On the heels of their successful pairing in Seventh Heaven, Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell returned as star-crossed lovers again in Street Angel. By the title of the film, one can tell Gaynor is somehow going to be mixed up with prostitution. She turns to it briefly, although not entirely (thankfully for 1928 audiences), because her ailing mother needs some medicine she can not otherwise afford. She's caught but escapes to a traveling circus and falls in love with an idealistic painter played by Farrell. Farrell, though handsome, was not the best of actors and faded from the limelight when the sound era took over. The story is pure fluff and contrived to say the least, but its Gaynor's performance, the cinematography, and Frank Borzage's direction which carry the film. Borzage owes much to German Expressionism in his shooting of this film. The first half of the film moves at a good pace, but the second half drags incessantly at times with close-ups of Gaynor that linger forever, capturing her waif-like, angelic look. The whistling Gaynor and Farrell do throughout the film grows more tiresome with each succeeding episode. As in many silent films, the pace varies in average films of the period. This was one of the films which included sound effects, musical interludes, and transition music but not spoken dialog in the transition period between silents and sound. **1/2 of 4 stars.

By the late 20s, director Frank Borzage was really starting to find his rhythm. He was always prolific and his films were largely successful, but his unique brand of romanticism was starting to take inspiration from German Expression and, in particular, the work of F.W. Murnau. The late 20s saw him direct 7th Heaven, Street Angel and Lucky Star - all huge successes, and all starring the glamorous pair of actors Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell. These movies helped establish Borzage as a champion of the lower classes, where he would find "human souls made great by love and adversity." Street Angel was of his finest and most unjustly forgotten pictures, and while it boasts a Naples setting described as "laughter-loving, careless, sordid," Borzage is keen to highlight how a decent and honest person can be left humiliated and shunned by society for a moment of sheer desperation born out of poverty.

The film introduces our heroine Angela (Ganyor) as she is receiving some devastating news from the local doctor: her desperately sick mother will die without urgent medical treatment, only Angela is so poor that she can't afford the medicine required to make her mother better. With seemingly no other option, Angela takes to the streets to solicit men, and when that doesn't work, she looks to thievery. She is caught red-handed, and is charged not only for attempted theft, but also for prostitution, becoming the 'street angel' of the title. The court sentences her to a year of hard labour, but knowing her mother is alone and dying, Angel manages to escape custody. On her return home, she finds her mother already dead, draping her lifeless arms around her in a desperate plea for affection. With the police now hunting her, Angela joins up with a travelling circus, who welcome the beautiful lady with open arms, despite her recent run-ins with the law.

Time with the circus folk toughens Angela up. She vows to go on fighting, and turns her back on the idea of love. If you've ever seen a romantic movie then you'll know where the story is going, and soon enough a young artist named Gino (Farrell) has his head turned by the charming tightrope walker. They fall in love, but an accident means the couple must return to Naples, a city which threatens to expose Angela's past and send her back to jail. The story is predictable enough, but Borzage finds real poetry in this tale of two lovers brought together by fate. Murnau's Sunrise had been released just a year before, and Borzage had clearly taken notice. From a purely visual standpoint, Street Angel is one of the most innovative movies of its time. The camera feels constantly in motion as it navigates Angel's treacherous path with a looming sense of unease, and settles down to savour the small beautiful moments of Angela and Gino's romance. It all leads to a breathtaking final scene that takes place in a world of deceptive shadows and fog, a moment which may bring our lead characters together again for the final time. It's the work of cinematographers Paul Ivano and Ernest Palmer, and it's one of the most splendid sights in silent cinema.