User reviews

Anyone who has seen a handful of Cecil B. DeMille pictures will be able to see that they are often contradictory on many levels, and can take some bizarre turns. In the Godless Girl – his last silent feature – an exaggerated and ill-informed attack upon atheism turns into what is for its era a rather grittily authentic portrayal of a penal institution.

Interestingly, the opening scenes show how fundamentalists such as DeMille and his screenwriter Jeanie MacPherson seem only able to picture atheists as having a ritualism and desire to convert similar to that of a religious group. It's also indicative of DeMille's fundamentalism that there are rarely actual arguments for belief in his pictures – just a sprinkling of quotations from scripture, a dash of Old Testament pyrotechnics and a reverent depiction of religious figures. Here that last tactic is reversed, with the unbelievers appearing as ridiculous caricatures, their tenets belittled rather than tackled. However the Godless Girl is rare among DeMille pictures in that it does contain a passing reference to an actual philosophical argument for the existence of God, one known as the argument from beauty. But this is rather overshadowed by DeMille's preferred method – to dazzle us with miracles. So we have cross-shaped burns appearing on Lina Basquette's hands, or Tom Keene's prayer being answered in the form of a falling electrical cable in the climactic fire sequence.

In contrast to this DeMillean theism is the thoroughly researched realism of the reformatory. Depictions of suffering and sadism do crop up quite a bit in DeMille's pictures, but they were rarely this convincing and this close to home. Particularly effective is the simplicity and relentlessness of the sequence in which Keene is tortured with a fire hose by the brutish Noah Beery. Beery is of course another caricature, but the starkness of the setting and the naturalism of the extras prevent this from becoming anything like a Sunday-school portrayal of Hebrew slaves toiling under the whip.

DeMille and MacPherson would probably not have regarded these changes in tone as inconsistent, and there is in fact one consistency in the Godless Girl that we can all appreciate – a formalist one. It's rarely noted that DeMille was a master of space and framing, and he always used his command of cinematic form to serve the story. It's natural that any competent director would depict the reformatory as Spartan and enclosed – and DeMille does that with visible ceilings, tight framing, swathes of barren grey and high angles in the yard so as not to show the sky or the outside world. However, DeMille also employs similar devices in the earlier scenes at the college. Why? Because the point of the story is that both the atheist girl and the Christian boy are close-minded and prejudiced, and DeMille's formalism is echoing this. They escape into the outside world at the same time as their convictions are beginning to soften, and DeMille takes full advantage of the outdoor setting with delicate framing, dappled lighting patterns and soft focus. It also gives him the perfect backdrop for his aforementioned argument from beauty.

The acting of the two leads is not at all bad, and for the most part tends more towards naturalism than melodrama (performances in DeMille pictures tended to go one way or the other – contradictions again!) The one moment of painful exaggeration from Lina Basquette is, unsurprisingly, in her early scene at the atheist meeting. The only sour note among the cast is comical character actor Eddie Quillan as "The Goat". In a rare display of deference to an actor DeMille apparently allowed him to improvise many of his scenes, but his style of comedy is at odds with the tone of the picture and spoils some of the deeper moments. This is not to say that Quillan had no talent, or that a picture such as this has no need of comic relief. It's simply that he is effectively a clown, and would fit better in a more light-hearted picture. Marie Prevost's sardonic sidekick actually provides much more effective comic relief.

On a final note, thanks to Filmfour we now have a very fine restored print of the Godless Girl. The score is by the unparalleled Carl Davis, and like all his work is listenable without being intrusive, and has a canny use of signature themes and classical interpolations. This new edition, occasionally shown late at night on the Filmfour channel in the UK, is well worth catching.

I very much enjoyed this film. Noah Beery was appropriately villainous and the stars were attractive and appealing.

However, as a life-long atheist, I was offended by De Mille's take on the question of atheism vs. belief. It is clear that he considers atheism to be a very evil thing and something that should be shunned, if not forcibly eliminated.

To my eyes, the religious kids in the school were the truly intolerant ones, who came to the atheist meeting with the intention of breaking it up, using force if needed. Force was indeed used, and the ensuing Merle resulted in the unnecessary death of a student.

The reformatory was a hellish place, though it was interesting that De Mille put in a disclaimer to the effect that although the events depicted actually do take place in some reformatories, there are many that actually try to rehabilitate, so we shouldn't judge such places too harshly.

