Don't Change Your Husband (Gloria Swanson, 1919)

Cecil B. DeMille (1881–1959) is known as the director of The Cheat (1915). Among the more than fifty silent films he made—before he moved on to grandiose Biblical and classical epics such as The Ten Commandments and Cleopatra—are several compelling domestic dramas about the problems of modern life. These include six racy bedroom comedies, reflecting the moral freedoms that emerged after World War I.

Five of these films starred Gloria Swanson, which made her a star. These films were known for their lavish costumes and luxurious sets, especially Swanson's dresses, which—although sometimes grotesque to modern viewers—were famous in their day. Gloria Swanson (1899–1983) is best known for her work in silent films. In the late 1910s and 1920s, she became one of the most successful and glamorous stars of the silent film era. Swanson's popularity was fueled by her dramatic roles, extravagant fashions, and turbulent personal life, which included multiple marriages and high-profile affairs. In the early 1930s, with the advent of sound films, her career began to wane, but she remained a compelling figure. Her remarkable comeback in Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard (1950), in which she played Norma Desmond, a silent film star who is pure faded glory, earned her an Oscar nomination and cemented her legacy.

DeMille's "marriage films" typically explore relationship dynamics, infidelity, and societal expectations surrounding marriage. Here are the six films often referred to as his "marriage films":
• Old Wives for New (1918): About a man who files for divorce from his unrefined wife to marry a younger, more refined woman.
• Don't Change Your Husband (1919): About a woman who divorces her slovenly husband to marry a more charming man, only to discover that her new marriage is far from perfect. This film is discussed further below.
• For Better, For Worse (1919): Following a couple as they endure the hardships of World War I, the film explores the idea of ​​loyalty and commitment in difficult times.
• Male and Female (1919): Contrasts the societal roles of men and women, using a shipwreck scenario to explore class and gender dynamics and romantic complications.
• Why Change Your Wife? (1920): A man leaves his wife for a younger woman, but later realizes that his ex-wife, after reinventing herself, is the one he truly loves.
• The Affairs of Anatol (1921): A man named Anatol becomes disillusioned with his wife and embarks on a series of romantic adventures, eventually reconciling with her.

These films reflect DeMille's fascination with the institution of marriage as it evolved in the early 20th century. They combine drama, humor, and moral lessons, often presented in the exuberant visual style that is characteristic of DeMille's work.

But now for Don't Change Your Husband! Leila Porter (Gloria Swanson) is fed up with her busy businessman husband, James Denby Porter (Elliott Dexter). While she is romantic, he is downright prosaic. Porter is approaching middle age: his waistline is expanding, he smokes stinking cigars, and he keeps hiding behind his newspaper. Meanwhile, the youthful Leila (Swanson was 20 when she played the role, Dexter 49) yearns not for grand romantic gestures, but just a little attention. When he forgets their wedding anniversary and arrives late for dinner with the minister and his wife, he even tries to pass off the minister’s anniversary gift as his own, only to dive into a plate of scallions (giving his wife smelly kisses in the process). Romance is clearly not on Porter’s agenda, and it’s only a matter of time before the long-suffering Leila’s gaze wanders.

A third guest at the Porters’ anniversary dinner is the handsome womanizer Schuyler Van Sutphen (Lew Cody), a smooth charmer. His thin mustache, curling upward at the ends, is a clear warning that he is not a pure character (and his lustful glances at Leila confirm this), but the love-hungry Leila sees none of this. Sutphen soon lures her away from her husband. There’s a memorable scene, in true DeMille style, in which Cody seduces Swanson with promises of wealth, pleasure, and love. As he whispers these things to her, she fantasizes about the scenes. Pleasure is depicted by Swanson sitting on an elaborate swing and being pushed across a pool by several men. Wealth shows her in an extravagant headdress, haughtily throwing her head back while half-naked black servants offer her jewels and gems. Love is depicted as she and a man dressed in animal skins running through a jungle together. Pure nonsense, but very entertaining, and Swanson looks beautiful. 

Eventually she gives in to temptation and leaves her husband for the new lover.

But after her second marriage, Leila discovers that Van Sutphen has even more irritating habits than her first husband. Moreover, he is having an affair with another woman, a catty lady named Toodles (played by Julia Faye), and has gambled away his fortune, forcing Leila to sell her diamonds to help him out of debt. Meanwhile, Porter pulls himself together: he hires a personal trainer and starts exercising, renews his wardrobe and shaves off his mustache. Soon he is the one who looks attractive, while Leila becomes increasingly disillusioned.

