Director's Spotlight
Senior Film Conservator

Director's Spotlight: United States
A Deep Dive into the 1923 Vision of Scott Sidney
As a cultural artifact of the 1923s, Take Your Choice provides the visionary mind of its creator, Scott Sidney. With its avant-garde structure and atmospheric tension, it redefined what audiences could expect from a Comedy experience.
In Take Your Choice, Scott Sidney pushes the boundaries of conventional narrative. The film's unique approach to its subject matter has sparked endless debates and interpretations among cinephiles and critics alike.
In this work, Scott Sidney explores the intersection of Comedy and United States cultural identity. The meticulous attention to detail suggests a deep-seated commitment to pushing the boundaries of the medium, ensuring that Take Your Choice remains a relevant topic of study for Comedy enthusiasts.
| Cinematography | Handheld |
| Soundtrack | Experimental |
| Editing | Elliptical |
| Art Direction | Expressionist |
Visualizing the convergence of Scott Sidney's style and the core Comedy narrative.
In consequence of having lost an election bet, Dick (Bobby Vernon) is obliged to roller-skate about town in evening clothes and a top hat. Of course, he eventually runs afoul of the police and in eluding pursuit hooks on the rear end of an auto, which turns out to be a police department car en route to the station house. In court, Dick's skates precipitate a series of accidents in which the judge fares badly. His honor, incensed, sentences Dick to six months solitary confinement, but upon the plea of Dick's father, who is a friend of the judge, sentence is suspended with the proviso that Dick gets married within a week. Matrimony doesn't appeal to Dick but neither does six months solitary confinement. He writes five proposals to as many fair candidates. Having chosen one of the five letters at random, he drops it in the mail box. The family butler finds the remaining four letters on Dick's desk, and true to the training of a good butler he mails them without Dick's knowledge. At this juncture, father's partner arrives with his pretty daughter. Love at first sight. All's rosy - till the girls, who have received Dick's unauthorized proposals, get busy. Each, of course, is just wild to deliver the fatal "Yes!" to Dick's offer of marriage. Complications galore. Eventually, Dick loses his real sweetheart, and father, disgusted, cuts him off without a cent. "But what's a man without an inheritance!" chorus Dick's quartet of fiancee's as they promptly exit. Dick disgraced; the girl inconsolable; both fathers wrathful. Then the butler to the rescue: "I wrote those letters to the young ladies, sir, to help Mr. Dick get married!" he explains. Reconciliation and kisses.
Decades after its release, Take Your Choice remains a vital piece of the cinematic puzzle. Its influence can be seen in countless modern works, solidifying Scott Sidney's status as a master of the craft in United States and beyond.