The first is exciting and it seems that the set was actually burned down, with injuries inflicted on the star.

As an atheist, I wasn't too fond of the heroine's conversion.

I don't usually like silent movies, finding them boring. But this one is actually very good and even quite dramatic. I wanted to comment on something said by another viewer about the score by Carl Davis. They said that the composer had stolen Paul Simon's "An American Tune". Actually, Paul Simon borrowed the theme from Bach's Chorale "Erkenne mich, mein Hueter" from the St. Matthew Passion. This is the actual theme that Mr. Davis used in his score, and he did give credit, listing this and other sources of his themes in the credits at the end of the film.

Also, while my wife and I watched the movie on TCM, we did not see any scenes with spoken dialog as another reviewer mentioned, even though TCM showed a version based on Cecil De Mille's personal nitrate print from George Eastman House. Maybe this version tried to recreate the film as originally envisioned as a full silent film with music.

B DeMille can still find enough sensational material in modern day America as an excuse to bring on chaos and destruction in The Godless Girl. It's atheists versus Christians in a struggle for the soul of roaring twenties youth not debated through civil discourse but violence and calamity with CB measuring it out in clockwork segments.

High schooler Judy Craig is out "to kill the bible" by organizing and giving lectures on atheism. When the principal gets wind of a meeting he completely abandons his responsibility and allows the student body president and his righteous classmates to deal with the problem. Displaying high school spirit like jack booted Fascists they bust up the meeting which results in a death and packs both instigators off to prison for manslaughter. Conveiently both the men's and women's reformatories are neighbors and the two end up bonding against a sadistic warden.

Basically a silent The Godless Girl offers an audacious and defiant female well ahead of her time in Judy Craig with Lena Basquette conveying a confident and independent exterior most of the film. Bob Keene has the look of an Arrow man but is dull in comparison to Lena's Judy. Marie Prevost and Eddie Quillan provide some comic bits while Noah Beery is his usual sadistic self as the corrections officer.

For his part DeMille provides an abundance of hair raising scenes including an hallucinogenic fall over a banister with the crowd looking on. C.B. is clearly on the Creator's side but he does give us a feisty heroine in the non-believer Judy while unintentionally exposing the rabid intolerance of the God squad. DeMille also seems to be at a loss on what to do between the torrid scenes but by then the provocative poster or coming attraction has already secured your money.

During the awkward transitional stage from silents to talkies, Cecil B. DeMille made this 1929 story about THE GODLESS GIRL. It's given a very heavy-handed treatment and the Christian values vs. Atheism may seem a bit jarring to modern audiences.

LINA BASQUETTE has the title role, a movie originally shot as a silent film but with some sound added before the film was released. It's an intimate drama, a crime story involving high school students, not the usual epic kind of film DeMille is famous for except for a climactic fire sequence.

A riot breaks out at high school when someone circulates pamphlets on Atheism and meets a lot of resistance from a religious group. Three of the students end up in a reformatory when one of the girls among the students dies when a stair railing collapses.

Treatment there seems to be worse than the average prison. Things go from bad to worse when brutal guard NOAH BEERY gets his hands on two of the male students disobeying rules. DeMille seems to relish showing the brutal treatment. The hero of the tale, TOM KEENE, devises an escape plan so he and Lina can escape the torments of the so-called reform school.

Suspense builds for the escape plan and there's a quieter interlude where the boy and girl with different beliefs fall in love. But then the action picks up again after the two are found by the authorities and returned to their prison. While she's in solitary, an accidental fire sets the stage for the very suspenseful conclusion wherein the hero has to come to her rescue.

Summing up: One of the better silent films, it holds the interest throughout and builds to a realistic fire sequence that director DeMille milks for all it's worth.

Having viewed a new sound-free print accompanied by a top silent-film pianist, I have developed a new respect for Cecil B deMille. I used to regard him as unwatchable. Being a little deaf, I was able to lip-read in the close-ups, so I was highly amused by the witty colloquialisms in the captions. I wonder how the people who later applied a sound track handled that! Judging by the other posts, I think this print had more in it than was shown in other countries. Comments in the foyer afterward: "Television still has a lot to learn" and from a film producer: "It's time to re-evaluate Cecil B". This retired cinematographer saw a very fine piece of direction.

