Definitely a case of "for silent movie geeks only." QUEEN KELLY as we have it now is basically a gorgeously filmed fragment of what may or may not have become a great movie. I am a Von Stroheim fan, but to be honest, even with the knowledge of his original intentions for the story, I can't bring myself to believe this would have ever been anything other than a kinkier spiritual successor to the handsomely mounted but otherwise shallow THE MERRY WIDOW. The plot comes off as little more than a conga line of humiliations for the protagonist. Even in the 100 minute "reconstruction" on the Kino DVD, Kelly's sufferings become both unpleasant and dramatically uninteresting by the time she's forced to marry Tully Marshall for no discernable reason (that I could tell anyway).
Once again, this is just a fragment and therefore impossible to judge properly, but aside from some gorgeous cinematography and a delightfully campy villain in Seena Owen's Queen Regina, it was a tiresome experience.
Once again, this is just a fragment and therefore impossible to judge properly, but aside from some gorgeous cinematography and a delightfully campy villain in Seena Owen's Queen Regina, it was a tiresome experience.