When Leila discovers that her first husband still loves her and would like her back, she decides to divorce again and remarries James. In 1919, divorce was a highly shocking and unusual phenomenon, and audiences would have been surprised by DeMille's nonchalant approach to this then-taboo subject.

Swanson looks radiant as ever and delivers a tremendously likeable performance, despite playing an adulterous wife. Dexter convincingly masters the transformation from dowdy clown to sleek, self-assured man. Yet it is Lew Cody's wily Schuyler Van Sutphen, nicknamed Bingo by his mistress Toodles, who provides the most amusing moments.

Don't Change Your Husband is a highly entertaining comedy about the foibles of love that never takes itself too seriously.

***

My goal is to discover interesting movies that are not already on all the "greatest movie" lists.

The Abyss (1913) - Twilight of a Woman's Soul (1913) - The Cheat (1915) - Tigre reale (1916) - The Oyster Princess (1919) - Don't Change Your Husband (1919) - Erotikon (1920) - The Flapper (1920) - Foolish Wives (1921) - Madame Beudet (1922) - The Woman from Nowhere (1922) - A Woman of Paris (1923) - Girl Shy (1924) - The Marriage Circle (1924) - Flesh and the Devil (1926) - It (1927) - Italian Straw Hat (1927) - Underworld  (1927) - The Devious Path (1928) - L'Argent (1928) - Sadie Thompson (1928) - Diary of a Lost Girl (1929) - People on Sunday (1930)

All films discussed in this blog are public domain and can be watched via YouTube or Archive.org

 

 

Early German film: The Oyster Princess (Ernst Lubitsch, 1919)

Ernst Lubitsch (1892–1947) was a German film director who achieved his greatest successes in Hollywood. His films are characterized by sophisticated humor with sexual undertones and an elegant style so distinctive that the term "Lubitsch touch" was coined to describe it. Among his best-known works are Trouble in Paradise (1932), Design for Living (1933), Ninotchka (1939), The Shop Around the Corner (1940), To Be or Not to Be (1942), and Heaven Can Wait (1943).

Before Lubitsch moved to Hollywood in 1922, he directed more than 30 films in Germany, many of which he also acted in. Unfortunately, his German films are virtually unknown today, which is a shame. As a director, Lubitsch alternated between comedies and grand historical dramas. While the latter likely contributed most to his international success and eventual invitation to Hollywood, it is his sharp and witty comedies that remain the most enjoyable today. Here are a few examples:

Shoe Palace Pinkus (1916), his first film, is about a Jewish boy (played by Lubitsch) who begins working in a shoe store and, through his business acumen, rises to become a shoe tycoon.

A Merry Prison (1917) is a light comedy based on Strauss's operetta Die Fledermaus, following the antics of a wealthy couple and their maid in a lively, party-filled Berlin.

In Meyer from Berlin (1918), Lubitsch plays a sharp young Berliner of Jewish descent who goes on vacation alone (leaving his young wife behind) in search of adventure, though things don’t go as planned.

Kohlhiesel's Daughters (1920) adapts the premise of The Taming of the Shrew to 19th-century Bavaria, set against a backdrop of a beautiful snowy landscape.

However, Lubitsch’s best film from this period is The Oyster Princess (1919), a grotesque comedy about the marriage of the spoiled daughter of an American millionaire.

In the late 1910s, after Germany’s defeat in World War I and the establishment of a new democratic republic, the country entered a period of intense social, cultural, and intellectual renewal. With the lifting of the moral censorship imposed under the Kaiser, Berlin became a hotbed of artistic innovation, with cabaret and entertainment thriving as significant economic engines.

It was in this cultural climate, on June 26, 1919, that Ernst Lubitsch released one of the most intriguing films of his silent era, The Oyster Princess. The film was a vehicle for actress Ossi Oswalda (1898–1947), with whom Lubitsch had previously worked in I Don’t Want to Be a Man and The Doll, both also from 1919. Ossi's persona teetered precariously between mischievous ingénue and dissolute nymph—arguably a new "type" for German cinema.

