Sally Of The Sawdust (1925)

Editor's Note Acclaimed director D.W. Griffith (INTOLERANCE) took the helm of this silent version of the hit W.C. Fields stage play, and the result is an engaging blend of circus tomfoolery and typical Griffith-style family drama and class system indictment. Circus con man "Professor" Eustace McGargle (Fields) lovingly raises orphan Sally (Carol Dempster) as his own child amid the sawdust, elephants, hula girls, and shell games of the carnival, but when he sees she is becoming a young woman, he decides to unite her with her grandparents back in Connecticut. Unfortunately, Sally's stern grandfather, Judge Foster (Erville Alderson) dislikes circus folk and tries to railroad Sally off to reform school before she can marry his neighbor's son (Alfred Lunt), or before McGargle can tell him the truth about her origins. Field's fans will enjoy this glimpse at a younger incarnation of the master comedian; here he is a somewhat Chaplinesque vagabond--replete with moustache--who is even ("gasp") nice to children.

	Carol Dempster
	Alfred Lunt
	W.C. Fields
	Erville Alderson - Featured
	D.W. Griffith - Director

D.W. Griffith directed the legendary W.C. Fields in this fanciful tale of the circus, and of a con man who cares dearly for an orphan in his care.| Sight and Sound
"...A splendid comedy melodrama..." 10/01/2002 p.65