This is quite simply one of the handful of greatest achievements in the history of visual storytelling. There are images as fresh, as inventive as any you will ever see. You may find some of Gish's emoting a little over the top, but immediately there follow moments when she is as subtle and complex as anyone who came after her. She did, after all, invent screen acting as we now know it. One may wish for the original ending Gish and Sjostrom wanted; but the final images as re-shot were still created by artists at the height of their respective powers, and are memorable in their own right. The desert wind lives and howls in this film, as it has done only rarely in films by John Ford and David Lean. Anyone who doubts that cinema is art has never seen The Wind.
62 Reviews
One of Gish's Finest
Shelly_Servo300016 August 2002
Lillian Gish's legendary career was nearly as lengthy as her life. Time and time again, she has shown audiences that she was truly one of the finest actresses who ever lived. A perfect example of her power and artistry is in "The Wind".
Miss Gish plays "Letty", a young girl from Virginia who moves to her cousin's house on the wild, open plains of Texas. The plot is very interesting and very fluid. Miss Gish is wonderful as usual (the sequence of events at the end of the movie is among the finest performances on film) but the real star of the movie is Swedish heartthrob Lars Hanson. A real delightful performance, with real charisma.
A must-see film that deserves more recognition.
Miss Gish plays "Letty", a young girl from Virginia who moves to her cousin's house on the wild, open plains of Texas. The plot is very interesting and very fluid. Miss Gish is wonderful as usual (the sequence of events at the end of the movie is among the finest performances on film) but the real star of the movie is Swedish heartthrob Lars Hanson. A real delightful performance, with real charisma.
A must-see film that deserves more recognition.
Silent Masterpiece
kester_gillard14 February 2005
An awesome, dark & atmospheric film. Gish is superb as the fragile Letty driven to the brink of madness by the incessant wind whipping up the sand. Her portrayal, with her wide staring eyes & tensing hands as the madness threatens to overwhelm her is stunning. The film takes its time to establish its characters, with a constant backdrop of the menace of the environment & also the danger of violence & the descent into madness, building to a thundering & almost unbearably tense experience with the actual sand storm itself. A true classic of the silent era capturing a performer at the peak of her powers-the image of Letty staring wide eyed through the window as the sand uncovers the body will stay with you.
Outstanding Atmosphere
Snow Leopard21 March 2002
The outstanding atmosphere makes this classic melodrama especially memorable. The story and the acting would have made a pretty good movie by themselves, but it is "The Wind" itself that makes it something more. Not only is the constant presence of the wind a well-conceived figurative parallel to the events in the characters' lives, but making it work on the screen was also a remarkable technical achievement for its era.
Lillian Gish is deservedly praised for her role as Letty, a young woman from the east who travels to a strange and unforgiving region. This is the kind of role that Gish always seemed born to play. But Lars Hanson also does an excellent job in an even more difficult role. In order for the story to work, Hanson has to make his character fully sympathetic to the audience, while at the same time making it plausible that Gish's character does not care for him very much.
It's still very impressive the way that the powerful prairie winds are made such an indispensable part of the movie. It must have involved a great deal of work and sacrifice to achieve such realism without fancy technology. And it is masterful the way that the howling, never-ceasing winds are used to parallel the conflicts among the characters. This is one of the fine classics of the silent era that should not be missed.
Lillian Gish is deservedly praised for her role as Letty, a young woman from the east who travels to a strange and unforgiving region. This is the kind of role that Gish always seemed born to play. But Lars Hanson also does an excellent job in an even more difficult role. In order for the story to work, Hanson has to make his character fully sympathetic to the audience, while at the same time making it plausible that Gish's character does not care for him very much.
It's still very impressive the way that the powerful prairie winds are made such an indispensable part of the movie. It must have involved a great deal of work and sacrifice to achieve such realism without fancy technology. And it is masterful the way that the howling, never-ceasing winds are used to parallel the conflicts among the characters. This is one of the fine classics of the silent era that should not be missed.
A Masterpiece by Any Standard.
Prof_Lostiswitz1 July 2004
I've watched The Wind several times, and I am convinced that it is one of the greatest movies ever. It is certainly the best silent western, and Lillian Gish has never been so profound as she is here.
What lifts it to the rank of a masterpiece is the passion of the direction and camera-work, and it certainly shows the advantage in having a mature artist like director Victor Sjöström. The central character is, as promised, the wind, and the raw power of nature supersedes the melodrama. You become engulfed in the tempests and hurricanes, and it is only to easy to understand that they might drive the young lady mad.
Lillian Gish also does a magnificent job; her usual overacting is actually appropriate for this role, as the powerful cinematic images have established the likeliness that she is falling to pieces. This surely has to be her greatest performance. Dorothy Cumming is also equally powerful as the embittered "other woman", one of the most evil characters to be found in a western. The other actors are adequate and satisfying without rising to the level of genius. Their acting is natural and unforced, unlike most silents.
It definitely gains from being a silent movie, all that dialogue would become a distraction if we had to listen to it. It helps that Thames Silents Orchestra has composed a beautiful and moving soundtrack, one that would sound good on a CD recording.
If you have any appreciation for silent film, rush out and get this one today!
PS Everyone seems to hate the studio-imposed ending, including Gish herself. Well, they are wrong! The Wind was going to end with Gish escaping the bad guy's advances by fleeing into a sandstorm and perishing...typical Victorian tragic melodrama, the sort of thing spoofed by Chaplin and other comedians.
What we get instead is considerably more complex and interesting, and contains some of the best scenes in the movie. I won't give the credit to the studio execs who demanded the revised ending; obviously, Sjöström was a genius who knew how to work wonders with whatever material he was given.
What lifts it to the rank of a masterpiece is the passion of the direction and camera-work, and it certainly shows the advantage in having a mature artist like director Victor Sjöström. The central character is, as promised, the wind, and the raw power of nature supersedes the melodrama. You become engulfed in the tempests and hurricanes, and it is only to easy to understand that they might drive the young lady mad.
Lillian Gish also does a magnificent job; her usual overacting is actually appropriate for this role, as the powerful cinematic images have established the likeliness that she is falling to pieces. This surely has to be her greatest performance. Dorothy Cumming is also equally powerful as the embittered "other woman", one of the most evil characters to be found in a western. The other actors are adequate and satisfying without rising to the level of genius. Their acting is natural and unforced, unlike most silents.
It definitely gains from being a silent movie, all that dialogue would become a distraction if we had to listen to it. It helps that Thames Silents Orchestra has composed a beautiful and moving soundtrack, one that would sound good on a CD recording.
If you have any appreciation for silent film, rush out and get this one today!
PS Everyone seems to hate the studio-imposed ending, including Gish herself. Well, they are wrong! The Wind was going to end with Gish escaping the bad guy's advances by fleeing into a sandstorm and perishing...typical Victorian tragic melodrama, the sort of thing spoofed by Chaplin and other comedians.
