Seventy-five years before it was released as an Oscar-winning musical, Chicago was a sassy silent film created by Cecil B. DeMille's production company. It boasted a brilliant turn by Phyllis Haver as the heartless Roxie and, just to make things yummier, it was secretly directed by Mr. DeMille himself!
The story should be familiar to most filmgoers. The blonde seductress Roxie Hart has been two-timing her good-natured husband Amos (Victor Varconi). Roxie is a true gold digger, and Amos's empty pockets don't turn the girl on any longer. She has been having an affair with a moneyed businessman, Rodney Casely (gravel-voiced character actor Eugene Pallette), and when Casely tries to drop her, Roxie shoots him. The district attorney (Walter Richmond) is more than ready to string the murderess up, but a reporter (T. Roy Barnes) sees a way to milk the case and sell some papers. He dubs Roxie "the Jazz Slayer" and plasters her pretty face on the front page. A celebrity is born!
It's a terrifically entertaining mix of humor and melodrama, as well as a pungent critique of trash journalism. It's a film that was thought to be lost for a long time, until an intact print was found in DeMille's archives in 2006.
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