Lonesome (1928)

Lonesome
Directed by Paul Fejos
Written by Edward T. Lowe and Tom Read from a story by Mann Read
1928/US
Universal Pictures
IMDb page
First viewing/YouTube

Jim: I’m only an ordinary working stiff. And I’m so tired of being alone that I can’t even stand my own company.

Dipping my toe into watching movies again with this sweet and well-made romance.

You are never more alone than when you are living alone in a big city.  Telephone operator Mary (Barbara Kent) and machinist Jim (Glenn Tyron) are both lonesome and their friends are all paired up.  Separately, they hear the music of a truck advertising a July 3 day of fun on Coney Island and decide to give it a shot.  Of course they meet and fall in love in just a few hours.  But fate seems to work against them.

I liked this a lot.  The direction includes some nice modernist cinematography to emphasize that crowded feeling. I found similarities to both The Crowd (1928) and Sunrise (1927) in the shots perhaps because they both feature days in a carnival atmosphere.  The lead actors are appealing and the love story is touching.

The film has been beautifully restored with tinted scenes and a bit of spoken dialogue.  To see the restoration on YouTube pick the version with Spanish subtitles.  All the English intertitles are preserved.  The other one has dubious “music” and an inferior print.