Best Films of 1925: Ben-Hur and The Big Parade show that once upon a time bigger didn’t necessarily mean stupider
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was formed in 1924. The following year, three of the biggest cinematic events of the silent era came out to public and critical acclaim: Erich von Stroheim’s romantic “musical” The Merry Widow, King Vidor’s World War I drama The Big Parade, and (mostly) Fred Niblo’s (faux) historical adventure/religious epic Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ.
The first two titles starred John Gilbert, who, until the coming of sound, became MGM’s biggest male star in the domestic market. The third one starred Ramon Novarro, who went on to become MGM’s biggest male star in the international market. The Big Parade would remain the biggest box office hit in the United States until Gone with the Wind; Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ would remain the biggest worldwide box office hit until the release of that Selznick-MGM Civil War romantic epic.
Admittedly, none of the three movies mentioned in the first paragraph are masterpieces. Both The Merry Widow and The Big Parade suffer from excessive length, while Ben-Hur needed stronger handling in the sea battle sequence and more finesse at its – otherwise moving – conclusion, when Novarro was clearly directed to give his all as if it were 1909.
And yet The Merry Widow – with top-billed Mae Murray as the title character – is a feast for the eye peppered with Erich von Stroheim’s perverse touches; The Big Parade features not only what may well be John Gilbert’s best performance (along with The Show) but also one of the best-known and most heart-wrenching sequences ever filmed, when small-town Frenchwoman Renée Adorée (a superb characterization) runs after the truck carrying her beloved American doughboy to the front; and Ben-Hur has a stellar Ramon Novarro as the Jewish hero and features the most exhilarating big-screen race sequence ever assembled. (And perhaps the most disturbing, as several horses were killed in an accident during the shoot.)
The work of second unit director B. Reeves Eason and editor Lloyd Nosler make Ben-Hur’s centenarian chariot race feel more modern, more technically accomplished, and more thrilling – because the viewer does give a damn about the characters in the race – than anything you’ll find in assembly-line garbage like Fast Five, Furious 7, and all their prequels and sequels.
Best Film
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ – Dir.: Fred Niblo (assisted by Christy Cabanne, Alfred L. Raboch & B. Reeves Eason); Scr.: Carey Wilson, Bess Meredyth & June Mathis; titles: Katherine Hilliker & H. H. Caldwell
The Big Parade – Dir.: King Vidor; Scr.: Laurence Stallings & Harry Behn; titles: Joseph W. Farnham
Her Sister from Paris – Dir.: Sidney Franklin; Scr.: Hanns Kräly
Lady Windermere’s Fan – Dir.: Ernst Lubitsch; Scr.: Julien Josephson; titles: Maude Fulton & Erik Yorke
The Merry Widow – Dir.: Erich von Stroheim; Scr.: Benjamin Glazer & Erich von Stroheim; titles: Marian Ainslee
Stella Dallas – Dir.: Henry King; Scr.: Frances Marion
Best Actress
Belle Bennett – Stella Dallas
Eleanor Boardman – The Way of a Girl
Betty Bronson – Are Parents People?
Pauline Frederick – Smouldering Fires
Irene Rich – Lady Windermere’s Fan
Norma Shearer – Lady of the Night
Constance Talmadge – Her Sister from Paris
Best Actor
John Gilbert – The Big Parade
Ramon Novarro – Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ
Best Supporting Actress
Renée Adorée – The Big Parade
Alice Joyce – Stella Dallas
Lois Moran – Stella Dallas
Best Supporting Actor
Edward Martindel – Lady Windermere’s Fan
Best Cinematography
Battleship Potemkin / Bronenosets Potyomkin – Edouard Tissé & V. Popov
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ – Karl Struss, Clyde de Vinna, Percy Hilburn & René Guissart
The Big Parade – John Arnold
The Eagle – George Barnes
Lady Windermere’s Fan – Charles Van Enger
The Merry Widow – Oliver T. Marsh, Ben F. Reynolds & William H. Daniels
The Monster – Hal Mohr
The Phantom of the Opera – Charles Van Enger & Virgil Miller
Sally of the Sawdust – Harry Fischbeck & Harold S. Sintzenich