After reading pixie's review when she watched the 1923 or 1933 version of The White Sister, where she watched it at 3AM with her elderly grandmother, I brought it to my 90 year old mother to watch together today. We are both hard-of-hearing so we enjoy silent flicks very much. My mother could not get over the tenderness and pathos as we watched it twice. I highly recommend that you view this film next time it's on TCM, as it's not available in DVD. Colman does a superb job of sensitivity and frustration and Gish's conflict of spirit, soul and body are without peer.
It is interesting to note that the director who was cast to handle this film went to a Broadway play with Gish and saw Colman performing in a play. Immediately they scratched their intended leading man and whisked him away to Italy to star with Gish. Mussolini had just seized power in an unstable Italy after WWI. The scenery at Villa D'Este is spectacular! You won't be disappointed! (I look forward to TCM airing the 1933 version with Gable/Hayes. However, the silent one is an exemplary job of actors relying solely on their eyes and facial expressions.)
It is interesting to note that the director who was cast to handle this film went to a Broadway play with Gish and saw Colman performing in a play. Immediately they scratched their intended leading man and whisked him away to Italy to star with Gish. Mussolini had just seized power in an unstable Italy after WWI. The scenery at Villa D'Este is spectacular! You won't be disappointed! (I look forward to TCM airing the 1933 version with Gable/Hayes. However, the silent one is an exemplary job of actors relying solely on their eyes and facial expressions.)