What we get instead is considerably more complex and interesting, and contains some of the best scenes in the movie. I won't give the credit to the studio execs who demanded the revised ending; obviously, Sjöström was a genius who knew how to work wonders with whatever material he was given.
ALMOST gave it a 10
preppy-32 January 2004
Warning: Spoilers
One of the last great silent films.
Letty (Lillian Gish) travels from Virginia to Texas to stay with her best friend. Unfortunately, he lives in a place in the middle of the desert and the wind is constantly blowing and throwing sand around. Letty begins to slowly go mad living there. She marries a man she doesn't love (handsome Lars Hanson), kills a man who rapes her and almost kills herself.
The plot is kind of vague but plot isn't a top priority here. Mood is and this film captures it brilliantly. You get to feel the isolation that Letty feels and understand her depression. And, even though this is silent, the music score makes you "hear" the sand constantly swirling around...and you see it almost all the time. Director Victor Sjostrom does an excellent job--some scenes are just eye-popping. A cyclone hitting the small "town" is still impressive and the final wind storm is unbelievable. Location shooting in the Mohave Desert (where it reached 110% in the shade!) really helped the film.
The print I saw had a brief introduction by Lillian Gish filmed around 1988 (she, sadly, died in 1993). It seems she brought the film to the attention of the studio; hand-picked the director and leading man (both Swedish) and said it was the most uncomfortable film experience she ever had. But she loved the film. I can see why.
The acting is just great. Gish is superb...a truly great performance and she's incredibly beautiful. Lars Hanson matches her. He's tall, strong and undeniably handsome--the sequence in which he realizes Letty doesn't love him is heart-breaking. Mantagu Love is very good as the slimy man who attacks Letty. The only bad part is William Orlamond playing the "comic" relief--he's obnoxious, overacting and unfunny.
I almost gave this a 10...but I couldn't. DEFINITE SPOILER AHEAD!!!!!The ending ruined this film. It has a big ridiculous happy ending that I didn't buy for one second. The original ending had Letty running off into the desert to die. Studio execs at the time wanted a happy ending so it was filmed, under strong protest, by director Sjostrom. In fact, he was so upset about changing the ending, he went back to Sweden and never came back to Hollywood again! SPOILER ENDED!!!!!!!!
The film was a major bomb when it came out. It's now regarded as a classic...but not back then. So it's an incredible, great silent film well worth seeing...but that ending!!!!
Letty (Lillian Gish) travels from Virginia to Texas to stay with her best friend. Unfortunately, he lives in a place in the middle of the desert and the wind is constantly blowing and throwing sand around. Letty begins to slowly go mad living there. She marries a man she doesn't love (handsome Lars Hanson), kills a man who rapes her and almost kills herself.
The plot is kind of vague but plot isn't a top priority here. Mood is and this film captures it brilliantly. You get to feel the isolation that Letty feels and understand her depression. And, even though this is silent, the music score makes you "hear" the sand constantly swirling around...and you see it almost all the time. Director Victor Sjostrom does an excellent job--some scenes are just eye-popping. A cyclone hitting the small "town" is still impressive and the final wind storm is unbelievable. Location shooting in the Mohave Desert (where it reached 110% in the shade!) really helped the film.
The print I saw had a brief introduction by Lillian Gish filmed around 1988 (she, sadly, died in 1993). It seems she brought the film to the attention of the studio; hand-picked the director and leading man (both Swedish) and said it was the most uncomfortable film experience she ever had. But she loved the film. I can see why.
The acting is just great. Gish is superb...a truly great performance and she's incredibly beautiful. Lars Hanson matches her. He's tall, strong and undeniably handsome--the sequence in which he realizes Letty doesn't love him is heart-breaking. Mantagu Love is very good as the slimy man who attacks Letty. The only bad part is William Orlamond playing the "comic" relief--he's obnoxious, overacting and unfunny.
I almost gave this a 10...but I couldn't. DEFINITE SPOILER AHEAD!!!!!The ending ruined this film. It has a big ridiculous happy ending that I didn't buy for one second. The original ending had Letty running off into the desert to die. Studio execs at the time wanted a happy ending so it was filmed, under strong protest, by director Sjostrom. In fact, he was so upset about changing the ending, he went back to Sweden and never came back to Hollywood again! SPOILER ENDED!!!!!!!!
The film was a major bomb when it came out. It's now regarded as a classic...but not back then. So it's an incredible, great silent film well worth seeing...but that ending!!!!
Would be a wonderful introduction....
Damfino189522 February 2005
...to the world of the silent era of movies. A most marvellous movie, beautifully acted and directed, even with the sappy ending. Victor Sjostrom directs this movie beautifully and it was a shame he never made another English language movie. Also a shame is that the incredibly handsome talented and charismatic Lars Hanson returned to Sweden when talking pictures emerged, his performance as Lige is incredible and he steals every scene he is in with Lillian Gish, no wonder she hand picked him for the role, in the wedding night sequence he just breaks your heart as he realises his marriage is a sham. Now, time to find a copy of "The Scarlet Letter", my holy grail of movies, if it's half as good as "The Wind" then it'll be more than worth the wait.
It'll blow you away!
tpottera11 February 2004
Really awesome silent film about a young woman who finds herself at the mercy of people who use and abuse her. With no way to get home, stranded in the mojave desert, Lillian Gish has maybe her best role. The special affects are astounding. The ending is very poor, however. Lillian Gish herself talks about how they insisted a sad ending would ruin her career, even though her films all had sad endings in the past and she was a huge star! She herself, hated the ending they made. Just ignore it and think about how great the whole rest of the film is!
tour de force from Lillian Gish
didi-516 July 2009
'The Wind' is something of a pot-boiler. Lillian Gish goes to stay with her cousin in the country (a place where the wind constantly blows, storms boil, and cyclones attack). But jealousy and her own naivety cause problems for her - that and a charming stranger she meets on the train into her destination.
The wind itself is a major character in this film, causing havoc, covering up secrets, coming into houses, distracting, dissolving, and influencing all outcomes. When Gish's character is railroaded into marriage with a man she can't love, we shouldn't be surprised, nor should the main events leading to the film's conclusion be unexpected.
Beautifully shot by Seastrom and a wonderful performance from Gish help bring this film out from the classification of usual silent adaptations. It works well and even with an ending not originally as written, stands up after all this time.
The wind itself is a major character in this film, causing havoc, covering up secrets, coming into houses, distracting, dissolving, and influencing all outcomes. When Gish's character is railroaded into marriage with a man she can't love, we shouldn't be surprised, nor should the main events leading to the film's conclusion be unexpected.
Beautifully shot by Seastrom and a wonderful performance from Gish help bring this film out from the classification of usual silent adaptations. It works well and even with an ending not originally as written, stands up after all this time.
