Though the restored version made from the only surviving copy, from the Cinémathèque Française, happens to be a little shorter than the original US release, what's left is still wonderful.
H. B. Warner gives a vivid performance as the escaped convict that lost both his wife and child, married and brought up by a rich and respectable man. The plot sometimes remind some parts of Benjamin Christensen's Blind Justice (Hævnens Nat, 1916). One can feel his despair all through the movie and the emotions that Warner is able to pass on to the audience are powerful.
Vera Reynolds, who plays both the mother and her child, is a great and trully beautiful actress. The precision of her acting, whether she is playing the mother (tough woman that faces the police on the tracks of the man she loves) or her girl (lovely and slightly naive rich girl that grew up protected from the outside world), distinguishes both characters without difficulty.
Visually, the photography is impeccable. As soon as the very first scene, the film is full of visual ideas, with even visual "sound" evocations, if I may say so (the restauration choose to create these sound effects, which I personally found that it worked well.) The jail scenes even have some expressionist overtones.
In one word, I highly recommend it!
H. B. Warner gives a vivid performance as the escaped convict that lost both his wife and child, married and brought up by a rich and respectable man. The plot sometimes remind some parts of Benjamin Christensen's Blind Justice (Hævnens Nat, 1916). One can feel his despair all through the movie and the emotions that Warner is able to pass on to the audience are powerful.
Vera Reynolds, who plays both the mother and her child, is a great and trully beautiful actress. The precision of her acting, whether she is playing the mother (tough woman that faces the police on the tracks of the man she loves) or her girl (lovely and slightly naive rich girl that grew up protected from the outside world), distinguishes both characters without difficulty.
Visually, the photography is impeccable. As soon as the very first scene, the film is full of visual ideas, with even visual "sound" evocations, if I may say so (the restauration choose to create these sound effects, which I personally found that it worked well.) The jail scenes even have some expressionist overtones.
In one word, I highly recommend it!