The Valiant (1929)

Directed by William K. Brown. Starring Paul Muni, Marguerite Churchill, DeWitt Jennings, John Mack Brown, Edith Yorke, Clifford Dempsey, Richard Carlyle.

After killing a man who “deserved to die,” Muni turns himself in to authorities under a false identity to protect his family; when Churchill sees his picture in the paper and believes it to be the brother she hasn’t seen in years, she travels to the prison to meet him before his execution. Simple, unfussy drama, clocking in at just over an hour, has moments of quiet power emerging from the often stiff, static presentation. In his screen debut, Muni establishes an intuitive, naturalistic acting style, avoiding nearly all the industry-wide creaky performance tricks that severely date most early talkies (Brown, on the other hand, inspires giggles just about every time he opens his mouth). Even at its short length, signs of padding when Muni is offscreen are apparent, while other aspects would have benefited from deeper development. Sentimentality during the final reel is earned.

61/100