The Wind (1928)

A frail young woman from the east moves in with her cousin in the west, where she causes tension within the family and is slowly driven mad.

Director:

Victor Sjöström

Writers:

Frances Marion (scenario), Dorothy Scarborough (from the novel by)

Stars:

Lillian Gish, Lars Hanson, Montagu Love

1 win.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Lillian Gish	...	Letty
Lars Hanson	...	Lige Hightower
Montagu Love	...	Whit Roddy
Dorothy Cumming	...	Cora
Edward Earle	...	Beverly
William Orlamond	...	Sourdough
Carmencita Johnson	...	Cora's Child
Leon Janney	...	Cora's Child (as Laon Ramon)
Billy Kent Schaefer	...	Cora's Child

Storyline

Innocent and naive Letty Mason moves from her Virginia home to Sweet Water on the western prairies to live on the ranch of her cousin Beverly, his wife Cora and their three children. Letty quickly learns how inhospitable the environment in Sweet Water is, the most obvious item being the incessant wind. But equally inhospitable are the unrefined way the people in Sweet Water live to which she is unaccustomed, and Cora, who believes Letty has come to steal Beverly away from her. As such, Cora orders Letty out of her and Bev's house. With no money, Letty is forced to accept one of the marriage proposal she receives, the lesser evil being that from Bev and Cora's ranching neighbor, Lige Hightower, a man who she does not love. Despite a less than harmonious start, Letty, in part due to her isolation as she is more often than not forced to stay inside due to the wind, begins to have affection for Lige, who wants to do right by her, and who promises to send her back to Virginia when he is ...

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Plot Keywords:

wind | sand | isolation | marriage | storm | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance | Western

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 November 1928 (USA)

Also Known As:

Stormen

Filming Locations:

Bakersfield, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min 79 min (TCM print)

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

During filming, temperatures reached 120 degrees Fahrenheit, making life miserable for both cast and crew. The intense heat caused the film stock to warp, and it had to be packed in ice to remain intact. Lillian Gish touched an outside door handle, and was so severely burned that a small part of her palm's flesh was scalded off.

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Connections

Featured in Without Lying Down: Frances Marion and the Power of Women in Hollywood (2000)

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Soundtracks

"A Cowboy's Lament"
Played at the Shindig

User Reviews

Another MGM Silent Classic

Peculiar, but brilliantly filmed silent classic starring Gish as a young woman who battles for her life as she lives in the windy Texas desert, and is torn between two men who want her. Special effects are quite breathtaking for its time and since it was filmed in the scorching Mojave Desert in California.