In I Don’t Want to Be a Man, Ossi plays a whiskey-swilling, tobacco-chewing young woman whose world is upended when, frustrated with her cloistered life, she sneaks out dressed as a young man, only to discover that being a man has its own disadvantages. She learns that the treatment she receives as a man is far less gentle than what she’s used to as a woman.

The Doll (1919) is full of fairy-tale-like unreality, with an emphasis on this artificiality for heightened effect. Lubitsch used cardboard sets, reminiscent of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, but here they are bright and colorful, enhancing the film’s playful tone. It’s a delightful and even kinky burlesque, infused with Lubitsch's famous light, witty, and graceful touch. The frothy story follows a young prince who, desperate to avoid marriage, agrees to marry a lifelike mechanical doll (somewhat like a precursor to a modern blow-up sex doll). Of course, things don’t go as planned—the doll turns out to be much more "real" than he expected.

While The Oyster Princess may not have the most radical premise of Ossi Oswalda’s career, it was her raciest role to date. She plays the spoiled, unmarried daughter of an oyster magnate who decides that if the shoeshine boy's daughter can marry a prince, then so can she. The film opens in the vast Berlin palace of Mr. Quaker, the American "Oyster King," puffing on an oversized cigar—a fitting symbol of his fat-cat status. But then the camera pans back to reveal that the cigar is being held by an impeccably dressed Black servant. Another servant holds a cup of tea to Quaker's mouth, while yet another stands ready to wipe any drips from his lips. A fourth servant is on hand to comb Quaker's hair when it becomes tangled, as he sits idly by.

This is the grotesquerie of The Oyster Princess: the exaggeration of its characters to highlight their flaws. In Quaker's palatial mansion, the bright Art Deco design emphasizes the empty spaces between its occupants. The opulent décor is used to full effect as an endless stream of servants pass each other four abreast on the staircase.

Quaker discovers that, in a fit of frustration, his spoiled daughter (Ossi Oswalda) has demolished her room out of sexual agitation, crying for a prince to marry. (In preparation for future motherly duties, she takes a doll out of the bathtub and holds it upside down to dry.) Papa promises to find her a suitable royal. He sends a request to matchmaker Seligson (Max Kronert) to locate an appropriate husband for his brash daughter. The matchmaker’s suitor index—pinned to a wall in a way that seems a precursor to Tinder—finally reveals a match in Prince Nucki (Harry Liedtke), an indebted, down-on-his-luck nobleman who conceals his wealth from his poorer friends and his poverty from his wealthier acquaintances. Seeing an opportunity to restore his fortune, Nucki sends his bald, dim-witted friend Josef (Julius Falkenstein) to assess the bride-to-be, setting the stage for the ensuing misunderstanding. Vulgar luxury, false nobility, and the marriage-swapping trick are all grist for Lubitsch's satirical mill.

When Josef arrives at the Quakers' residence, he mistakenly presents Prince Nucki’s calling card as his own. Ossi is unimpressed with the visitor, but eager to be married, and believing Josef to be the prince, she rushes them to a priest. There, Ossi is immediately wed to Josef under Prince Nucki’s name. A hurried but well-attended wedding reception follows. Though neither Mr. Quaker nor Ossi are fond of her new husband, Josef thoroughly enjoys the raucous celebration, which includes a wildly filmed “Foxtrot epidemic” that causes the entire household, including the staff, to break into dance. Josef eats and drinks as if he’s never eaten or drunk in his life before!

Meanwhile, after a night of carousing with friends, the real Prince Nucki stumbles into a carriage that takes him to a meeting of the Multi-Millionaires’ Daughters Association Against Dipsomania, of which Ossi is a member. There, they meet and are instantly smitten. Not yet knowing each other’s true identities, both are distraught—she, believing herself recently married, and he, believing himself betrothed. Josef soon finds them together and, laughing, asks, “Do you know that you two are married to each other?” The happy couple celebrates with a second, much smaller reception. In the end, Ossi, Prince Nucki, and Mr. Quaker are all pleased with the match.

Finally, when the newlyweds retire to their bedroom, Papa is caught peeping through the keyhole to see if any “fruitful actions” are taking place. The couple is framed in a keyhole iris, with the winking patriarch finally impressed.

