This is proof positive that not every silent film is great or even worthy of restoration, however good the photography may be. Nor is the musical accompaniment always appropriate, as is the case here.
GLORIA SWANSON and RUDOLPH VALENTINO may have been the hot twosome of the twenties, but here they hardly get a chance to do more than exchange intense glances while Swanson coyly looks away and flutters her overmade eyelashes and purses her bow-lipped mouth. Rudy is given not too much material to work with in the way of romantic lover, but he gets hero status from the fact that first he saves her from drowning, then rescues her when she falls off the rocks.
Aside from her garish and non-flattering make-up, Miss Swanson does nothing to suggest why she was such a popular silent star except for the fact that she is paraded in a series of costumes that were clearly not designed by Adrian.
Valentino, on the other hand, gets to look his handsome self and even dons one white outfit that flatters his swarthy good looks. Other than watching the two of them parade around in various outfits, there is nothing in this Harlequin romance that makes much sense.
Her romance with a nobleman is given a conveniently happy ending when her husband nobly allows himself to be shot in the desert so that his young wife can spend the rest of her years with Valentino.
Somewhere in this hopelessly old-fashioned, banal, slow moving romance there must be a message, but I'll be darned if I can find one--except perhaps that when you're old, you should kill yourself if it will make your wife happy.
As silent films go, the direction by Sam Wood is quite restrained for the time period and the photography is often artful when the film isn't having restoration problems.
But this is by no means anything anyone should go out of their way to see. The story is trite, Swanson's acting is all a series of poses, and only Rudolf Valentino comes out of this smelling like a rose. At least he's natural and low-keyed and knows how to look at a woman--which must disappoint female fans who wanted to see him and Swanson steaming up the desert with passion. Not.
GLORIA SWANSON and RUDOLPH VALENTINO may have been the hot twosome of the twenties, but here they hardly get a chance to do more than exchange intense glances while Swanson coyly looks away and flutters her overmade eyelashes and purses her bow-lipped mouth. Rudy is given not too much material to work with in the way of romantic lover, but he gets hero status from the fact that first he saves her from drowning, then rescues her when she falls off the rocks.
Aside from her garish and non-flattering make-up, Miss Swanson does nothing to suggest why she was such a popular silent star except for the fact that she is paraded in a series of costumes that were clearly not designed by Adrian.
Valentino, on the other hand, gets to look his handsome self and even dons one white outfit that flatters his swarthy good looks. Other than watching the two of them parade around in various outfits, there is nothing in this Harlequin romance that makes much sense.
Her romance with a nobleman is given a conveniently happy ending when her husband nobly allows himself to be shot in the desert so that his young wife can spend the rest of her years with Valentino.
Somewhere in this hopelessly old-fashioned, banal, slow moving romance there must be a message, but I'll be darned if I can find one--except perhaps that when you're old, you should kill yourself if it will make your wife happy.
As silent films go, the direction by Sam Wood is quite restrained for the time period and the photography is often artful when the film isn't having restoration problems.
But this is by no means anything anyone should go out of their way to see. The story is trite, Swanson's acting is all a series of poses, and only Rudolf Valentino comes out of this smelling like a rose. At least he's natural and low-keyed and knows how to look at a woman--which must disappoint female fans who wanted to see him and Swanson steaming up the desert with passion. Not.