Visually stunning - a haunting film with an optimistic ending
Philipp_Flersheim10 January 2022
What struck me most about this film is how it achieved by purely visual means to evoke the threatening nature of the environment in which the female lead (Letty Mason, played by Lillian Gish) finds herself. The way the wind drives the sand and pushes against windows and doors and the very walls of the cabin makes it look and feel truly frightening. Lillian Gish is fantastic as an initially weak young woman who arrives in this environment as a total stranger, is hated by a woman on whom she depends and deceived by a man who (seemingly) offers to marry her, but who nevertheless finds inner strength in the end. 'The Wind' is a truly haunting film with an optimistic ending. Highly recommended!
The Wind
JoeytheBrit12 March 2008
Warning: Spoilers
MAJOR SPOILERS
This was very much a Lillian Gish project apparently. The actress presented MGM with a treatment of Dorothy Scarborough's novel (from which Frances Marion wrote the script) and hand-picked her director and leading man. The result is a film that is rightly regarded as a silent classic, but which also emphasises the changes all aspects of film-making would undergo with the introduction of sound. In fact, the film bombed when it was released, and it was only long after its initial release that it was re-assessed.
Lillian Gish is very much the star of the film, and its easy to understand why she was such a major star of the silent screen. Her beauty is luminescent, and she has a fine natural style that largely avoids the grand gestures employed by some contemporaries whose reputations haven't stood the test of time as well as Gish's has. Swedish actor Lars Hanson, whose US career would be finished by the introduction of sound, also gives an impressive naturalistic performance, conveying more with his eyes than facial gestures. And the assured direction of the great Swedish director Victor Sjostrom adds class to a thin plot that could have been pure melodrama in the hands of a less accomplished director. The scenes following Letty's murder of Roddy - another great performance, this time from Montagu Love - in which she imagines the wind uncovering his body are especially powerful. It should also be mentioned that the final dramatic scenes are enhanced immeasurably by a flawless soundtrack from Carl Davis.
It's ironic that MGM insisted the original ending - in which a crazed Letty wanders off to certain death in the desert - be changed for a less powerful, but still satisfying happy ending. With the introduction of the Hays Code just a few years after this film was produced, the studio would have insisted that the troubled Letty be denied a happy outcome because she has committed the crime of murder...
This was very much a Lillian Gish project apparently. The actress presented MGM with a treatment of Dorothy Scarborough's novel (from which Frances Marion wrote the script) and hand-picked her director and leading man. The result is a film that is rightly regarded as a silent classic, but which also emphasises the changes all aspects of film-making would undergo with the introduction of sound. In fact, the film bombed when it was released, and it was only long after its initial release that it was re-assessed.
Lillian Gish is very much the star of the film, and its easy to understand why she was such a major star of the silent screen. Her beauty is luminescent, and she has a fine natural style that largely avoids the grand gestures employed by some contemporaries whose reputations haven't stood the test of time as well as Gish's has. Swedish actor Lars Hanson, whose US career would be finished by the introduction of sound, also gives an impressive naturalistic performance, conveying more with his eyes than facial gestures. And the assured direction of the great Swedish director Victor Sjostrom adds class to a thin plot that could have been pure melodrama in the hands of a less accomplished director. The scenes following Letty's murder of Roddy - another great performance, this time from Montagu Love - in which she imagines the wind uncovering his body are especially powerful. It should also be mentioned that the final dramatic scenes are enhanced immeasurably by a flawless soundtrack from Carl Davis.
It's ironic that MGM insisted the original ending - in which a crazed Letty wanders off to certain death in the desert - be changed for a less powerful, but still satisfying happy ending. With the introduction of the Hays Code just a few years after this film was produced, the studio would have insisted that the troubled Letty be denied a happy outcome because she has committed the crime of murder...
Silent film reaches its peak as an art form at the dawn of sound
AlsExGal31 January 2010
Lillian Gish plays her usual virginal character thrown into adverse and unjust circumstances, but here she does so much with the part as we watch her slowly unravel and lose her mind. She plays Letty, a girl from Virginia who comes to live with relatives in a dust bowl town. The atmosphere into which she travels doesn't make sense in many ways. The people there supposedly make their living from cattle ranching, but with the constant sandstorms I don't see how anything is supposed to survive in such an environment. However, that is not really the point. The constant wind and storms are just metaphors for Letty's own mental state and feeling of entrapment. Her cousin's wife is hostile to her from the start, convinced that Letty wants to take her husband away from her, and eventually forces her out of the home. As a result she marries a man she doesn't love, and once this is clear to him he accepts the situation and makes it a goal to raise enough money to send Letty back to Virginia where she will be happy. On top of this there is the constant specter of a wealthy married man who wants to take Letty's virtue for the recreation of it all.
The visual work on this film is spectacular, much like Murnau's "Sunrise" except in reverse - this film starts out on an upbeat note with Letty looking forward to the new direction her life has turned, and it being all downhill from there. Thus we come to the familiar topic of the abrupt upbeat ending and how it didn't make any sense in the context of the rest of the film. It was an early example of studio suits interfering with the artistic vision of the filmmakers, and so upset director Victor Sjostrom that he never directed another film in America.
Like Murnau's "Sunrise" and "The Crowd", 1928's "The Wind" is an example of silent film-making at its peak. This level of art in movies would be lost at the dawn of sound until the problems with the static camera could be overcome and the novelty of sound wore off to the extent that plot and meaningful dialog became important. The first problem - technical - was remedied much more quickly than the second problem, which was largely a matter of psychology and experience.
Highly recommended for silent film fans.
The visual work on this film is spectacular, much like Murnau's "Sunrise" except in reverse - this film starts out on an upbeat note with Letty looking forward to the new direction her life has turned, and it being all downhill from there. Thus we come to the familiar topic of the abrupt upbeat ending and how it didn't make any sense in the context of the rest of the film. It was an early example of studio suits interfering with the artistic vision of the filmmakers, and so upset director Victor Sjostrom that he never directed another film in America.
Like Murnau's "Sunrise" and "The Crowd", 1928's "The Wind" is an example of silent film-making at its peak. This level of art in movies would be lost at the dawn of sound until the problems with the static camera could be overcome and the novelty of sound wore off to the extent that plot and meaningful dialog became important. The first problem - technical - was remedied much more quickly than the second problem, which was largely a matter of psychology and experience.
Highly recommended for silent film fans.
The American period of Victor Sjostrom
frankde-jong12 May 2020
His American period was not a great commercial success for director Sjöström (in America he called himself Seastrom). Nevertheless artisticly this is a great film.
As the title suggests the elements play a big role in this film, especially the ever blowing wind. The film was made in the Mojave dessert and oftetimes the wind has to be induced artificially, a gigantic operation in those days.
