This is one of my favourite silent films, very preachy with sly sexual sub-texts as usual from DeMille but with its tongue firmly in its cheek. And with the passage of time it (presently) reflects back to us a dead world, where people seemed to think, talk and behave in strange ways, and where innocence and sublety are intermixed.
Man with honourable knight errant tendencies rescues pretty girls and repeatedly gets burned much to his and his faithful wife's disgust, eventually causing her to paint the town red in revenge. What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. Wallace Reid and Gloria Swanson are perfect in their respective roles of handsome couple Anatol and Vivian, bringing an old fashioned story not only to life but to a credible and dignified level too. Their staunch friend Max seems to have a lot to think of judging by all the gurning asides he pulls. Of the three distinct sections in the film the third with Bebe Daniels as Madame Satan Synne in her quasi-brothel is the most fascinating, the money shots for me being of her introducing Anatol to her startling companion in her bedroom. What a vamp. You will have to draw your own conclusions at the end with the unanswered question but seeing Max's blissful face I know what I think But it ill behooves me to talk about any of them after all! There's nice camera-work and also nice tinting throughout which usually helps.
It's essential to see if you're a silent film fan, and hopefully still enjoyable if you're not but you'll probably be severely puzzled by all of the moralising.
Man with honourable knight errant tendencies rescues pretty girls and repeatedly gets burned much to his and his faithful wife's disgust, eventually causing her to paint the town red in revenge. What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. Wallace Reid and Gloria Swanson are perfect in their respective roles of handsome couple Anatol and Vivian, bringing an old fashioned story not only to life but to a credible and dignified level too. Their staunch friend Max seems to have a lot to think of judging by all the gurning asides he pulls. Of the three distinct sections in the film the third with Bebe Daniels as Madame Satan Synne in her quasi-brothel is the most fascinating, the money shots for me being of her introducing Anatol to her startling companion in her bedroom. What a vamp. You will have to draw your own conclusions at the end with the unanswered question but seeing Max's blissful face I know what I think But it ill behooves me to talk about any of them after all! There's nice camera-work and also nice tinting throughout which usually helps.
It's essential to see if you're a silent film fan, and hopefully still enjoyable if you're not but you'll probably be severely puzzled by all of the moralising.