One of the last great silent films.
Letty (Lillian Gish) travels from Virginia to Texas to stay with her best friend. Unfortunately, he lives in a place in the middle of the desert and the wind is constantly blowing and throwing sand around. Letty begins to slowly go mad living there. She marries a man she doesn't love (handsome Lars Hanson), kills a man who rapes her and almost kills herself.
The plot is kind of vague but plot isn't a top priority here. Mood is and this film captures it brilliantly. You get to feel the isolation that Letty feels and understand her depression. And, even though this is silent, the music score makes you "hear" the sand constantly swirling around...and you see it almost all the time. Director Victor Sjostrom does an excellent job--some scenes are just eye-popping. A cyclone hitting the small "town" is still impressive and the final wind storm is unbelievable. Location shooting in the Mohave Desert (where it reached 110% in the shade!) really helped the film.
The print I saw had a brief introduction by Lillian Gish filmed around 1988 (she, sadly, died in 1993). It seems she brought the film to the attention of the studio; hand-picked the director and leading man (both Swedish) and said it was the most uncomfortable film experience she ever had. But she loved the film. I can see why.
The acting is just great. Gish is superb...a truly great performance and she's incredibly beautiful. Lars Hanson matches her. He's tall, strong and undeniably handsome--the sequence in which he realizes Letty doesn't love him is heart-breaking. Mantagu Love is very good as the slimy man who attacks Letty. The only bad part is William Orlamond playing the "comic" relief--he's obnoxious, overacting and unfunny.
I almost gave this a 10...but I couldn't. DEFINITE SPOILER AHEAD!!!!!The ending ruined this film. It has a big ridiculous happy ending that I didn't buy for one second. The original ending had Letty running off into the desert to die. Studio execs at the time wanted a happy ending so it was filmed, under strong protest, by director Sjostrom. In fact, he was so upset about changing the ending, he went back to Sweden and never came back to Hollywood again! SPOILER ENDED!!!!!!!!
The film was a major bomb when it came out. It's now regarded as a classic...but not back then. So it's an incredible, great silent film well worth seeing...but that ending!!!!
Letty (Lillian Gish) travels from Virginia to Texas to stay with her best friend. Unfortunately, he lives in a place in the middle of the desert and the wind is constantly blowing and throwing sand around. Letty begins to slowly go mad living there. She marries a man she doesn't love (handsome Lars Hanson), kills a man who rapes her and almost kills herself.
The plot is kind of vague but plot isn't a top priority here. Mood is and this film captures it brilliantly. You get to feel the isolation that Letty feels and understand her depression. And, even though this is silent, the music score makes you "hear" the sand constantly swirling around...and you see it almost all the time. Director Victor Sjostrom does an excellent job--some scenes are just eye-popping. A cyclone hitting the small "town" is still impressive and the final wind storm is unbelievable. Location shooting in the Mohave Desert (where it reached 110% in the shade!) really helped the film.
The print I saw had a brief introduction by Lillian Gish filmed around 1988 (she, sadly, died in 1993). It seems she brought the film to the attention of the studio; hand-picked the director and leading man (both Swedish) and said it was the most uncomfortable film experience she ever had. But she loved the film. I can see why.
The acting is just great. Gish is superb...a truly great performance and she's incredibly beautiful. Lars Hanson matches her. He's tall, strong and undeniably handsome--the sequence in which he realizes Letty doesn't love him is heart-breaking. Mantagu Love is very good as the slimy man who attacks Letty. The only bad part is William Orlamond playing the "comic" relief--he's obnoxious, overacting and unfunny.
I almost gave this a 10...but I couldn't. DEFINITE SPOILER AHEAD!!!!!The ending ruined this film. It has a big ridiculous happy ending that I didn't buy for one second. The original ending had Letty running off into the desert to die. Studio execs at the time wanted a happy ending so it was filmed, under strong protest, by director Sjostrom. In fact, he was so upset about changing the ending, he went back to Sweden and never came back to Hollywood again! SPOILER ENDED!!!!!!!!
The film was a major bomb when it came out. It's now regarded as a classic...but not back then. So it's an incredible, great silent film well worth seeing...but that ending!!!!