Product Details

• Actors: Norma Talmadge, Ronald Colman, Lew Cody, Gertrude Astor
• Directors: Clarence Brown, Frank Lloyd
• Format: Black & White, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: KINO INTERNATIONAL
• DVD Release Date: March 16, 2010
• Run Time: 201 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0031REQHW
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #139,469 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

From World War I until the Great Depression, the most famous sisters in the entertainment world were the Brooklyn-raised Talmadges: Norma, Natalie and Constance. Norma, the eldest, was a dramatic actress of great talent and restraint, and revered by a public that could identify with the brave, tragic heroine through a myriad of melodramas and tragedies. Appearing in vehicles with exceedingly high production values and helmed by some of Hollywood s finest directors, Norma developed into one of the screen s greatest actresses, and by 1920 had eclipsed Mary Pickford as the top worldwide female box-office attraction. KIKI showcases Norma in a rare comedic performance. A high-spirited Parisian gamine is determined to become a chorus girl and win the heart of the Follies manager (Ronald Colman) even if it means performing some rather unladylike stunts. Set and photographed in New York City, WITHIN THE LAW follows a shopgirl who is unjustly accused of stealing, and then sent to jail. She plots revenge against her former employer, using Rich Men s legal tricks, yet staying within the law.

KIKI U.S. 1926 B&W 96 Min. 1.33:1 Directed by Clarence Brown Produced by Norma Talmadge Screenplay by Hanns Kräly Based on the play by André Picard With Norma Talmadge, Ronald Colman, Gertrude Astor, George K. Arthur Music performed by The Biograph Players

WITHIN THE LAW U.S. 1923 B&W 105 Min. 1.33:1 Directed by Frank Lloyd Produced by Norma Talmadge Screenplay by Frances Marion Based on the play by Bayard Veiller With Norma Talmadge, Lew Cody, DeWitt Jennings, Lionel Belmore, Ward Crane Music composed and performed by Makia Matsumura

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Norma's Return., March 17, 2010

By 

Chip Kaufmann (Asheville, N.C. United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Norma Talmadge Double Feature (Kiki / Within the Law) (DVD)

I have been a fan of silent movies since 1962 but not until the release of this DVD have I had a chance to see Norma Talmadge in action. I've known about her for years and have seen numerous pictures of her without ever having seen her pictures. I knew her sister Constance from her role in INTOLERANCE and the Douglas Fairbanks comedy THE MATRIMANIAC and saw other sister Natalie in Buster Keaton's OUR HOSPITALITY but no Norma. I find it absolutely mindboggling how a star of her magnitude (she was more popular than Mary Pickford in the 1920s) could have so completely disappeared from Hollywood's and the public's collective memory but with only 2 early talkies which are never shown and no effort on her part to preserve her silent legacy, that is precisely what happened. Now Kino has brought her back in two highly regarded films from the mid-1920s that clearly show us why she was once such a big star.

The KIKI storyline I was already familiar with from the 1931 Mary Pickford remake which I thoroughly enjoyed but this version is clearly better. Norma, who was known as a dramatic actress, shines in her comedic role as a French chorus girl out to snag her producer played by a young and dapper Ronald Colman. The most remarkable thing here and in the dramatic second film, WITHIN THE LAW where she plays a falsely imprisoned woman out for revenge, is the sumptuousness of the sets and the quality of the cinematography. The fact that she had Clarence Brown (FLESH AND THE DEVIL) and Frank Lloyd (MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY) as her directors shows the kind of clout she must have had. WITHIN THE LAW also gives us a rare opportunity to see Lew Cody who would later become Mabel Normand's husband. These Library of Congress preservations look quite good and the musical accompaniment compliments the action nicely. Hopefully more of Norma's films will come to light and we can see more of this shamefully forgotten actress.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Two of the few surviving films by Norma Talmadge, December 27, 2009

By 

calvinnme - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Norma Talmadge Double Feature (Kiki / Within the Law) (DVD)

Norma Talmadge was one of the two famous Talmadge sisters of the silent cinema. Norma generally starred in dramas, Constance starred in comedies. Norma did a couple of talking films, but they did not register well with audiences. There have been many legends as to why this is so, including some that say that Norma's voice sounded like Lena Lamont's in Singin in the Rain. This is not true, and if you view the surviving "New York Nights" from 1929 you'll see that Norma has a very pleasant speaking voice and had the makings of a pretty good sound era actress. At any rate, the Talmadges were very rich thanks to sound real estate investments, and Norma chose to simply retire after a couple of film failures. She wasn't interested at all in maintaining her silent film legacy, and so many of her films are lost today. I would never have heard of her and gotten curious had I not been reading Buster Keaton's biography and stumbled across her name - Buster was married to Natalie, the non-acting sister in the family. The two films included are:

Kiki (1926) Here Norma has an unusual comic role opposite Ronald Coleman. Norma plays a street waif who longs to be in the Paris follies, and Ronald Coleman is a stage manager at the Follies who Kiki loves from afar. Directed by Clarence Brown, I think this one would be fun for people who are not at all familiar with silent cinema.

Within the Law (1923) is the more dramatic side of Norma. It's been awhile since I've seen this one, but if memory serves me, the early sound film "Paid" starring Joan Crawford was a remake of this film. Norma plays a girl unjustly imprisoned for shoplifting and learns how to steal using the law itself. Specifically she uses a "breach of promise" scam to extort money from men. Years ago, if a man proposed marriage and then backed out, it was called breach of promise, and there were extreme civil consequences to be paid, particularly if the man was well off. Specifically, Norma's character sets her sights on the son of the man that sent her to jail unjustly. Directed by Frank Lloyd.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very 1920s, a Time Capsule, March 9, 2011

By 

Samantha Glasser "Maliejandra" (USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Norma Talmadge Double Feature (Kiki / Within the Law) (DVD)

Kino pays tribute to a lovely and hugely popular, but largely forgotten star of the 1920s. Norma Talmadge was the brightest star from a family of Hollywood starlets (Constance Talmadge was known for her light comedies and Natalie Talmadge married Buster Keaton). Her refusal to continue to make films when sound became widely used caused her to fade in the minds of the public. Many of her films are unavailable or lost.

The first film on this set is Kiki, a film that has seen many appearances in film festivals. Kiki is a young girl who wishes to be an actress. She connives her way into a show with intentions on wooing the producer (Ronald Colman). But he is engaged to another woman, and Kiki becomes her rival. The sets are breathtaking and very much of the art deco era. This is an odd film in the career of Talmadge, who was well known for melodrama. This is a comedy, and as a result, it is less entrancing than the following feature.

Within the Law is more typical of her output. Talmadge is a shop girl who is wrongfully accused of stealing and sent to prison. She vows to get revenge on the man who put her there, so when she gets out, she plots to retaliate through the law. She becomes quite wealthy by luring rich men. They propose marriage without intending to go through with it, and then she sues them for breech of promise (a law that no longer exists, and dates this film tremendously). Her revenge comes when the shop owner's son begins making eyes at the former shop girl.

This is a wonderful DVD for silent movie fans and film buffs everywhere to own because it is a rare glimpse into the work of a huge star who should be better remembered.