Lubitsch skillfully plays on the interdependence between the Nouveau Riche and the impoverished aristocracy of the Old World, mocking both with impeccable wit. The nouveau riche are depicted as crude, spoiled, and lazy, while the aristocracy are portrayed as drunk, immature, and equally indolent. The aristocrats may wear elegant clothes, but they steal money from friends and live off smoked herring—yet their status is something the absurdly wealthy Americans covet.

Like Berlin in 1919, The Oyster Princess portrays a capital city torn from the old world order and reshaped by a new generation, including settler foreigners, whose drunken stupor spills into the streets. Money buys decadence; decadence reflects money. While the non-specific European city of The Oyster Princess lies far from Berlin itself, it inhabits the enchanted globe known as Lubitschland, capturing the vanity, lust, and simmering social climate of its time. These are the qualities Lubitsch would, just a few years later, take abroad, to convert the Hollywood industry to his own mode of expression.

***

My goal is to discover interesting movies that are not already on all the "greatest movie" lists.

The Abyss (1913) - Twilight of a Woman's Soul (1913) - The Cheat (1915) - Tigre reale (1916) - The Oyster Princess (1919) - Don't Change Your Husband (1919) - Erotikon (1920) - The Flapper (1920) - Foolish Wives (1921) - Madame Beudet (1922) - The Woman from Nowhere (1922) - A Woman of Paris (1923) - Girl Shy (1924) - The Marriage Circle (1924) - Flesh and the Devil (1926) - It (1927) - Italian Straw Hat (1927) - Underworld  (1927) - The Devious Path (1928) - L'Argent (1928) - Sadie Thompson (1928) - Diary of a Lost Girl (1929) - People on Sunday (1930)

All films discussed in this blog are public domain and can be watched via YouTube or Archive.org

 

 

Early Italian Film: Tigre Reale (Pina Menichelli & Giovanni Pastrone, 1916)

Tigre reale is a 1916 Italian silent film, a melodrama directed by Giovanni Pastrone, starring Pina Menichelli. The story revolves around passion, seduction, and destructive love, in which Menichelli shines in her role as the femme fatale.

Giovanni Pastrone (1883–1959) was one of the pioneers of early Italian cinema. He is best known for his monumental film Cabiria (1914), one of the most important works of the silent film era. Pastrone revolutionized filmmaking, particularly by introducing technical innovations such as the camera pan (a movable camera on rails), which had a major impact on the aesthetics of cinema at the time. Cabiria was one of the first films to introduce the epic format and to address major historical themes with elaborate sets and special effects. The film tells a story set during the Punic Wars and set new standards in storytelling and visual effects. Pastrone was also a forerunner in the commercialization of cinema, helping to establish film as an art form and a medium for entertainment. His work inspired many later filmmakers.

 

Lead actress Pina Menichelli (1890–1984) was one of the great stars of Italian silent cinema in the 1910s and 1920s. She is known for her intense, passionate roles and her striking charisma, which made her an icon of the femme fatale type.

Menichelli began her film career in 1913, but her breakthrough came in 1915 with her leading role in Il fuoco, directed by Giovanni Pastrone. In this film she played a seductive poetess, and her sensual, expressive acting made her immediately famous. Her roles were often those of seductresses, women who led men to their downfall through their beauty and allure. Menichelli's image of the femme fatale made her popular not only in Italy but also internationally.

In Tigre reale Menichelli plays the role of a Russian countess who embarks on a passionate and obsessive love affair with an Italian diplomat. Their relationship is doomed from the start due to the emotional cruelty and unstable nature of the countess, who is portrayed as both irresistible and dangerous. The film shows her as a mysterious and destructive force, leading both the diplomat and herself into the abyss.

Giorgio La Ferlita falls in love with the Russian Countess Natka at a ball and is injured in a duel with a rival. After his recovery, he receives a letter in which Natka confesses her love, but she leaves. He searches for her without success and finds a new lover. Later he crosses paths with Natka, but she avoids him. She eventually invites him, but again ignores him. Only later does she tell him about her tragic past, in which she had an affair with a Polish revolutionary, Dolski, who committed suicide after their separation. Natka becomes infected with tuberculosis. She continues to reject La Ferlita, despite her feelings. Years later, she asks him to meet her at the Hotel Odeon, where she takes poison. La Ferlita rushes to her, but her husband locks them in while she dies. During a fire, they escape through the window, and Natka miraculously comes back to life.