Cecil B. DeMille was notorious for spectacle films, and his religious ones were always successful. This movie combines both of these, but it also employs another of DeMille's talents, social commentary.

Judy (Lina Basquette) is an atheist, and passes out flyers about her Godless club to recruit new members. Bob (Tom Keene) is a Christian who hates what Judy is doing to the school. As class president, he brings a group of believers to an atheist rally to crash the party. It becomes a violent fight between the two sides which ends in the death of a girl. The leaders of the groups, Judy and Bob, are held responsible, and are sent to reform school.

This isn't the reform school from a children's film. The guards (Noah Beery) are as harsh as jail guards and they have no tolerance for mistakes. Judy finds a friend in Mame (Marie Prevost), a believer who takes on a leadership position with Judy. Her religion detracts in no way from her spunky personality, though, and she proves to be a bright spot in such a terrible place. The two girls can't seem to avoid trouble, and neither can Bob, so the three form sort of a team. But the gongs keep ringing, signaling orders to be carried out. It is inevitable that something major happens.

Of course it does, and there are revelations. The religious aspects of the film are subtle but nonetheless powerful. Any faith can watch and enjoy this movie. It is thanks to the actors for making each lesson so strong and truthful. Basquette and Keene are great together. Prevost is outstanding in her role. She commands attention because she is equally fun and moral, adding a depth not often found in sidekick roles.

The film it an absolutely amazing example of the abilities of silent film makers. The editing is fantastic, and so many innovative camera angles are used, it's amazing that talkies took so long to re-adopt them. The finished product is polished and perfect; every second is captivating.

Many thanks go to Kevin Brownlow and Photoplay Productions for the restoration of this film. Carl Davis provides an enchanting score that compliments the action wonderfully. This is a top-notch film that was worked on by top-notch film lovers.

As someone who knew Lina personally, I can safely say that she would NEVER have categorized her life as "tragic". Like many people, she had her share of heartaches and disappointments, but her attitude was positive and she loved her life and her friends. She successfully transitioned into a post-Hollywood career breeding and judging championship Great Danes, a true passion of hers. Her sense of humor, her grace and her passion for life were inspiring to those of us fortunate enough to have known her. It was her passion that makes "The Godless Girl" memorable. It was her remarkable strength and dedication to those whom she loved that makes HER memorable.

"The Godless Girl" is a riot; indeed, it features two full-blown riots. If this late silent film were intended earnestly--and given that Cecil B. DeMille, director twice over of "The Ten Commandments" (1923 and 1956) and other straightforward religious spectacles, along with usual writer Jeanie Macpherson, made this, I assume it was--all the better, for being amused at its outrageous ostentation. It's basically a campy exploitation film, including a critique of atheism that's as sophisticated as the treatment of marijuana in "Reefer Madness" (1936), followed by scenes in an adjoining boys-and-girls prison (a so-called "reform school," for our 20-to-30-something-aged actors playing teenagers here), but produced with all the polish and panache characteristic of DeMille's usually-simplistic fare. Often, such a patently-ridiculous scenario would only work as a so-good-it's-bad film, but this one is well made throughout. It's a joy whether one is laughing at its holier-than-thou piety, shocked by the sensational brutality, excited by a chase and last-minute rescue, or if to merely appreciate the beauty films attained at the end of the silent era--before the church of talkies set the art back to the dark ages, if only for a few years.

I wonder how those not as daft as DeMille could take this film seriously otherwise. The Atheist Society plays like an exaggerated mirror-image of a proselytizing fundamentalist cult, with Judy, the godless girl, raving and gesticulating like the Maria robot inciting the workers to revolt in "Metropolis" (1927), while her fellow pupils pledge allegiance by placing their hand on the head of their evolutionary "cousin," a monkey (remember, the Scopes Trial was recent history when this was made). Judy's propaganda pamphlets and posters are absurdly heavy-headed satirical cartoons. Meanwhile, the godly boy, nicknamed "Angel" (played by an actor who would further pioneer camp in Ed Wood films) convinces the schoolmaster, who informs the student body that distributing atheistic pamphlets is punishable by imprisonment, to allow him to take the law into his own hands. He's granted the right on the condition that Angel do so without violence. Naturally, the film's first riot ensues in the subsequent sequence. The offensive portrayal of atheism is hardly alleviated by Angel's gang of holy warriors being no better, although it does make for some outrageous amusement.