The film is also interesting because of the role of Lillian Gish. Lillian Gish is a big name in the early history of film. She is in particular known for her roles in "Intolerance" (1916, D.W, Griffith) and "The night of the hunter" (1955, Charles Laughton). In the first mentioned film she mainly rocks the baby in between the episodes. In "The night of the hunter" she wobbles in her rocking chair, a riffle in her hand. For those who want to see Lillian Gish doing a serious piece of acting: watch "The Wind".
As the title suggests the elements play a big role in this film, especially the ever blowing wind. The film was made in the Mojave dessert and oftetimes the wind has to be induced artificially, a gigantic operation in those days.
The film is also interesting because of the role of Lillian Gish. Lillian Gish is a big name in the early history of film. She is in particular known for her roles in "Intolerance" (1916, D.W, Griffith) and "The night of the hunter" (1955, Charles Laughton). In the first mentioned film she mainly rocks the baby in between the episodes. In "The night of the hunter" she wobbles in her rocking chair, a riffle in her hand. For those who want to see Lillian Gish doing a serious piece of acting: watch "The Wind".
A contrary opinion
thinbeach5 December 2015
Warning: Spoilers
Most Victor Sjostrom films follow the same idea - a perfectly likable lead character is mercilessly sent down the drainpipe - but the changing of the setting, and the changing of the character, and the changing of the drainpipe, sees each of his films capture a different mood, and bring out different ideas along the way. 'The Wind' is possibly his most acclaimed work, yet my least favorite so far.
Set in desert USA, after being kicked out by her hosts, a penniless Lillian Gish, for the simple need of shelter and money, is forced to marry a local oaf, where, as you might guess, things do not go well for her.
In this environment wind is ceaseless, blowing a gale from first to last, sending dust everywhere. When doors open dust blows in. Hair and clothes are constantly wafting about, and if you wish to play a drinking game while watching this film (anyone?), have a shot every time someone brushes dirt from their clothes, and see if you can still stand by the end of it.
This wind is not an incredible force of nature however, it is an incredible force of filmmaking, as the goal is not to capture a particular environment in a particular part of the world, but to use it as a metaphor. The meaning is open to interpretation, but title cards at the beginning, as well as the general way things unfold, show to me that the wind is a representation of man - an ever present battering force, relentless, unforgiving and unclean, which the women are forever sheltering indoors from, and forever having to clean from the pots and pans, and forever having to sweep from the floors.
You won't be surprised to learn then that the idea for this film was a woman's - Lillian Gish's - and while it may effectively communicate how she feels, it is very much a one eyed view. All the men are painted as fools, and the only time the film seeks to find virtue in them is the finale, where Gish finally seems to realise her husband has done a lot of good by her, and chooses to embrace him. Tellingly though, this ending was not in the original script, and was only tacked on by the studios who wanted a happy ending. If Gish had her way, the character would have eventually walked out into the windy desert to die. As if to say, in a world dominated by men, women can have no success. Instead, she proclaims, 'I no longer fear the wind!' Yes, a title card actually says that.
If the film paints men crudely though, it doesn't paint women in a much nicer light. The only female character of note besides Lillian Gish is portrayed as nothing but a jealous wife, who upon seeing her husband do little more than welcome Gish with hugs and conversation, evicts their attractive female friend, which is actually the very action that lands her in all the tragedy. One might assume the film is attempting to tell us that husbands cannot be trusted and her actions justified, but instead, what we learn is that this particular woman's jealousy will have dire consequences. The lack of subtlety in all of this really undermines the tension, for it feels more like an essay than a story. It was only by the end of the film - with the body in the desert sand - that I realized the 'The Wind' is a kind of precursor to Hitchcockian suspense - which shows the problem - it was a suspense film without the suspense.
To be fair, many women in times gone by, and still places today, have been helpless to change their circumstances due to the political limitations placed on them by men, and suffered without option for escape - but no title cards, nor any of the images, detail anything political here - which makes this a film about gender in general, as opposed to politics specifically - which is why I think it makes such a poor argument.
The film is not without virtue however. In one excellent scene, Gish's new husband, wishing to spend time with his new wife, enters her room, at which point she heartbreakingly rejects him, revealing she married not for love. It is the best scene in the film not because it is the only one painting the male as a victim, but because it is the only one of complexity - where the film is not finger pointing, or rather, where the finger could be pointed in multiple directions - where the culprit seems to be the difficulties of life, as opposed to a whole gender. The film is also well paced, Lillian Gish, despite my quarrels with the story, gives an excellent performance, and the setting, with its incessant wind and dirt, does manage to capture a unique and memorable mood, which is effective for the purpose.
Set in desert USA, after being kicked out by her hosts, a penniless Lillian Gish, for the simple need of shelter and money, is forced to marry a local oaf, where, as you might guess, things do not go well for her.
In this environment wind is ceaseless, blowing a gale from first to last, sending dust everywhere. When doors open dust blows in. Hair and clothes are constantly wafting about, and if you wish to play a drinking game while watching this film (anyone?), have a shot every time someone brushes dirt from their clothes, and see if you can still stand by the end of it.
This wind is not an incredible force of nature however, it is an incredible force of filmmaking, as the goal is not to capture a particular environment in a particular part of the world, but to use it as a metaphor. The meaning is open to interpretation, but title cards at the beginning, as well as the general way things unfold, show to me that the wind is a representation of man - an ever present battering force, relentless, unforgiving and unclean, which the women are forever sheltering indoors from, and forever having to clean from the pots and pans, and forever having to sweep from the floors.
You won't be surprised to learn then that the idea for this film was a woman's - Lillian Gish's - and while it may effectively communicate how she feels, it is very much a one eyed view. All the men are painted as fools, and the only time the film seeks to find virtue in them is the finale, where Gish finally seems to realise her husband has done a lot of good by her, and chooses to embrace him. Tellingly though, this ending was not in the original script, and was only tacked on by the studios who wanted a happy ending. If Gish had her way, the character would have eventually walked out into the windy desert to die. As if to say, in a world dominated by men, women can have no success. Instead, she proclaims, 'I no longer fear the wind!' Yes, a title card actually says that.
If the film paints men crudely though, it doesn't paint women in a much nicer light. The only female character of note besides Lillian Gish is portrayed as nothing but a jealous wife, who upon seeing her husband do little more than welcome Gish with hugs and conversation, evicts their attractive female friend, which is actually the very action that lands her in all the tragedy. One might assume the film is attempting to tell us that husbands cannot be trusted and her actions justified, but instead, what we learn is that this particular woman's jealousy will have dire consequences. The lack of subtlety in all of this really undermines the tension, for it feels more like an essay than a story. It was only by the end of the film - with the body in the desert sand - that I realized the 'The Wind' is a kind of precursor to Hitchcockian suspense - which shows the problem - it was a suspense film without the suspense.
