Peter Pan (1924)

The first film adaptation of J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan was this 1924 silent production. Directed by Herbert Brenon, Peter Pan is a most interesting picture that can be hard to find like many movies from the era. It was lost for quite some time before James Card of the George Eastman House film archive allowed it to be brought out for restoration. What we end up with is a really attractive picture on DVD, windowboxed with rounded corners and featuring all the wondrous glory of sepia and black and white.

Peter Pan is fascinating for a number of reasons. The casting of the main character has always been somewhat unique due to the fact that a female was traditionally put into the role. That occurs here as well, with the virtual unknown Betty Bronson playing Peter. From what I could find out, Bronson was 17 at the time. The effects are really something and actually compare to the effects of similar picture in the 40s and 50s.

The story is familiar. The Darling children are taken by Peter Pan (Bronson) to Neverland, a magical place of homesick children and Captain Hook (Ernest Torrence). Peter considers one of the Darling children, Wendy (Mary Brian), as a mother figure but this story tells us that Wendy feels something more for Peter and wants him as a boyfriend. The feeling isn’t reciprocated by the rather dense Peter and that accounts for a good deal of comic relief.

Peter has no intentions of growing up and seems to enjoy the rather raucous lifestyle he leads in Neverland. Hook, meanwhile, tries to capture the Lost Boys and end Peter’s youthful exuberance once and for all. A crocodile, a giant dog and a pile of other characters also work into it. And then there’s Tiger Lily (Anna May Wong) and Tinker Bell (Virginia Browne Faire) to add a few more entanglements to the fun.

Right from the opening moments, Peter Pan stands out as something special. Nana the dog romps and roams around rather strangely, making the oddest facial expressions. Nana is George Ali in a dog suit, in fact, and the performance is really quite exceptional. It’s thought that Ali also plays the crocodile, but there’s no confirmation of that.

Bronson was personally selected by Barrie to play the role of Peter and she does a bang-up job. She captures the energy and joy of the eternal boy, gleefully slashing and dashing through her scenes with spirited precision. Some have complained about a lack of chemistry between her character and Brian’s Wendy, but I saw the fumbling of a dutifully awkward relationship. It is rather suitable that poor Peter, who can only think of Wendy as a mother, only offers his “thimbles” with the closed lips of a son.

Apparently two versions of Peter Pan exist, with one being rather Americanized (the one I saw) and the other couched with U.K. references. On the American version, the Lost Boys take over the Jolly Roger vessel and raise an American flag. They also refuse to fight with the pirates because they don’t want to betray the stars and stripes. It’s an interesting patriotic touch that keeps the movie entrenched in its time.

Tinker Bell is also a remarkable touch. She is presented primarily as a sort of sparkler, I think, but it’s really difficult to see the wiring (as it is also difficult to see the wiring during the flying sequences, for the most part) and the effects work is quite good. She really is the magical fairy figure we’ve come to know so well over the years before Disney turned her into a franchise all her own.

If you can manage it, be sure to check out 1924’s Peter Pan. It’s an excellent indication of what’s to come in the Disney version, right down to the look and whimsical feel of the picture, and it’s an energetic, dazzling look at what can be done with a little innovation and love in the days well before CGI took over the business of special effects. Peter Pan is an industrious fantasy picture that really is fun for the whole family.