After that, things quickly turn to overripe melodrama with an interfaith romance between Judy and Angel, as well as a bit of a love triangle with the inclusion of the other girl. In one scene, Judy laughably baths and frolics about in nature--her a grown woman, eye-rollingly, pretending a schoolgirl nymph. And, I don't even know what (or don't want to try) to make of two flirtatious scenes involving sausages. While Archie Angel must decide between Betty and Veronica, the reform-school inmates suffer abuse from a sadistic guard (played by a fuming Noah Beery, seemingly always on the verge or in the process of a violent outburst). As expected, Judy also begins to convert to Christianity, including after her embrace of an electric fence leaves cross-shaped stigmata on her hands. Subtle, DeMille was not. Whereas the film takes time out in the middle of all of this action for a title card explaining that not all reform schools are so bad, it makes no apologies for its religious bigotry. Appropriately enough, the whole thing climaxes in a hellish fire. I mean, William S. Hart already beat them to the punch here in "Hell's Hinges" (1916), for obvious symbolism, but it still makes for an exciting, if blunt, finale.

DeMille had a varied filmmaking career, which isn't much of a surprise given its longevity--spanning from the static Western "The Squaw Man" (1914) to such a Technicolor and VistaVision extravaganza as his 1956 "The Ten Commandments." He had some arty pictures early, including the chiaroscuro lighting in "The Cheat" (1915), then moved to alternating between sex comedies and biblical pictures, but some of his late silents and early talkies are enjoyably odd. These films often include a sensational climax, whether it be some form of construction falling apart as here or in, say, "Dynamite" (1929), or courtroom theatrics, as in "The Cheat" and his unofficially-directed "Chicago" (1927). "The Godless Girl" sits at the end of one and the beginning of another era; DeMille's last silent film, it was also released in a goat-gland version with added talkie scenes, but this adulteration doesn't seem to be in circulation, if it even exists anymore. Oh well, actors saying some of the already-over-the-top lines in the intertitles here would likely be even too much for my appreciation of bad taste.

"The Godless Girl" was director Cecil B. DeMille's last silent film. At the time, he was Hollywood's most successful director, but his last film--"The King of Kings"-- had angered some Christian viewers and he wanted a film to placate them. His idea for "The Godless Girl" came from a real news story about Hollywood High School, which was greatly embellished.

The film starts with a boy and girl who are attracted to each other. But the girl, Judy (Lina Basquette), is the head of "The Godless Society" (GS), an organization of students who wish to "kill the Bible". And the boy, Bob (Tom Keene), is student body president, devout Christian, and a model citizen. When the school's principal discovers that the nefarious GS is working to undermine society's laws, he sets out to destroy it. But Bob intervenes and says he will take care of it.

Events get out of hand and three students--Judy, Bob and class clown Samuel "Bozo" Johnson (Eddie Quillen)--are deemed responsible for a death and sent to a reformatory. This institution is like the worst adult prison. The especially sadistic head guard even twists his mustache like all respectable villains. Though there is a final act, the bulk of the film is dedicated to showing what a horrible place such institutions can be.

The film is not heavy-handed in promoting its Christian message, but it has its moments when Judy's atheistic philosophy is tested. Two such moments involve the "no atheists in foxholes" canard. The other is a simple appeal to the intelligent design view of the universe.

Regardless of DeMille's philosophical intentions, his skills as a director are remarkable. Inventive camera movements, wonderful nighttime scenes, convincing uses of fire as a dangerous element, and crowd choreography all demonstrate his talents.

The acting is true to the tradition of overacting in silent films, especially in the case of Miss Basquette. Tom Keene plays the comic part of Bob with a facility that still seems appropriate to a serious drama with deeper underpinnings.

Although the film hits the viewer over the head with its depiction of an atheistic character, to the point of putting a monkey in the scene of the GS meeting, the story still demonstrates some subtlety--sometimes feeling off track--and even some objectivity in portraying the two sides of the theistic question. Still, DeMille has stacked the deck enough to make audiences of 1929 feel that theism is the easy victor in the "war" for their souls. Religious imagery and emotional appeals to faith abound.

The restored copy (without sound) is well worth seeing.

