Reviews

There are many reasons why this is one of my favorite silents. It could be the incredible sequences of motion by Sjostrom, the intriguing plot, or the general appearance of Gish, who gets to be something more than a little girl in this picture. What exactly happened to Letty during the fateful night? Both the novel and the film leave the question to the imagination. Don't underestimate the wedding night scene between Gish and Hanson.

No one else but Lillian Gish would have starved herself for three days to make the final scene, and no one else would have done it so effectively. Would a modern actress have allowed herself to be dragged physically across the cobblestone streets?