 

The title, Tigre reale (Royal tigress), refers to the ambiguous nature of the main character: she is at once seductive and ruthless, a woman who uses her animal instincts to manipulate the men around her. It also symbolizes her uncontrollable passion and the threat she poses to her lover.

The film is a typical example of the Italian diva film style, which focuses on strong female characters, often surrounded by intrigue, tragedy and sensuality. Other famous divas from these years were Francesca Bertini and Lyda Borelli. Menichelli's intense acting and her flamboyant appearance gave the film its power and made it a success at the time.

With its beautiful cinematography, dramatic sets and Pina Menichelli's charismatic performance, Tigre reale is one of the most emblematic films of Italian silent film melodrama.

***

My goal is to discover interesting movies that are not already on all the "greatest movie" lists.

The Abyss (1913) - Twilight of a Woman's Soul (1913) - The Cheat (1915) - Tigre reale (1916) - The Oyster Princess (1919) - Don't Change Your Husband (1919) - Erotikon (1920) - The Flapper (1920) - Foolish Wives (1921) - Madame Beudet (1922) - The Woman from Nowhere (1922) - A Woman of Paris (1923) - Girl Shy (1924) - The Marriage Circle (1924) - Flesh and the Devil (1926) - It (1927) - Italian Straw Hat (1927) - Underworld  (1927) - The Devious Path (1928) - L'Argent (1928) - Sadie Thompson (1928) - Diary of a Lost Girl (1929) - People on Sunday (1930)

All films discussed in this blog are public domain and can be watched via YouTube or Archive.org

 

Early American film: The Cheat (Sessue Hayakawa, 1915)

The Cheat is one of the earliest and most interesting films by Cecil B. DeMille (1881-1959), one of the founders of American cinema. Between 1914 and 1958, he directed 70 feature films, both silent and sound films. His later work is known for its epic scale and cinematic spectacle, but his early films also include many intimate social dramas, comedies and westerns.

[Sessue Hayakawa]

The Cheat is such a social drama and it has sometimes been called a racist film in reviews, but that is not correct. On the contrary, in The Cheat the role of the sinister Japanese character is not played by a made-up Caucasian (as was for example the case in Broken Blossoms by Griffith from 1919), but by a Japanese actor: Sessue Hayakawa (1889-1973). Hayakawa was the first Asian-American male lead in Hollywood and became a sex symbol, especially among women. He was among the highest paid actors in Hollywood for several years, starring in romantic dramas in the 1910s and early 1920s. He also founded his own production company. In the wake of rising anti-Japanese sentiment after World War I, Hayakawa left Hollywood in 1922 to work in Europe and Japan, but returned several times. He is best known for his role as Colonel Saito in The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), for which he received an Oscar nomination. His minimalist acting style, in which he conveyed intense emotion through subtle eye movements, was seen as refreshing compared to the exaggerated gestures often used in silent films. In this respect, Fanny Ward, the "star" of The Cheat, goes too far in her silly overacting.

She plays Edith Hardy, a spoiled society woman who, despite the warnings of her husband Richard (Jack Dean), continues to buy expensive clothes. Richard, a stockbroker, tells her that all his money is tied up in a speculation and he cannot pay her bills until the stocks rise. Yet she even postpones her maid's salary to buy a new dress. Note the enormous, ridiculous hat she wears at the beginning of the film. Edith is also treasurer of a local Red Cross fundraiser for Belgian refugees (the film is set in the years that World War I raged in Europe). The gala ball for the fundraiser is held at the home of Hishuru Tori, a wealthy Japanese ivory trader. He is an elegant and dangerously sexy man, to whom Edith is attracted; he shows her his room full of valuables and brands one with a hot mark to show that it is his.

A socialite friend of the Hardys tells Edith that Richard's speculation will not yield any profit and offers her a better investment. He promises to double her money within a day if she trusts it to him. Edith, not wanting to wait for Richard's profit, takes the $10,000 that the Red Cross has collected from her safe and gives it to the friend.

The next day, her shocked friend tells her that his investment failed and that the money is completely lost. The Red Cross ladies expect the next day to hand over the money they have raised. Edith goes to Tori to desperately beg for a loan, and he agrees to write her a check in exchange for her sexual favors the next day. Edith reluctantly agrees, takes the check, and gives the money to the Red Cross. Shortly after, Richard excitedly announces that his investments have been successful and that they are now very wealthy. Edith asks him for $10,000, supposedly for a bridge loan, and he writes her a check without objection.