To be fair, many women in times gone by, and still places today, have been helpless to change their circumstances due to the political limitations placed on them by men, and suffered without option for escape - but no title cards, nor any of the images, detail anything political here - which makes this a film about gender in general, as opposed to politics specifically - which is why I think it makes such a poor argument.
The film is not without virtue however. In one excellent scene, Gish's new husband, wishing to spend time with his new wife, enters her room, at which point she heartbreakingly rejects him, revealing she married not for love. It is the best scene in the film not because it is the only one painting the male as a victim, but because it is the only one of complexity - where the film is not finger pointing, or rather, where the finger could be pointed in multiple directions - where the culprit seems to be the difficulties of life, as opposed to a whole gender. The film is also well paced, Lillian Gish, despite my quarrels with the story, gives an excellent performance, and the setting, with its incessant wind and dirt, does manage to capture a unique and memorable mood, which is effective for the purpose.
Best silent movie along with same year'"Sunrise"
TENNYSON-118 June 2002
If you want to know how powerful, lyrical and emotive silent movies could be in their last days, just see Murnau's "Sunrise" and this absolute masterpiece, "The Wind". In both you quickly forget the absence of sound and come to enjoy it. Without voices' distraction, you're able to full appreciate the beautiful direction and photographic work, as well as Lilian Gish's wonderful interpretation - she should have won the first Oscar for best actress on a tie with Janet Gaynor. 1927 could be the last year for silent movies yet it was the greatest one, so that one wonders along with current reviewers if talkies were not a regress rather than a progress, after all.
The Wind (1928)
morrigan198213 July 2009
A young girl moves out from Virginia to live with her cousin at Sweet Waters. She finds out that where she is heading, it is the Land of the Winds and that the wind there always blows and the sand is carried away with it. This wind is so vicious that people tend to loose their minds by it. Its ferocity "blows" away peoples' logic and they sleigh day by day into insanity, and this applies specially to women. Lillian Gish, who plays the young girl Letty, is a great actress who can really feel her part. She has such a great performance in this film that you can't help but bond with the young girl and you can really understand how she feels in every situation in the film. Her performance is just brilliant. Lars Hanson is the lead male actor and he too has a great performance that can stand beside hers. All the other cast was good as well. The director Victor Sjöström has done an excellent work with this film. I really wish I could somehow see the original ending of this film as well. In my opinion, this film is really brilliant. Never forget what the people went trough in those times to create such magnificent films.
The Powerful Saga of Love and Deception.
sweetiedarling1 August 2001
A young girl (Lillian Gish) goes to live with her cousin, but finds herself to be an unwelcome guest. To escape from her cousin's evil wife, she marries against her will. However, the harsh solitude of country life, and the amazing strength of the wind, almost sends her to insanity. An amazingly effective film, which definately proves that Silent Movies are the highest form of cinematic expression!!!
One of the greatest silents
lyrast31 October 2008
Warning: Spoilers
In 1995 I saw a screening of The Wind as part of a TV celebration of 100 years of cinema and it was a great experience. Since then, I've only managed to see clips. However, I just recently got a copy of this film with the Carl Davis score and viewing it again was wonderful. Of course, I remembered some of the great scenes such as the face in the sand, but this is a film that gains enormously on repeated viewings and I got a great deal more out of it this time around. What follows represents my own impressions of this marvellous film. It is personal and not meant to be exhaustiveindeed the film is worth a book! The elemental setting of the desert with its perpetual wind acts as a stage for the struggles, external and internal, which the characters must undergo. They have their own interior winds of passion which they are only barely able to control, just as they physically live on the edge of survival in the external world. Cora {Dorothy Cumming} wields a knife menacingly in the presence of Letty (memorably, magnificently played by Lilian Gish} and even screams in a fury "I'd like to kill you". But Cora is not evil. She deeply loves her children and her husband and can't bear the presence of someone she considers a rival. Love is terribly valuable in this desolate world and is defended with terrible tenacity.
Lige {Lars Hanson} tries to win the love of his new wife, Letty, in his bumbling but honest way. At one moment he tries to force himself on her. Her rejection of him allows us to see a supreme moment of Gish's command of powerful emotional facial expressions which convey fear, disgust, hurt, horror, and anguish. It is moments like this which convince me that Lilian is the greatest silent actress of all. Again, Lige is not a bad person. What he wanted and needed was a helpmate, someone to share his trials and struggles with a shared love. She can't give him that. Hence, he tells Letty he'll not touch her again and will work to send her back home.
The great finale is one of the most magnificent moments in cinematic history. Letty must finally face her repressed sexual feelings for Wirt Roddy {Montagu Lovein another wonderful performance in a film filled with them} All the psychological tension is conveyed by the power of the irresistible wind. The surreal swaying of the objects is mirrored by the swaying of Letty's body as her mind approaches disintegration. We feel that "the centre cannot hold". The Mythically powerful image of the great horse galloping in the midst of the wind is something never to be forgotten and touches us so deeply, so profoundly, that it terrifies us as much as Letty. Here are forces deeper than the civilised paraphernalia of the world around us. Here is something at the root of the soul.
The symbolism of the wind and the great mythic horse is multi-layered and I think that many would enjoy exploring this area. There are some really excellent comments elsewhere on this board which are certainly worth examination and which will provide some good sign posts for that journey.
For myself? I found the film wonderful and I just cannot help being excited about how wonderful it is!
Lige {Lars Hanson} tries to win the love of his new wife, Letty, in his bumbling but honest way. At one moment he tries to force himself on her. Her rejection of him allows us to see a supreme moment of Gish's command of powerful emotional facial expressions which convey fear, disgust, hurt, horror, and anguish. It is moments like this which convince me that Lilian is the greatest silent actress of all. Again, Lige is not a bad person. What he wanted and needed was a helpmate, someone to share his trials and struggles with a shared love. She can't give him that. Hence, he tells Letty he'll not touch her again and will work to send her back home.
The great finale is one of the most magnificent moments in cinematic history. Letty must finally face her repressed sexual feelings for Wirt Roddy {Montagu Lovein another wonderful performance in a film filled with them} All the psychological tension is conveyed by the power of the irresistible wind. The surreal swaying of the objects is mirrored by the swaying of Letty's body as her mind approaches disintegration. We feel that "the centre cannot hold". The Mythically powerful image of the great horse galloping in the midst of the wind is something never to be forgotten and touches us so deeply, so profoundly, that it terrifies us as much as Letty. Here are forces deeper than the civilised paraphernalia of the world around us. Here is something at the root of the soul.
The symbolism of the wind and the great mythic horse is multi-layered and I think that many would enjoy exploring this area. There are some really excellent comments elsewhere on this board which are certainly worth examination and which will provide some good sign posts for that journey.
For myself? I found the film wonderful and I just cannot help being excited about how wonderful it is!
