Peter Pan
                                                                  
Director: Herbert Brenon
Year: 1924
Rating: 7.0
Somehow, I had managed to reach my advanced age without really knowing anything about the story of Peter Pan. Yes, I had heard of Never Never Land, Captain Hook and that Tinker Bell was a hottie but nothing about the premise of the story. When I came across this 1924 silent version I thought, why not. I would give it a few minutes of my time. And it was kind of wonderful and very strange. Filled with magic, special effects, flying, believing, motherhood, pirates, Native Americans, fairies, crocodiles, nanny dogs, underground dwellings, the Lost Boys and mermaids. What more could a child want to read about. At least back then. I wonder why my parents never read it to me. Perhaps the thought of running away from home was one they didn't want to put into my head. I was easily influenced at that age and did run away a few times and camped out in the woods. Always to return the next day hungry.  In those days parents did not call the cops every time a child went missing for a few hours. They just waited patiently for him or her to come home.



Peter Pan was written by J.M. Barrie and first presented as a play in 1904 and later expanded into a novel, Peter and Wendy. This production from Paramount was the first film version and thought lost until a copy was discovered in the 1950s and then another in the Walt Disney vaults. Between the two of them they put together a fine copy that is tinted all the way through. When Disney bought the rights for their 1953 animated version, Paramount in their infinite wisdom destroyed all their prints of the film.  I believe this is up on YouTube.  Barrie apparently didn't like this film as he wanted more special effects and more flash. The camera is static and he thought it was filmed as a play rather than as a film. He did like the Disney version though Walt did not - saying Peter was not likable. Barrie said that Peter was in fact supposed to be a sociopath. The story ends with Peter saying this will go on forever as long as children are "gay and innocent and heartless". Heartless struck me as an odd word to use. But with Barrie saying Peter was a sociopath, it makes sense.



It begins in the home of the Darlings, a well-to-do family in London. They have three children - Wendy the oldest followed by John and Michael. Their Nanny is a big old shaggy dog named Nana - played by a man in a dog outfit. All their other nannies have quit because of the children so they have hired a dog. A dog who loves and protects the children but one evening as the parents go out to dinner the father chains Nana into the doghouse. And who shows up but Peter Pan and his fairy friend Tinker Bell (shown as a moving spot of light). He is a child but for how long who knows and he is a bit of a voyeur and has been spying on the Darlings for a while. In a previous visit he had to rush off and left his shadow behind. Mrs. Darling put it into a drawer.



So, this strange world is established where the mother accepts an odd boy coming through the window and leaving his shadow behind. Peter wakes up Wendy and they become fast friends exchanging kisses or as they call them "thimbles". When he suggests she come to Never Never Land, she goes sure, why not, wakes up her brothers and the four of them fly off. You can fly as long as you believe. Maybe another reason not to read the book to your children. Peter mentions that Tinker Bell is one of the few fairies left as others have died as children have stopped believing in them. The story is full of mortality and guilt.



Once they get to Never Never Land, Wendy meets the Lost Boys. They were babies that fell out of their prams and not claimed in seven days. They are sent to Never Never Land. Most have no recollection of their mothers but one who went back was refused entry. Damn, child abandonment. This is scary stuff to a child. Wendy is designated the Mother to everyone. Soon her brothers forget their parents and think Wendy is their mother. Creepy. She falls in love with Peter but that sort of love is too adult for Peter who refuses to grow up. He also thinks of her as his mother. Freud would have a field day with this. Maybe he did. At one point Tinker Bell who had tried to kill Wendy out of jealousy drinks poison to save Peter and with her near death, Peter turns to the audiences and says if you say you believe in fairies she will live. In the theatrical production he does the same and the audience yells it out and claps.



Captain Hook and his gang of pirates show up - he lost his hand to Peter in a duel and it was eaten by a crocodile who liked the taste. He wants more and so Hook feeds him a clock so that he can hear him coming. The crocodile is also played by a man in a suit. There are lovely mermaids sunning themselves on the beach. Native Americans as well with the daughter played by a nineteen-year-old Anna May Wong though only shown briefly. She loves Peter as well. But Peter wants to remain a boy.



This ends with the three children returning to home and hearth along with the Lost Boys. The mother promises that Wendy will visit Peter once a year to do "spring cleaning". What the hell. In the epilogue in the book but not shown in the film, when Wendy returns the next year Tinker Bell has died and Peter has forgotten the Lost Boys and Hook. And then in an epilogue to the epilogue, Peter visits Wendy years later and she is married and has a girl who goes with Peter. And then her daughter does the same. There is a lot that could be read into this as with Alice in Wonderland - it is as much a horror story as anything.



Peter Pan is played by Betty Bronson who was chosen over Gloria Swanson and Mary Pickford who also wanted the role. She created quite a stir with this film but it never led to much. Wendy is played by Mary Brian who received the nickname "The Sweetest Girl in Pictures". The days when actors got nicknames. She had a few good roles after this - co-starring with Gary Cooper in The Virginian but her career petered out.