Elsa Lanchester in "The Tonic" ('Silent Short' - 1928) with Charles Laughton

Описание: Elsa Lanchester had made quite a name for herself on the London stage in the 1920s with appearances in revue and cabaret, as well as in the straight theatre and a few silent films. Her fame seems to have been sufficient for H. G. Wells, of all people, to write three little stories for her that were turned into short silent films. These were "Bluebottles," "Daydreams" and "The Tonic." It seems that no English prints survive of the latter, only a German-titled version, the one presented here.

The scenario concerns a hypochondriac old lady whose family can't wait until she pops her clogs so that they can get their hands on her fortune. They send their hopelessly incompetent house-maid (Elsa, here named Augusta) to administer the old lady's daily medicine in the hope that she'll mix the medicines up, but to no avail. The old lady's doctor informs the maid that the old girl is actually a hypochondriac and that a big shock will cure her. Elsa duly wheels the old lady into a busy road and then onto a railway line. The oncoming train tips the old girl onto the embankment and cures her instantly. The old lady then informs her family that as a result, she has adopted Elsa!

At the time, Charles Laughton was making his name on the London stage and had begun a romantic attachment with Elsa Lanchester. He had yet to appear in any movies himself, so just for fun he took small parts in each of her three 'silent shorts.' However, his Oscar-winning role in "The Private Life of Henry VIII" (1933) brought him international stardom and thereafter Elsa, whom he'd married in 1929, had to take something of a back seat in their relationship.

Although this little film is clearly archaic, it might be of interest to admirers of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Laughton. I should add that finding suitable piano music for the background wasn't very easy, so I've used some of Edward German's 'incidental music' instead!