When she takes the check to Tori, however, he refuses to let her out of their "arrangement." When Edith resists his advances, he takes the brand iron he uses to mark his property and brands her on the shoulder. In the ensuing fight, Edith finds a gun on the ground and shoots him. She runs away, while Richard, having heard the commotion, rushes into the house. There he finds the check he had given to Edith. Tori is only wounded in the shoulder, not killed. When his servants call the police, Richard declares that he was the shooter, and Tori does not deny this.

Edith begs Tori not to press charges, but he refuses to spare Richard. She visits Richard in his cell and confesses everything, but he insists that she tell no one else and let him take the blame. During the crowded trial, both Richard and Tori, who appears with his arm in a sling, testify that Richard was the shooter, but they refuse to say why. The jury finds Richard guilty.

This is too much for Edith, and she rushes to the witness stand, shouting that she shot Tori: "And this is my defense." She exposes her shoulder and shows the brand mark to the courtroom. The male spectators become enraged and rush forward, ready to lynch Tori. The judge protects him and keeps the crowd at bay. He then quashes the verdict and the prosecutor withdraws the charges. Richard lovingly and protectively leads the remorseful Edith out of the courtroom.

The title "The Cheat" of course refers to Edith, who cheats on her husband, on the Red Cross and finally on her Japanese friend. Toru keeps his word and only forces her the do the same - her husband could learn from his example!

When originally released in 1915, the character of Hishuru Tori was described as a Japanese ivory trader. Japanese Americans protested the film because of its negative and sinister portrayal of a Japanese person. When the film was re-released in 1918, the character was renamed "Haka Arakau" and described in the title cards as a "Burmese ivory king." Apparently there were no Burmese in California to protest!

The film contains a major cultural error: Tori is shown using a branding iron to brand his name, in the shape of a Shinto gate, on the art works he has collected, and eventually uses it to mark Edith as his property. In Japan, however, only criminals were branded, and it is unthinkable that a collector would brand his art or other possessions. This mistake probably arose because Japanese collectors did put a red seal with their calligraphed name on paintings, as was also customary in China. Ceramics were not stamped, but stored in wooden boxes to which a paper label with the seal could be attached. But the weird idea of branding a woman as one's possession is in itself an idea that would have been worthy of a writer as Tanizaki Junichiro!

That the American men want to lynch Tori at the end of the film is not, in my opinion, a racist tendency of the film, but a realistic reflection of the racism against Japanese and other Asians that was unfortunately normal in America at that time (even marriage between whites and another race was forbidden - in 1933, large demonstrations were organized against Frank Capra's film The Bitter Tea of General Yen, in which Barbara Stanwyck plays a white woman who is attracted to a Chinese man). 

***

My goal is to discover interesting movies that are not already on all the "greatest movie" lists.

The Abyss (1913) - Twilight of a Woman's Soul (1913) - The Cheat (1915) - Tigre reale (1916) - The Oyster Princess (1919) - Don't Change Your Husband (1919) - Erotikon (1920) - The Flapper (1920) - Foolish Wives (1921) - Madame Beudet (1922) - The Woman from Nowhere (1922) - A Woman of Paris (1923) - Girl Shy (1924) - The Marriage Circle (1924) - Flesh and the Devil (1926) - It (1927) - Italian Straw Hat (1927) - Underworld  (1927) - The Devious Path (1928) - L'Argent (1928) - Sadie Thompson (1928) - Diary of a Lost Girl (1929) - People on Sunday (1930)

All films discussed in this blog are public domain and can be watched via YouTube or Archive.org

Early Film from Russia: Twilight of a Woman's Soul (Evgeni Bauer, 1913)

Evgeni Bauer (1865-1917) was the most important film director of pre-revolutionary Russia. He made comedies, social dramas and especially psychological melodramas about love and death, often with a tragic ending. Between late 1913 and early 1917 Bauer directed more than 80 films, of which less than half have survived. He worked with the greatest actors of Russian silent cinema.

