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Review based on Grapevine Video (1995) version. I watched this film last night and was very impressed. I would rank it among the best silent films I�ve watched, which is a substantial number. While I would not rank it with my favorites: �Pandora�s Box,� �Beggars of Life,� and �Piccadilly,� it belongs on the second tier with works like �The Garden of Eden.�
The film work, by E. A. Dupont, was excellent. The film was artistically framed and included some of the most elaborate special effects of the period. These were not overplayed and certainly are not central to the movie. The plot, the tale of fatal love triangle, could easily have been turned into melodrama but instead comes off as dramatic. There are excellent scenes of revelry, trapeze scenes, and clips of vaudeville acts. All are included without overwhelming the movie. This is not a movie of show scenes. With the exception the prologue and epilogue which were weak, corny and melodramatic the film was well plotted and flowed smoothly. You�re even left with a question to ponder, does she wait? The version I reviewed has been cut from the original version, in which Boss' �wife,� Lya De Putte, first appears as a stowaway waif, Bertha. Grapevine�s version is missing this introductory scene, as well as a scene where Boss Huller leaves his wife, played by Maly Delschaft, and runs off with Bertha. In the Grapevine version Bertha appears to be married to Huller. This divergence in plot could make a significant difference to how the Lya De Putti character is interpreted. In the original she steals Huller from his wife and then cheats on him with Artinelli. This casts her in her usual vamp role. In the Grapevine version she appears to be faithful to the doting Huller until Artinelli seduces her. In this light she is a wife lead astray and one can�t help hoping she is waiting for Huller amid the trees at the end of the film. Grapevine indicates their version is the most complete one available. I still found it a top flight film and would highly recommend it. The missing scenes did not detract from the movie and may have actually added pathos to a plot which would otherwise be full of characters that get their just desserts rather than naive innocents caught up in the circumstances of sudden fame and Artinelli's snaky charms. � 2003 Diana Savage
The Stars
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Jannings,
shown below on the left, as �Boss� Huller was in top form. This was the finest
performance I have ever seen him give. He was a little melodramatic but that was
the style at the time. Lya de Putte, shown to the right laughing in an early
scene,
playing his wife, also put in a fine performance, one of her best. It was much
more subdued than her usual style and was highly realistic. One can easily
picture her as the young wife led astray by the charming and conniving
Artinelli, shown to the left
delivering
the first adulteress kiss. I�ve also never seen her as lovely. She almost ranked
with Louise Brooks for beauty. Warwick Ward plays the charming but worldly
Artinelli. His performance shows the standard marks of the silent star with an
overplayed character. Still his character is portrayed more through his actions
than in his melodramatic overplaying. All three stars do excellent jobs
portraying people who have had too much to drink. It has been my observation
that this is very difficult to portray accurately while not interfering with the
cohesiveness of a film. I actually wondered if they were drunk as they stumbled
and wove their way down the hotel�s corridors.
ballet. Her success in live theater was limited and in 1918 she appeared in her
first film, �A Cs�sz�r katon�i�. She made her break through to leading roles
with Marnau�s �Der brennende Acker/Burning Soil� (1922). Her role in the German
film �Variet� (1925) made her a star in the US. Many people believe this
was the peak of her career. In 1926 she moved to California and continued to
star in films. Her first film in the states was in D. W. Griffith�s �Sorrows of
Satan� as Princess Olga Godovsky. Olga is a woman who gives her soul to Satan
for the earthy vanities of a flapper. Lya De Putti went on to star in several
Universal films including �Buck Privates� (1928), �Midnight Rose� (1928), �The
Scarlet Lady� (1928) and �The Informer� (1929). In 1931 she died from
complications to surgery. In all Lya de Putti is credited will appearing in 34
films.
born in 1891 in the UK. During his life he is credited with appearing in 63
films. Among them he also appeared with Lya de Putti in �The Informer� (1929).
Of the 63 films he appears in are examples from the UK, USA, Germany, and
France. Arguably the two greatest films he appeared in were "Variet�" (1925) and
"Die wunderbare L�ge der Nina Petrowna/The Wonderful Lies of Nina Petrovna"
(1929). In 1933, Ward made his last films and turned to full time producing. As
a producer he produced a total of 19 films. He died in 1967.