The Valiant (1929)
Director:
William K. Howard
Writers:
Tom Barry, John Hunter BoothStars:
Paul Muni, Marguerite Churchill, Johnny Mack Brown
The Valiant began life as a one-act play by Holworthy Hall and Robert Middlemass. It is a stark little vaudeville piece about a convicted murderer who goes silently to his execution without ever revealing his true identity. Expanded to 65 minutes, The Valiant was filmed in 1929, starring Paul Muni in his first feature-film role. He plays a drifter with a clouded past who accidentally kills the key witness to a crime, then sacrifices himself to the law under an assumed name rather than disgrace his family. In this manner, Muni is certain that he's redeemed himself for his previous misdeeds--but a curious police inspector tries to probe his past. The Valiant was remade in 1940 as THE MAN WHO WOULDN'T TALK, with Lloyd Nolan in the Muni role.
2 Reviews Hide Reviews Show Reviews
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Worth a long look!
Although the acting style in 1929 was more "theatrical", the story is well worth watching. Physically, there was only one glitch in the copy, but considering the age of the movie, it's not surprising. And that certainly didn't take away from the story.
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Decent
It is shorted than the original running time that I expected. A bit dark in the transfer at times, but happy to see a movie that I thought I would never get to see.
