PATHS TO PARADISE begins in the seedy streets of San Francisco and ends just across the border in Mexico (at least in the 6 of 7 reels version currently extant). Plot lines will be discussed as we go along so don't continue reading this if you want to go into the film cold. Along the way we see Raymond Griffith's character, a man of numerous names ("I always answer pages; you never know what might turn up") turn the tables on a group of con artists (including the "Queen of China") fleecing tourists looking for a view of the seamy side of life using nothing more than his wits and a gas inspector badge.

He then matches wits with some of that gang, police and detectives in order to obtain a valuable diamond necklace. His major ruse is declaring himself to be a deft detective. He's able to convince the owner of the necklace of this to such an extent that the owner proclaims that this man is "the best detective in the world" to all the guests gathered at his sumptuous party. When the owner notices not all of those present agree, he suggests they hide a watch while the "detective" is in another room. Of course, while the watch is being hidden the "detective" is busily working on the safe.

Although initially at odds against the "Queen of China", who is working as a maid in the house with the necklace as her goal, they eventually team up to pull off the heist. A policeman wrestling with a dog who's taken his flashlight provides a very humorous scene as no matter how the "detective" (who's decided to nick the whole safe and work on opening it later) moves about, he's continually targeted by the beam of the flashlight. Feeling he's finally been caught, he sits down in exasperation with his hands in the air. Only then does he realize the policeman has no idea of his presence and the action continues.

After a few more mishaps, twists and turns the couple liberate the necklace and make use of a car to head toward the Mexican border. A police car is in hot pursuit and a call is put out for motorcycle cops from all the cities along the path of the fugitives. From San Luis Obispo on more and more motorcycle cops pour out until it almost looks like an early motocross event! Continued firing by the police manages to puncture one of the wheels of the getaway car. Although the police are not that far behind, the couple are able to stop and effect a change of tires speedily enough to resume their escape. At the end of the 6th reel, they've made it across the border and the police are unwilling to follow across the border due to "international complications". According to reviews of the film when it came out, the 7th reel has the woman feeling guilty about the theft and convincing her companion to return so they can give it back. And as a payoff for the gazillion cops on bikes earlier, apparently each and every one of them slaps a speeding ticket on the car when they do return. (At various times in the chase there are shots of the speedometer at 80 to 100 mph - which would be highly unlikely for the terrain shown).

All in all a fast-paced, funny film. It's highly unlikely that the 7th reel still exists in viable nitrate . . . but it sure would be fun to see it!

I've seen several other silent films from Televista and I must say that this company is both a boon and a curse. On the positive side, they are the only source for several very rare silent films--if you didn't have Televista, you'd have no way to see the movies. On the negative, every single Televista DVD I have seen is a terrible print and appears as if they were taken directly from video with absolutely no restoration work whatsoever. Because the film appears to be a copy of a copy, the print have always been fuzzy and washed out--but are still watchable.

Betty Compson and Raymond Griffith star in this delightful silent comedy. In many ways, this film seems highly reminiscent of several of William Powell's crime films of the 1932--where he played gentlemen bandits so well. However, this film has a bit more emphasis on comedy, but is still well worth seeing.

The film begins with a wildly imaginative and funny bit involving the rich tourists who want to see 'local color'. A man is showing a group of shocked tourists one of the seediest hangouts in town--where there is a gang of counterfeiters working on a new batch of money. But only a moment later, a different rich tourist comes along who is expecting to see a Chinese opium den. All at once, the room and occupants make a quick change--now it is an opium den! It seems these scam artists make this dump whatever they are expecting (and paying) to see.

A bit later, after the gang is given a taste of their own medicine, their leader, Betty, and a rival con-man, Griffith, show up at the same home on the same night to steal the same diamond necklace. At first, they try to outwit each other but later they join forces to get the loot. Then, when the cops arrive, the two give flight and there is a nice little chase scene--with a few innovative touches in this familiar routine--such as their changing a tire and gassing up on the fly (you just have to see it to believe it). Plus, the ending is really strange--and something you probably wouldn't have seen in the days after the strengthened Production Code in 1934.

Overall, the film is a very nice little comedy with good acting, a nice plot and some very good direction. There isn't a lot I would change in the film--it is enjoyable and pleasant--too bad the print is so ugly. Well worth seeing for silent film buffs as well as the casual silent viewer.

I first saw this film in 1972 in London, shortly after the only extant copy was found. Even this print was incomplete, missing the final reel. As it stands the film ends with Compson and Griffith crossing the border into Mexico, beyond the reach of the gaggle of police who've been chasing them. But the missing reel has Compson having second thoughts about the heist of the necklace--it was, after all, intended to go to the daughter of the necklace's owner on her wedding day. So Compson convinces Griffith to cross back over the border again and on into California and return the necklace to its owners. Which they do, pursued by police cars and motorcycles.

True, the film is not gag driven; most of the humor comes from the dramatic irony of two rival jewel thieves, Griffith and Compson, making their way into the home where the necklace is kept locked away in a safe, Griffith posing as a police detective who says he's there to make sure the necklace is safe; Compson pretends to be a servant. Griffith and Compson make repeated and often hilarious attempts to steal the necklace while the wedding party is on and the house is full of guests and two bonafide plainclothes police. In one scene Griffith delights the guests by having them hide an item for him to find, while he waits in the next room where the safe is kept, desperately trying to break into it and steal the necklace before he's called back.

A lot of the humor lies in the tension generated by the thieves' masquerade and by the tension between the two (in an earlier scene Griffith, posing again as a detective, had conned Compson and her gang in San Francisco and made off with a huge sum of their money). One of the funniest scenes in the film takes place while the house is dark and everyone is asleep. Griffith sneaks into the darkened room where the safe is kept. The two cops decide to see if everything's safe and sound and make their way through the rooms of the house with a flashlight. At one point they decide to light a cigarette; the cop with the long-handled flashlight sticks it under his arm, pointing it behind him and illuminating Griffith in the next room, frozen in place and holding the safe in his arms. Neither cop sees him, though one apparently sees something out of the corner of his eye right before the other cop removes the flashlight from under his arm, so that the light no longer shines on Griffith. When they turn to shine the light back into the other room, Griffith is gone. They go into the other room to check it out; but the family dog grabs the flashlight away from the detective, who chases the dog back and forth across the room in a futile attempt to take the light back. While the dog is running around with the flashlight, the light shines on Griffith who is behind the cops and against the opposite wall, holding the safe. The cops, intent on retrieving the flashlight don't see Griffith. Griffith tries desperately to avoid the light, scampering back and forth and onto a couch, only to have the dog follow his every move and constantly illuminating him. Griffith finally sits on the couch with the safe, sighs, holds his hands up in defeat, convinced that it's only a matter of time before he's discovered. But the cops retrieve the light, they never see Griffith, and he escapes from the room.

Charlie Chaplin used this same gag in THE GOLD RUSH. When Charlie and the other prospector, Big Jim, are in their cabin in the middle of nowhere, starving, they're threatened by another prospector who's entered their cabin with a rifle. Big Jim and the intruder wrestle over the rifle, which is always pointed at Charlie during the struggle; no matter where he runs in the cabin, he can't escape being in the crosshairs of a weapon about to fire and kill him. A very funny sequence, but lifted from PATHS TO PARADISE (just as the 'Dance of the Rolls' in THE GOLD RUSH was lifted from an early Fatty Arbuckle and Buster Keaton silent one-reeler).

I love this film. When I saw it in London, my stomach ached from laughing so hard. This film IS available on tape; the owner of the one extant copy has them for sale at Grapevine Video.