Victor Sjöström has always made good films but with Lilian Gish he has made a masterpiece.
lionel.willoquet16 September 2001
In an isolated farm in the desert of the West, a woman is the victim of an obnoxious aggressor, whom she is forced to kill. One of the most beautiful silent films made in the United States by the Swedish director Victor Sjöström. The oppressive climate creates an enduring memory, as does the restless composition of Lilian Gish.
Solid silent film that doesn't play by typical Western tropes
blott2319-15 April 2021
The Wind is a story about a young woman who comes to the west in order to live with a relative, and finds that conditions in this part of the country aren't all that hospitable and sometimes the people aren't either. I found the struggles of Letty to be fully engaging, even if I kept wondering why she didn't run away and return to her life in the east. This movie takes you on an emotional roller coaster as there are some humorous moments, some frightening moments, and even a bit of romance as well. I genuinely didn't know where the journey of this film would end up, and part of that is because the customs and way of life back then are different from what we have now. For instance, the laissez-faire way they get engaged was quite strange to me. I was willing to go with it because the story takes place so long ago that I just can't relate, but it still felt weird.
I tend to think that they exaggerated the mental anguish in The Wind. I can understand a person being a bit crazed from dealing with the isolation and extreme weather conditions in this Old West town. However, the seemingly short amount of time it takes the protagonist to go from fun-loving to freaked-out felt a little crazy. Also, while I recognize this is probably more of a symptom of the silent film era where you needed to rely more on big performances and extreme expressions to convey what is happening without needing so much dialogue, Lillian Gish looks almost like a caricature of a crazy person. Finally, the ending felt a bit too convenient, and I'd argue it might be sending the wrong messages. However, for the time it probably works just fine. Overall, I think The Wind is a solid silent film, and one that has a well-told story that I enjoyed.
I tend to think that they exaggerated the mental anguish in The Wind. I can understand a person being a bit crazed from dealing with the isolation and extreme weather conditions in this Old West town. However, the seemingly short amount of time it takes the protagonist to go from fun-loving to freaked-out felt a little crazy. Also, while I recognize this is probably more of a symptom of the silent film era where you needed to rely more on big performances and extreme expressions to convey what is happening without needing so much dialogue, Lillian Gish looks almost like a caricature of a crazy person. Finally, the ending felt a bit too convenient, and I'd argue it might be sending the wrong messages. However, for the time it probably works just fine. Overall, I think The Wind is a solid silent film, and one that has a well-told story that I enjoyed.
Way Down West
lugonian5 November 2017
With motion pictures having its share of windy film titles throughout the years, ranging from SOMETHING IN THE WIND (Universal, 1947), WRITTEN IN THE WIND (Universal, 1956), INHERIT THE WIND (United Artists, 1960), and the most famous wind title of all, GONE WITH THE WIND (Selznick, 1939), one of the last great silent movies with artistic style and motion becomes simply called THE WIND (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1928). Directed by Victor Seastrom, who earlier directed its leading players of Lillian Gish and Lars Hanson in THE SCARLET LETTER (MGM, 1926), re-teams these two here for another classic melodrama where the wind/or cyclone take precedence through parts of the story "of a woman who gave into the domain of the winds."
Plot summary: Letty Mason (Lillian Gish) is a young girl from Virginia train-bound through the western prairie to stay with her cousin and family at his ranch in Sweet Water. While fearing the endless sounds of wind as seen through the train window, Letty soon makes the acquaintance of Wit Roddy (Montagu Love), a rugged fellow passenger and cattle trader who takes an interest in her. Once at her destination outside the train station, Letty is met by Ligh Hightower (Lars Hanson) and his friend, Sourdough (William Orlmond), nearest neighbors of her cousin (15 miles away) who have come to take her to the ranch by coach. While Letty gets a warm reception from her cousin, Beverly (Edward Earle), and meeting with his three children (Leon Ramon, Carmencita Johnson and Billy Kent Schaefer), she fails to get the same welcome from his bitter wife, Cora (Dorothy Cumming). During a social gathering, Letty meets with Wirt Roddy once more, who offers his hand of marriage. Because of her closeness towards her husband, the jealous Cora forces Letty to leave her ranch and get herself married. Accepting Wirt's proposal, she discovers through him that he's already married and only wants Letty as his mistress. With nowhere else to go, she chooses the marriage proposal of Ligh instead. Their wedding night is anything but pleasant, considering how both bride and groom are heavily nervous about being alone together. After Letty rejects Ligh's forced intentions, Ligh realizes Letty's hate towards him and decides to earn enough money to send her back home to Virginia. After returning home from working on the prairie, Ligh brings home an injured stranger who happens to be Wirt. Being left alone with him while her husband is out working, Letty soon finds her biggest fear is not so much the endless sounds of the wind, but the very presence of the man who's still obsessed by her.
Lillian Gish has come a long way since her days under famed movie director, D.W. Griffith, that began in 1912. After leaving Griffith by 1921, he ventured over to Metro by 1923. During her MGM years, her acting style not only improved, but Gish herself matured greatly as a serious actress. In a plot that echoes her earlier success of Griffith's WAY DOWN EAST (1920), where Gish braved the forceful blizzard winds, this time she goes through extremes of forceful winds of sand, with realistic insane moments where she observes the every movement inside her cabin, and unable to move herself forward through the wind while outside making her escape. Because this is a silent movie, Swedish actor Lars Hanson gets away playing an American prairie man. Most scenes are nearly stolen by the villainous and sometimes scary performance by Montagu Love. Dorothy Cumming as the unfriendly wife also brings chills up and down one's spine in the similar manner of other actress of the time, Gladys Brockwell. William Orlamond, who sometimes resembles that of Lucien Littlefield, is around for some comedy relief as the middle- aged farmer.
