Word: villainizing
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Moffat Johnston, as the Count de Bardas, a villain who was nefarious with all Victorian thoroughness, played, his part well. He was an admirable snake in the grass with a most gracious smile for his puppets and a devastating frown for his enemies. In the midst of prodigious excitement and complication he seemed to keep a very clear head and came within an ace of being the victor. The comedy element in the guise of Sieur de Beringhen, Gordon Hart, was effective in spite of the fact that his elongated person did not particularly suggest a gourmand. Ernest Rowan...
...Added to legal censorship is what might be called a form of self-censorship. A movie cannot antagonize any element of the population. Even in the more romantic movies this self-censorship is found necessary. The problem of whom to cast for the villain is one of the most difficult. He cannot be either Chinese, Mexican, coloured, Jewish, or Irish if his character is objectionable...
...must happen: either the spectator struggles with the technicalities of the selected background, or the director shirks the responsibilities of his climax, brushing through it with a shot of a crowd cheering, or Lord Weatherton putting his bet on Spark Plug, or mechanics pulling the charred body of the villain out of a wrecked plane. In Burning Up, however, the usual situation is reversed. The little triangle, with its hopelessly puerile dialog, has barely enough momentum to suggest a climax until the climax arrives-this time an auto race. The way the race is worked out, to the drone, like...
...whom, many sought to view as Boulder Dam villain was Russell Henry Ballard, president of Southern California Edison, who has spent 32 years growing up with his state's power development. Once president of the National Electric Light Association, Mr. Ballard is a large, heavy-set man, thoroughly schooled in public utility management. Externally genial, exhibiting an interest in his employes which takes him to many of their meetings, he is an autocratic ruler of Southern California power...
...engrossed in the performance of these, he gets off some well-timed bits of acting. The scene most worthy of mention is the superbly theatrical moment between Lowell Sherman as the Bavarian Emperor and Barrymore, as the Soldier of Fortune, just before the battle. Sherman, an ever-popular villain does his few bits to perfection as usual. Marion Nixon looks much better in a white wig than otherwise, but is mostly rather ineffectual. The historical background and supporting casts are worked out well. All in all, the picture is worth a long car-ride...