Here it is, the world’s most famous “Haunted Film.” A $2 million budgeted black and white silent feature about the lives and scandals of 1920s movie folk, RETURN TO BABYLON (2013) was co-scripted and directed by Alex Monty Canawati (the subject of the upcoming documentary MONTY AND THE MOVIES), and co-produced by one of its major cast members Maria Conchita Alonso (which likely explains the preponderance of Hispanic actors).
The film came about, according to Canawati, after he found 19 rolls of unopened black and white film on a sidewalk in Hollywood. Canawati initially used the film to make a 1999 short, BIRTH OF BABYLON, and parlayed that into RETURN TO BABYLON, filmed in many of the actual homes of the silent movie stars being profiled, as well as “The Castle,” a Los Feliz based mansion owned by the band Love that’s said to be haunted. The cast claims they were subjected to “strange sensations” during filming, and a close analysis of the resulting footage allegedly turned up “anomalies” like distorted faces, morphing body parts, etc., despite the fact that no special effects were utilized.
If the film got any substantial distribution I have yet to find out about it (according to the imdb, the 2013 Los Angeles premiere marked the sole release). RETURN TO BABYLON has, however, received plenty of notoriety that I’m not sure is entirely justified.
Essentially a dramatized history lesson inspired by Kenneth Anger’s notorious HOLLYWOOD BABYLON (1959), the film takes the form of an episodic depiction of the debauched lives of several 1920s-era denizens of the “Metropolis of Make Believe.” Among them are Clara Bow (Jennifer Tilly), a huge star whose decadent ways got the best of her; Gloria Swanson (Debi Mazar), the onetime “Queen of Hollywood” who became increasingly freaked out about the coming of sound; the alleged lesbian Alla Nazimova (Laura Harring); the morphine addicted Alma Rubens (Marina Bakica); Erich Von Stroheim (Robert Sherman), a director done in by his combative nature; Josephine Baker (Rolanda Watts), a dedicated civil rights activist in addition to being a famous dancer and singer; and Mrs. Peabody (Tippi Hedren), the private secretary of Paramount Pictures co-founder Adolph Zuker (Michael Goldman), who served as a ringleader of sorts to this motley crew.
More substantial attention is paid to Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle (Brett Ashy), who was falsely accused of the rape-murder of actress Virginia Rappe (Ione Skye); Lupe Velez (Maria Conchita Alonso), who parlayed an appearance in THE GAUCHO (1927) with Douglas Fairbanks (Maxwell DeMille) into a robust Hollywood career; William Desmond Taylor (Jack Atlantis), a director who was shot at his home on February 1, 1922, in a case that remains unsolved; and Rudolph Valentino (Canawati), whose life and love affairs were highly varied and not a little dramatic.
Removing the haunted film business from consideration, this is a strong film. In the category of modern day silent cinema, I prefer it to THE ARTIST (2011), as RETURN TO BABYLON accomplishes its intentionally archaic aura without mawkishness, and is arguably the more ambitious of the two films. Its cast is vast enough to fill out a Hollywood epic (with many of the crew doubling as cast members) and the art direction and location work are equally imposing—and damned impressive considering the sparseness of the budget. It’s far too much for the 75 minute runtime, with several of the mini bios on display feeling overly brief (the longest is the final segment about Rudolph Valentino, headlined by Canawati himself).
But getting back to the film’s major selling point: I’m afraid that taken purely as an occult relic it doesn’t work. The supposed ghostly distortions that afflict the imagery are visible only in single frames, meaning intense study is required to find them; if you’re up for this have at it, but I’m not.
Vital Statistics
RETURN TO BABYLON
Montebello Films/Ambeth Entertainment
Director: Alex Monty Canawati
Producers: Maria Conchita Alonso, Stanley Sheff
Screenplay: Alex Monty Canawati, Bruce Pitzer, Stanley Sheff
Cinematography: Scott Dale, Cricket Peters
Editing: Stanley Sheff
Cast: Maria Conchita Alonso, Jennifer Tilly, Debi Mazar, Ione Skye, Tippi Hedren, Marina Bakica, Don Bernhardt, Phillip Bloch, Kevin Dailey, Alexis Del Lago, Alexandro Delgado, Maxwell Demille, Brett Ashy, Jack Atlantis, Alex Monty Canawati, Wendy Caron, Michael Goldman, Laura Harring, Gloria Kisel