According to sources, THE WIND had little appeal to movie audiences back in 1928. THE WIND has fortunately aged well and stood the test of time, especially when it surfaced decades after its theatrical release. THE WIND did became a curiosity for many when the climatic windstorm segment involving Gish and Love was clipped into a segment of an 13- week, well-informed history of silent movies documentary "Hollywood" (1980) under the narration of James Mason. Availability to home video with Thames Orchestral Score conducted by Carl Davis in place of original 1928 soundtrack and sound effects went into release by 1988, with five minute introduction by Lillian Gish herself. THE WIND was soon followed by world television premiere on Turner Network Television (TNT) August 26, 1990, followed by another broadcast Christmas Eve (December 24, 1990) as part of its "Silent Night" silent movie festival. In later years THE WIND (at 77 minutes) enjoyed frequent broadcasts on Turner Classic Movies, where, through its revivals, continues to win the appreciation it lacked way back in 1928. (****)
Plot summary: Letty Mason (Lillian Gish) is a young girl from Virginia train-bound through the western prairie to stay with her cousin and family at his ranch in Sweet Water. While fearing the endless sounds of wind as seen through the train window, Letty soon makes the acquaintance of Wit Roddy (Montagu Love), a rugged fellow passenger and cattle trader who takes an interest in her. Once at her destination outside the train station, Letty is met by Ligh Hightower (Lars Hanson) and his friend, Sourdough (William Orlmond), nearest neighbors of her cousin (15 miles away) who have come to take her to the ranch by coach. While Letty gets a warm reception from her cousin, Beverly (Edward Earle), and meeting with his three children (Leon Ramon, Carmencita Johnson and Billy Kent Schaefer), she fails to get the same welcome from his bitter wife, Cora (Dorothy Cumming). During a social gathering, Letty meets with Wirt Roddy once more, who offers his hand of marriage. Because of her closeness towards her husband, the jealous Cora forces Letty to leave her ranch and get herself married. Accepting Wirt's proposal, she discovers through him that he's already married and only wants Letty as his mistress. With nowhere else to go, she chooses the marriage proposal of Ligh instead. Their wedding night is anything but pleasant, considering how both bride and groom are heavily nervous about being alone together. After Letty rejects Ligh's forced intentions, Ligh realizes Letty's hate towards him and decides to earn enough money to send her back home to Virginia. After returning home from working on the prairie, Ligh brings home an injured stranger who happens to be Wirt. Being left alone with him while her husband is out working, Letty soon finds her biggest fear is not so much the endless sounds of the wind, but the very presence of the man who's still obsessed by her.
Lillian Gish has come a long way since her days under famed movie director, D.W. Griffith, that began in 1912. After leaving Griffith by 1921, he ventured over to Metro by 1923. During her MGM years, her acting style not only improved, but Gish herself matured greatly as a serious actress. In a plot that echoes her earlier success of Griffith's WAY DOWN EAST (1920), where Gish braved the forceful blizzard winds, this time she goes through extremes of forceful winds of sand, with realistic insane moments where she observes the every movement inside her cabin, and unable to move herself forward through the wind while outside making her escape. Because this is a silent movie, Swedish actor Lars Hanson gets away playing an American prairie man. Most scenes are nearly stolen by the villainous and sometimes scary performance by Montagu Love. Dorothy Cumming as the unfriendly wife also brings chills up and down one's spine in the similar manner of other actress of the time, Gladys Brockwell. William Orlamond, who sometimes resembles that of Lucien Littlefield, is around for some comedy relief as the middle- aged farmer.
According to sources, THE WIND had little appeal to movie audiences back in 1928. THE WIND has fortunately aged well and stood the test of time, especially when it surfaced decades after its theatrical release. THE WIND did became a curiosity for many when the climatic windstorm segment involving Gish and Love was clipped into a segment of an 13- week, well-informed history of silent movies documentary "Hollywood" (1980) under the narration of James Mason. Availability to home video with Thames Orchestral Score conducted by Carl Davis in place of original 1928 soundtrack and sound effects went into release by 1988, with five minute introduction by Lillian Gish herself. THE WIND was soon followed by world television premiere on Turner Network Television (TNT) August 26, 1990, followed by another broadcast Christmas Eve (December 24, 1990) as part of its "Silent Night" silent movie festival. In later years THE WIND (at 77 minutes) enjoyed frequent broadcasts on Turner Classic Movies, where, through its revivals, continues to win the appreciation it lacked way back in 1928. (****)
Remarkable...
leonardonolan1375521 September 2017
The wind Story Of A Young Girl With Her Fear The Wind. I Think No Movie After Or Before That Make This Kind Of Emotions . In One Side Is Young Girl And Other Side Is The Wind , Every Time Wind Comes She Freak Out If You Want Classic Movie With Powerful Ending See The Wind And You Never Remorse , Victor Make A Great Movie And Acting Is Great Too. Just See The Wind You Get Every Thing Without Any Dialog .
Recognized as One of Silent Movies' Best
springfieldrental20 May 2022
One of the last major Hollywood studio silent movies released was November 1928 "The Wind." Silent films dribbled through the major studios' supply chain for at least another year, where they were shown especially in Europe and in smaller, American rural towns whose theaters weren't wired for sound yet. Yet MGM's "The Wind" today is wrapped around a bit of nostalgia for an era that was quietly ending. Film historians label the film as the last great silent Hollywood movie. It was director Victor Sjostrom's as well as legendary actress Lillian Gish's final silent.
When Gish signed with MGM in 1925, she negotiated in her contract she would receive a lesser salary in lieu of greater control in her productions. That meant she could select and spend more on the scriptwriters, directors and actors working alongside her. Gish was a very comfortable with her on-set relationship with Sjostrom, the Swedish director who had been enticed to come to America in the mid-1920s. Lillian selected Dorothy Scarborough's 1925 book "The Wind," a rather racy-themed story filled with innuendo that MGM head producer Irving Thalberg approved. But the studio decided to hold back the film, completed in 1927, because of its implied rape scene. It decided to release the movie at the cusp when everyone was anticipating "talkies."
The critics hailed the artistic merits of "The Wind." The Guardian in a 1999 review praised the movie stated, "In America Sjostrom's three most famous works, 1924's "He Who Gets Slapped," 1926's "The Scarlet Letter" and 1928's "The Wind," each dealt with human suffering. The Wind is almost certainly the best." In screening the film, the Museum of Modern Art said, "What makes The Wind such an eloquent coda to its dying medium is Sjostrom's and Gish's distillation of their art forms to the simplest, most elemental form: there are no frills."
"The Wind" focuses on Letty Mason (Gish), traveling to Texas to live with her cousin's family. She meets on the train Wirt Roddy (Montagu Love), who takes an interest in her. She gets picked up by two of her cousin's neighbors living 15 miles from him, Lige Hightower (Lars Hanson) and old, crusty Sourdough (William Orlamond). Everyone falls for Letty, and there's tension throughout as even Cora (Dorothy Cumming), the cousin's wife, is super jealous of her staying under the same roof.
One of the most famous scenes in all silent movies unfolds as Letty is left alone in the cousin's house with the wind blowing like no tomorrow. Everything rattles, loose floorboards are banging, it's absolutely pandemonium before lustful Wirt, who is married, visits the house. A vision of a white horse is seen outside, symbolizing what is taking place inside as she tries to thwart his advancements.
Gish claimed the production was the most difficult she appeared in during her long acting career. Filmed in the Mojave Desert under searing hot 100-plus degree temperatures, the wind, generated by eight stationary aircraft stirring up the air with their propellers, forced the film crew to wear long-sleeved shirts, eye googles and greasepaint on their faces to protect their skin from the piercing sand and smoke. The locale was so scorchingly hot that Gish claims she scalded her palm on a handle outside the cabin when she opened the door. The wind is howling constantly throughout the movie. Scarborough's novel was set in Sweetwater, Texas, where heavy breezes consistently blow in this town smack-dab in the middle of the state. In fact, the area is known as the "Wind Turbine Capital of Texas," hosting one of the largest wind farms in Texas and is at the nexus of the leading wind power generation region in the Western Hemisphere.