In his short career of four years Bauer made macabre masterpieces. His dramas, obsessed with doomed love and death, are admired for their graceful camera movements, daring themes, opulent sets and chiaroscuro lighting. Bauer used cinematic techniques such as flashbacks, moving cameras, close-ups, dramatic lighting effects and split-screen. He symbolically depicted the inner lives of his characters through dream sequences and dark visions. Tragically, he died in 1917 of pneumonia after breaking a leg.

His first surviving film, Twilight of a Woman's Soul (1913), tells the story of a woman who murders her attacker and must build a new life when her husband leaves her. After Death (1915), based on a story by Ivan Turgenev, explores one of Bauer's favorite themes: the psychological hold of the dead on the living. In The Dying Swan (1916), an artist obsessed with the idea of ​​capturing death on canvas becomes fixated on a mute ballerina who dances The Dying Swan.

I opt for Twilight of a Woman's Soul because I am not very fond of supernatural stuff (Turgenev is in reality an ironic story) and even more so because in this film we encounter a strong woman who takes her destiny in her own hands. The film begins with a party in a lavishly decorated garden full of wealthy guests. Vera, the heroine, bored by her luxurious but secluded life, apologizes and retreats. The next day, Vera's mother invites her to go with her to help the poor. Enthusiastically, Vera jumps at the chance to do this charity work. One of the people she helps, a man named Maxim, is enchanted by her beauty. He writes Vera a letter asking her to come back to help with his deteriorating medical condition - which is a complete lie. She goes alone to his apartment, where he violates her. Afterward, he falls into an alcohol-induced sleep. While he is asleep, Vera escapes his grasp and bludgeons him to death. (Interestingly, this murder remains unnoticed by the police - could the poor just be killed off like that?)

Vera returns home, visibly shaken. She is then introduced to Prince Dol'skii. After a month, the prince declares his love for her and they kiss. However, as she kisses him, she has a vision of kissing the man who attacked her, and she runs away. Prince Dol'skii does not give up on her, however, and she eventually agrees to marry him. She decides that she must tell him her secret before the wedding, but both attempts to tell him are thwarted. At first she tries to tell him outright, but he does not let her finish and only says: "No matter what happened in your past, nothing will make my love waver." At the second attempt she writes him a letter, but he is not at home to receive it and so she burns it.

Vera and Prince Dol'skii get married. They are happy, but Vera decides that she must tell him the truth about what happened to her. Her husband reacts very badly to her confession. His love is shocked, so to speak, and he seems to want nothing more to do with her. So Vera leaves him for good and returns to her family. Prince Dol'skii starts drinking and carousing with light women to smother his sorrow. But after living like this for about a year, he can't stand it anymore and goes looking for Vera.

He hires a private detective, who discovers that she lives abroad. She has become a famous actress there. The prince leaves Russia to look for her, but after two years his search yields nothing. He returns to Russia. Sick of his gloomy attitude, a friend of the prince convinces him to go to the opera. Prince Dol'skii agrees and it is in this opera that Vera performs. He sees her on stage and immediately goes to talk to her after the performance. He begs her forgiveness and asks her to come back to him, but Vera refuses. She tells the prince that it is too late now and that she no longer loves him because of his cold reaction to her confession. After hearing this, Dol'skii returns home in mental anguish. In the last scene of the film, Prince Dol'skii commits suicide. (That is overdoing it, but every Russian story seems destined to end in death.)

***

My goal is to discover interesting movies that are not already on all the "greatest movie" lists.

The Abyss (1913) - Twilight of a Woman's Soul (1913) - The Cheat (1915) - Tigre reale (1916) - The Oyster Princess (1919) - Don't Change Your Husband (1919) - Erotikon (1920) - The Flapper (1920) - Foolish Wives (1921) - Madame Beudet (1922) - The Woman from Nowhere (1922) - A Woman of Paris (1923) - Girl Shy (1924) - The Marriage Circle (1924) - Flesh and the Devil (1926) - It (1927) - Italian Straw Hat (1927) - Underworld  (1927) - The Devious Path (1928) - L'Argent (1928) - Sadie Thompson (1928) - Diary of a Lost Girl (1929) - People on Sunday (1930)

All films discussed in this blog are public domain and can be watched via YouTube or Archive.org

An early and fascinating film from Denmark: The Abyss (Asta Nielsen, 1910)

From 1909 until the outbreak of World War I, the Danish film industry enjoyed a brief period of worldwide triumph. This was possible in the silent film era, when there were no barriers between films from different language areas, as intertitles could easily be changed. Denmark briefly became the most important film center in Europe, and Danish films were shown in cities such as Paris, London and New York. However, during World War I, the Danish film industry lost its worldwide influence (as did the entire European film industry), and the USA, with Hollywood, took over the leading role.

