Street Angel
Director: Frank Borzage
Year Released: 1928
Rating: 2.5
Janet Gaynor's 'victim' character - trying to help her sick mum - goes from being a terrible prostitute to being a terrible prisoner to running off with the circus to running off with a lover to being tossed back in jail. The pacing is erratic and the notion of a woman being 'redeemed' through love - and her (male) lover 'accepting' her past (and explanation) - is troubling, though you can't fault a guy for having a bit of a problem with the fact that the woman he loves was once in jail for solicitation. It's about acceptance ... and it helps if it was all a really, really big misunderstanding. Gish was usually the one to excel at the role of victim, and Griffith did this story better in Way Down East.