When Thalberg gave the movie the green light to be released a year after "The Jazz Singer's" 1927 premier, he described "The Wind" to Lillian as a very artistic film. She took his description as a "veiled punch," knowing any silent 'artistic' film wasn't going to perform well at the box office. The MGM producer's prediction was correct. It lost $87,000, mainly because viewers were flocking to the talkies just released at the same time. However, since then, the American Film Institute recognizes its importance, receiving nominations in both the Top 100 Most Heart-Pounding Movies and the Top 100 Greatest American Movies.
When Gish signed with MGM in 1925, she negotiated in her contract she would receive a lesser salary in lieu of greater control in her productions. That meant she could select and spend more on the scriptwriters, directors and actors working alongside her. Gish was a very comfortable with her on-set relationship with Sjostrom, the Swedish director who had been enticed to come to America in the mid-1920s. Lillian selected Dorothy Scarborough's 1925 book "The Wind," a rather racy-themed story filled with innuendo that MGM head producer Irving Thalberg approved. But the studio decided to hold back the film, completed in 1927, because of its implied rape scene. It decided to release the movie at the cusp when everyone was anticipating "talkies."
The critics hailed the artistic merits of "The Wind." The Guardian in a 1999 review praised the movie stated, "In America Sjostrom's three most famous works, 1924's "He Who Gets Slapped," 1926's "The Scarlet Letter" and 1928's "The Wind," each dealt with human suffering. The Wind is almost certainly the best." In screening the film, the Museum of Modern Art said, "What makes The Wind such an eloquent coda to its dying medium is Sjostrom's and Gish's distillation of their art forms to the simplest, most elemental form: there are no frills."
"The Wind" focuses on Letty Mason (Gish), traveling to Texas to live with her cousin's family. She meets on the train Wirt Roddy (Montagu Love), who takes an interest in her. She gets picked up by two of her cousin's neighbors living 15 miles from him, Lige Hightower (Lars Hanson) and old, crusty Sourdough (William Orlamond). Everyone falls for Letty, and there's tension throughout as even Cora (Dorothy Cumming), the cousin's wife, is super jealous of her staying under the same roof.
One of the most famous scenes in all silent movies unfolds as Letty is left alone in the cousin's house with the wind blowing like no tomorrow. Everything rattles, loose floorboards are banging, it's absolutely pandemonium before lustful Wirt, who is married, visits the house. A vision of a white horse is seen outside, symbolizing what is taking place inside as she tries to thwart his advancements.
Gish claimed the production was the most difficult she appeared in during her long acting career. Filmed in the Mojave Desert under searing hot 100-plus degree temperatures, the wind, generated by eight stationary aircraft stirring up the air with their propellers, forced the film crew to wear long-sleeved shirts, eye googles and greasepaint on their faces to protect their skin from the piercing sand and smoke. The locale was so scorchingly hot that Gish claims she scalded her palm on a handle outside the cabin when she opened the door. The wind is howling constantly throughout the movie. Scarborough's novel was set in Sweetwater, Texas, where heavy breezes consistently blow in this town smack-dab in the middle of the state. In fact, the area is known as the "Wind Turbine Capital of Texas," hosting one of the largest wind farms in Texas and is at the nexus of the leading wind power generation region in the Western Hemisphere.
When Thalberg gave the movie the green light to be released a year after "The Jazz Singer's" 1927 premier, he described "The Wind" to Lillian as a very artistic film. She took his description as a "veiled punch," knowing any silent 'artistic' film wasn't going to perform well at the box office. The MGM producer's prediction was correct. It lost $87,000, mainly because viewers were flocking to the talkies just released at the same time. However, since then, the American Film Institute recognizes its importance, receiving nominations in both the Top 100 Most Heart-Pounding Movies and the Top 100 Greatest American Movies.
Stormy Weather
Prince-P13 October 2023
At the beginning of the last century, Viktor Sjöström was a major player in Swedish cinema. Something that soon attracted wide, international attention. So, in 1924 the director was invited to Hollywood to take charge of "He Who Gets Slapped" - the very first feature film at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The result was a smash hit.
But in Tinseltown you're only as good as your latest movie. Soon, the studio asked Sjöström to film "The Wind", a project that forced the director to shoot for several weeks in the soaring heat of the Mojave Desert. And not only that. To simulate the severe weather conditions required by the story, the film company hired eight giant wind machines. These were used to create the devastating sandstorms that almost drove the film's young heroine insane. Lillian Gish, who played the lead role, later revealed that "The Wind" was one of the most challenging movies she had ever appeared in.
In the summer of 1927, Viktor Sjöström finished the shooting. He and producer Irving Thalberg were pleased with the result, but were in for a shock when high-ranking studio executives in New York saw the movie. They believed that the ending was too dark and ordered Sjöström to call in his actors again to do reshoots. It would take a full eighteen months before the Swedish director managed to complete a film that MGM's management could finally approve.
Unfortunately, the delay proved disastrous for "The Wind". During the time that Viktor Sjöström and his crew were recording a new ending for their film, "The Jazz Singer" was released in cinemas. And after this first so-called "talkie" made its triumphant march across the world, the public was only interested in movies with sound. "The Wind" therefore became a major bomb at the box office. Which also ended Viktor Sjöström's career in Hollywood. Disappointed, he returned to his native Stockholm, never to make another movie again.
But in Tinseltown you're only as good as your latest movie. Soon, the studio asked Sjöström to film "The Wind", a project that forced the director to shoot for several weeks in the soaring heat of the Mojave Desert. And not only that. To simulate the severe weather conditions required by the story, the film company hired eight giant wind machines. These were used to create the devastating sandstorms that almost drove the film's young heroine insane. Lillian Gish, who played the lead role, later revealed that "The Wind" was one of the most challenging movies she had ever appeared in.
In the summer of 1927, Viktor Sjöström finished the shooting. He and producer Irving Thalberg were pleased with the result, but were in for a shock when high-ranking studio executives in New York saw the movie. They believed that the ending was too dark and ordered Sjöström to call in his actors again to do reshoots. It would take a full eighteen months before the Swedish director managed to complete a film that MGM's management could finally approve.
Unfortunately, the delay proved disastrous for "The Wind". During the time that Viktor Sjöström and his crew were recording a new ending for their film, "The Jazz Singer" was released in cinemas. And after this first so-called "talkie" made its triumphant march across the world, the public was only interested in movies with sound. "The Wind" therefore became a major bomb at the box office. Which also ended Viktor Sjöström's career in Hollywood. Disappointed, he returned to his native Stockholm, never to make another movie again.
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