Upstage

... but she pulls it off.

Upstage" (1926) is an early Norma Shearer starrer, with Oscar Shaw (wonderful dancer who only made 7 movies and who was a champion golfer, besides!), Tenen Holtz, Gwen Lee, Dorothy Phillips, Ward Crane, and others. Although not a comedy of the laughing sort, this one is listed as a "drama/romance", which is correct, but by the old-fashioned definition of comedy, or even comedy/drama, this actually fits the bill. Running at 76 minutes, it gets through the material in very watchable way. One can easily see Norma Shearer being groomed through the press and coming out smooth and ready to be wrapped around some gritty and mega-star material very soon.

Shearer begins the piece arriving in Pennsylvania Station fresh from the sticks just out of business college and she's eager to prove herself. Her snappy cockiness and hayseed naivete is both a boon and a bane. She goes to apply for a secretarial job, finds it's taken, and runs into Vaudeville performer - a genuine trouper - Shaw - who takes her under his wing as his new partner. However, she's a bit too naïve, a bit too cocky, a bit too egoistic - and certainly NOT a trouper - yet. She quits Shaw, goes with Crane, ruins the act by not being a trouper, being less than ready for the likes of anything higher than Vaudeville, etc. Guess who she gets back to? Oh, and by this time, with the intervening events, she's a trouper.

For anyone interested in Shearer and her early career, this is a must. She's quite good. There are fine scenes of 20's New York City, too, and those opening scenes in Pennsylvania Station are a treat.