Best Actor 1928: Richard Barthelmess in The Patent Leather Kid

Richard Barthelmess received one of his two Oscar nominations for portraying the titular character of The Patent Leather Kid.

The Patent Leather Kid is a slow and overlong, though not really terrible film, that follows a boxer turned soldier.

 

Often times silent performers often had a pretty distinct look, I would say that isn't really true for Richard Barthelmess. He honestly just looks like "some guy", which does make it as easy to stand out within silence as some performers. Although I think to be fair to Barthelmess he doesn't have a lot of the qualities that are immediately more problematic in attempted dramatic silent actors. This as he doesn't immediately start doing the bug eyes and wild expressions, in fact it must be said he acts quite well in his opening scene, where we see the kid entering a boxing ring, described as having a great ego. Well Barthelmess exudes that with this sly grin on his face towards the crowd and just the manner of a man on top the world. A flaw I suppose with the film actually is this is not a silent film that makes use of the "handicapped" version of the medium particularly well. This as it often times kept me wishing we could actually hear the characters, which isn't always the case with silent films. I suppose one has to give credit to Barthelmess's performance however that I wished that. This as in his romantic scene, one can see the manner of the seduction in the instance, a seduction still with a certain narcissistic glint. This even as there is some ego felt, but in a way perhaps even more needed to be conveyed however that sits on the film rather than what Barthelmess is doing. Of course as much as Barthelmess establishes the character, he perhaps struggles a bit in making us care about him in any particular way, although I wouldn't say this is his fault.

I'll admit the film isn't helping him there when early on the film he punches out his love interest to shut her up, in what I believe is intended as a comic scene. I suppose Barthelmess handles that moment as best as he can but it doesn't endear us to the kid, even in a self-destructive protagonist kind of way. I suppose thankfully he gets knocked out himself, and again the break of that ego is actually a well performed moment. This in conveying the moment of disbelief and distress effectively to be sure. Afterwards even in his presentation of the man just with a bitterness within his expression. The film then shifts to being about World War I somewhat randomly, where the kid initially avoids fighting, but I guess enough people guilt him into it, to eventually do it. So as a soldier it must be said that Barthelmess continues to acquit himself well enough. We are given consistent understanding of his emotion, whether it be frustration of his position or eventually the natural wartime concerns. He kind of takes a backseat to the depiction of the war more often than not, but when it does cut to him he does deliver well enough. This even in a moment of dealing with a dying comrade, Barthelmess artfully goes from empathy, to sadness, to anger within the moment. It is without a doubt some fine performing. Although the film struggled to hold my attention whenever I saw what Barthelmess was actually doing, he was delivering on the story of the kid. This in his transformation from selfish boxer to selfless hero. I wouldn't say this is well articulated in the film, but Barthelmess creates the appropriate arc with just his own performance, at least to the best of his abilities given the limitations of the film. Although I felt particularly clinical when watching this film, I can't fault Barthelmess. This is a good performance that conveys the emotions of the piece without resorting to the standard overacting of the period, even if I never cared about the piece.