap for the series altogether, linking it with Last Crusade.
Really, this episode seems more like it would appeal to silent film nerds rather than IJ fans. It focuses on the excitement and discovery of early Hollywood, with Indiana Jones mostly peripheral, especially when we get to the John Ford segment (I'm guessing the filmmakers are Ford fans, because boy, the fan service is strong with this one, though I'm not complaining). However, I imagine most silent film fans will raise an eyebrow at the rather telescoped view of film history on display here. It's 1920, but the film is still acting like two-reelers are the biggest and most common part of movie business when features pretty much took over the market by 1915? About the only people having that trouble were the comedians like Chaplin and Keaton, and even then, there were feature comedies before The Kid (1921). Also, they made von Stroheim a cartoonish German ("VAT DAS IST--?!"), when he was actually Austrian. A strange oversight, considering there are plenty of sound films featuring von Stroheim and his lovely voice.
The romantic subplot, observing the love triangle between Indy, the writer Claire, and her clumsy boyfriend Tony, is at times poignant, and at other times painful. And by painful I mean the dialogue is wretched, prefiguring the "love scenes" to come in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones with their gooey, stilted awfulness, blech. That Claire and Indy barely shared much chemistry didn't help.
Of course, the lack of smugness regarding silent cinema is refreshing. The filmmakers give this unique medium respect, which I appreciated immensely as a fan. And that ending shot, of Indy driving off into the sunset, is just a perfect cap for the series altogether, linking it with Last Crusade.