Feel My Pulse

518. FEEL MY PULSE (1926-USA). With BEBE DANIELS, RICHARD ARLEN, WILLIAM POWELL Directed by GREGORY LA CAVA. Light-hearted comedy-romance, featuring a fine cast, a witty script, and the deft directorial touch Of Gregory La Cava (“My Man Godfreyr “Stage Door”). The zany plot is set into motion by a ‘millionaire health cranks” strange will, stipulating that his infant daughter lead a germ-free life. Hoping to keep his hold on the family fortune, an uncle raise her on disinfectants and an army Of doctors and nurses, and warns her not to strain her delicate heart. When she’s twenty-one, she travels to an island sanitarium she has inherited, expecting to find peace and quiet. But unbeknownst to her, the joint has become a base for prohibition rum-runners. Their leader, Zilch (William Powell), attempting to fool her, makes the place seem like a real sanitarium, and forces his gang to act as patients. Sympathetic, she volunteers to be their nurse, although things get pretty confusing. (She asks one patient if he has a Òlocal bruiseÓ to which he replies, “Local brews, nothing. It’s all imported.”) A handsome gang memberÑsecretly a spying reporter-tells her the truth, and they fight Off the others, who are themselves engaged in a furious shootout with rival rum-runners. The lady turns out to be formidable-battling the criminals with barrels Of hootch and chlorOform (watch for the surrealistic scene in which the drugged men dance around in extreme slow motion) and proves there’s nothing wrong with her heart. Actually, you may need to feel your own pulse as you watch this rollicking farce-just to make sure you’re not being overcome with laughter! Silent film with original music score, correct projection speed. 86 minutes. ÒSilentÓ Comedy