Man to Man

Kidboots has given a fine précis of this movie's story. While I was pleased to see it tonight at New York's Museum of Modern Art and note some technical innovations and story-telling techniques, it also should be noted that the actors seem uncomfortable with the requirements of talking pictures. Everyone seems nervous and jittery, probably because they were afraid that director Allan Dwan was going to run them over with a moving camera/boom crane combination. The effects yielded are terrific and subtle.

At this point microphones had a very limited range, so a series of mikes had to be planted. Dwan simply mounted one on the camera for the moving shots and the result was an increased sense of space.... as people walk along the street, not only do people and sights come in and move out of camera range, they move out of microphone range and the effect is startling and incredibly natural. It has not, alas, been repeated frequently. If you ever have a chance to see this rare film, listen for the effect.