By 1910, Denmark had ten film production companies, and that year Nordisk Films Kompagni, under the leadership of director August Blom, became the first major European company to focus entirely on feature films and achieve international success. With the longer films came growing artistic ambition, best illustrated by Afgrunden (The Abyss, 1910), in which the beautiful actress Asta Nielsen (1881-1972) made her breakthrough as Europe’s first major female film star.

Nielsen’s role in The Abyss defined her career, portraying a strong, independent woman who suffered tragic consequences from her own choices. Although she became the first international film star, her work was often censored for its provocative content – ​​her naturalistic portrayal was considered highly erotic. She often played the role of a seductress or femme fatale, such as Lulu in the film Erdgeist of 1923.

The film tells the story of Magda Vang (Asta Nielsen), a piano teacher who meets Knud Svane (Robert Dineen), the son of a vicar, on a tram in Copenhagen. Knud falls in love with her and has his parents invite her to spend the summer with them at the vicarage in Gjerslev. On Sunday, Magda refuses to go to church and convinces Knud to visit a circus instead. There she falls in love with the charismatic circus artist Rudolf Stern (Poul Reumert), who follows her to the rectory. At night, he enters her bedroom via a ladder to roughly take her into his manly arms and kiss her on the lips while she protests unconvincingly. Magda leaves her safe, respectable fiancé and runs away with the circus artist.

She begins the wandering circus life and, under Rudolf's guidance, becomes a gifted member of the troupe. Although this new life initially fascinates her, she eventually becomes disillusioned when she discovers that Rudolf is also pursuing other women. But despite Knud's efforts to win her back, Magda cannot leave Rudolf.

Magda and Rudolf are hired as dancers in a variety theater, where they perform a sensual dance. During the act, Magda lassoes Rudolf and dances seductively around him. However, when Rudolf pays too much attention to a ballet dancer, Magda becomes furious and starts a fight on stage, in front of the audience. This leads to them both being fired.

In order to earn their living, Rudolf forces Magda to play the piano in a band in a garden restaurant. Knud appears and recognizes her. Incognito, he asks her for a private meeting. Magda thinks he wants to pay her for sex and refuses, but Rudolf forces her to go anyway. When Rudolf arrives later and finds Magda with Knud, he becomes furious and starts beating her. In panic, Magda grabs a knife and stabs Rudolf in the chest. He dies, but her love for him remains undiminished, and in her desperation she clings to his dead body. When the police arrive, she has to be taken away by force. At the exit of the restaurant she passes Knud, but she does not notice him - even now, he doesn't exist for her.

Director Urban Gad used naturalistic settings and innovative techniques such as continuity editing. The film's most memorable scenes are Magda's sensual dance with Rudolf and the final confrontation in which she kills him in self-defense. For 1910, The Abyss is a remarkably refined work, typical of the quality films coming out of Denmark at the time, despite their sensational storylines. Although the acting is sometimes overdone and, as in many silent films, there is more running time than story, Asta Nielsen is a joy to watch. Her sultry, erotic dancing remains remarkably daring even today. Unfortunately, the only available prints are badly deteriorated in some places.

***

My goal is to discover interesting movies that are not already on all the "greatest movie" lists.

The Abyss (1913) - Twilight of a Woman's Soul (1913) - The Cheat (1915) - Tigre reale (1916) - The Oyster Princess (1919) - Don't Change Your Husband (1919) - Erotikon (1920) - The Flapper (1920) - Foolish Wives (1921) - Madame Beudet (1922) - The Woman from Nowhere (1922) - A Woman of Paris (1923) - Girl Shy (1924) - The Marriage Circle (1924) - Flesh and the Devil (1926) - It (1927) - Italian Straw Hat (1927) - Underworld  (1927) - The Devious Path (1928) - L'Argent (1928) - Sadie Thompson (1928) - Diary of a Lost Girl (1929) - People on Sunday (1930)

All films discussed in this article are public domain and can be watched via YouTube or Archive.org