"It is not generally known that there are Atheist Societies using the schools of the country as their battle-ground - attacking, through the Youth of the Nation, the beliefs that are sacred to most of the people," warns our introduction, "And no fanatics are so bitter as youthful fanatics." Then, a typical American school is rocked by scandal. The trouble begins when chubby atheist Lina Basquette (as Judith "Judy" Craig) has her secret Godless Society meet after distributing pamphlets in school. She and handsome classmate Tom Keene aka George Duryea (as Robert "Bob" Hathaway) are mutually aroused, but he is a die-hard Christian...

At Ms. Basquette's "Kill the Bible" meeting, boyish Eddie Quillan (as Samuel "Bozo" Johnson) almost joins the Godless, but balks when told he'll have to give up Christmas. Later, Mr. Keene arrives with some angry Christians. They fight with the Atheists, to a tragic conclusion. These three principal players are sent to a conveniently adjacent boy/girl reform school. Basquette meets Bible-thumbing Marie Prevost (as Mame), and the two women become chums. Brutish warden Noah Beery treats everyone badly...

This, Cecil B. DeMille's last silent film, had a couple of unimaginative "talking" scenes added in 1929, but it didn't help "The Godless Girl" create much of a flock at the box office. The film promises to be about the timely "threat" Atheists pose to Christians, but is really about bad Youth Reformatory conditions. The leads seem miscast as potential teen-aged (?) sweethearts, while Mr. Quillan and Mr. Prevost perform their roles adeptly. The renowned Mr. DeMille has some exciting moments and images to share.

The version presently seen is the 2007 restoration of DeMille's 1928 original by the George Eastman House for "Photoplay Productions". The 1929 version's talking scenes are omitted. The accomplished Carl Davis contributed a new soundtrack. However well the musicians perform, it is not how the film originally sounded, making it a different viewing experience. Unfortunately, original synchronized sound was not utilized or followed; probably, it was not needed until the film was to move from the coasts to general release, by which time Pathé had withdrawn the movie for sound sequences. Both 1928 and 1929 versions survive.

****** The Godless Girl (8/23/28) Cecil B. DeMille ~ Lina Basquette, Tom Keene, Marie Prevost, Eddie Quillan

***** The Godless Girl (3/31/29) ~ synchronized sound effects track

***** The Godless Girl (5/27/07) ~ Carl Davis soundtrack

Godless Girl, The (1929)

*** (out of 4)

This here turned out to be DeMille final silent as well as his first sound film. Apparently the movie was shot completely silent but after filming and sound films had become popular, they went back and added a dialogue sequence but the version I watched, from Photoplay, doesn't have that sequence in it. The film is about two teens: Judy (Lina Basquette) a hard boiled Atheist and Bob (Tom Keene) a boy who believes in nothing but the Bible. Judy has a crush on him but he doesn't know it, which leads him and a gang of Christian to break into her meeting. A riot breaks out and an Atheist girl is killed so Judy, Bob and another kid end up at a reform school where they are abused by the evil guard (Noah Beery). Soon both Judy and Bob are rethinking what they believed when they entered the reformatory. This is a rather strange and bizarre film that's main goal is to preach intolerance but along the way we get all sorts of strange stuff from campy anti-God speeches to brutal violence against kids and then transforming into a tender love story. The movie starts to wear out its welcome in the final act but this remains a strange little film that is so well-told that even though who don't like silents would probably enjoy it. The first part of the film, involving the Christian and Atheist gangs, is rather campy because of how much the two sides are going after one another. Even though it comes off campy it leads to one of the most dramatic and rather beautiful scenes I've seen from any silent and that's where the girl, an Atheist, is afraid to die because she doesn't know what's next. She mentions she's afraid to be alone and a policeman tells her something, that I won't ruin, which comes off so tender that you somewhat feel bad for laughing at some stuff that happened before it. When the prison drama sets in we get some pretty strong violence, which is pure DeMille pulp. Beery is downright evil in his role and is a lot of fun to watch. Basquette, who apparently received a letter from an unknown Hitler after making this film, is very good in her role and really carries this thing from start to finish. Keene, probably best known today for his role in Plan 9 From Outer Space is very good as well. While this film isn't a complete success it remains a very entertaining one that manages to get its point across mainly because it beats the viewer over the head with a Bible. I don't like that much preaching in movies but whoever said DeMille would hold back when wanting to get a message across?