Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10204 in VHS
• Released on: 1999-05-18
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Formats: Black & White, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of tapes: 1
• Running time: 78 minutes

Customer Reviews

The film and the Ending debate
Filmed at the end of the silent era, this movie is considered to be one of the last of the great silents. It's ironic that the genre was perfected just when sound was ready to take over.

Lillian Gish, though she faces stiff competition, is generally regarded as the finest actress of the silent era and this film is an ideal way to see her at her best. She plays Lettie, a sheltered girl who is forced to move to her cousin's home on the windswept prairie. Beverly is thrilled to see her but his wife, Cora, is instantly jealous of the dainty Gish. In her few scenes, Dorothy Cummings does a good job of portraying Cora's unfair but understandable jealousy.

Finally, Cora expels Lettie from her home. Since the seemingly kind man she met on the train is already married, Lettie weds Lige, a somewhat silly but friendly local man who is pleased and flattered to have such a pretty bride. Swedish actor Lars Hanson is great in a very difficult role. He manages to come across as likable but one still understands why Lettie is not in love with him.

All the while, the persistent wind blows and starts to drive Lettie insane. Director Victor Seastrom creates a marvelous atmosphere of despair.

The MGM presentation features an introduction by Lillian Gish and has an excellent orchestral score that is both appropriate and enjoyable. The print quality is good. Too bad it's out of print, maybe it will be released on DVD soon.

Good if: You are a fan of Lillian Gish, Lars Hanson or Victor Seastrom (or Sjostrom in Sweden) If you love a good silent film. If you like desert films. (This was filmed in the Mojave Desert, California) If you like psychological drama

Not good if: You dislike silent films, you don't like westerns, you don't like the ending.

On that note, since the relative merits of the ending have long been debated, I will discuss it. This contains SPOILERS so stop reading if you want to be surprised:

The original ending of the book had Lettie going mad, wandering into the desert and dying after she has murdered the man who assaulted her. One can easily see why this would appeal to Gish who was an accomplished tragedienne. However, the ending was changed (there is some debate as to who changed it) and the new ending has Gish hide the body and overcome her fear of the wind and be reunited with Lige in grand Hollywood style. Now, I don't judge endings as happy or sad, just as appropriate and inappropriate. Having Lettie wander off to die would have left quite a few loose ends although it would have been highly dramatic. However there is a point when I as the viewer think "Hasn't this poor woman been through enough?" Overly tragic is just as unrealistic as overly sappy. The happy ending answered a few more questions (will she leave Lige or stay and put up with the wind) but it did seem rather contrived. I personally wish that Frances Marion, the scenario writer, had split the difference but that is my opinion. While the ending does not in any way damage the impact of the film, I do wish that it had been slightly more realistic.

Be Swept Along
Other reviewers have more expertise concerning silent cinema, and state succinctly the background of this film. So I shall add only one small opinion to the others. Simply this: Lettie wandering off into the desert would have been the better conclusion. The author of the original book understood this, and wrote it into his novel. Here's a poor dear that's had so much on her plate: loveless marriage, murder, distate from relatives, horrible weather, jealousy, culture shock, &tc. Such high drama would dent most anyone's armour. The sweet tied-up ending might have allowed audiences to leave the theaters relieved and all in smiles, but it doesn't fit. This is melodrama! Pull out all the stops and do it correctly. Be that as it may, Miss Gish is outstanding in her role, a consummate tragedienne, as mentioned by another reviewer. And so beautiful to look at, pure pleasure to watch on the screen. Wrong-ended and all, this film belongs in your collection if you have any interest in silents whatsoever.

Unsettling Drama is Both Haunting and Memorable
In perhaps her greatest performance in silent film, Lillian Gish is at her peak in this unnerving drama of a Virginian woman who finds herself being driven slowly mad by the combination of a loveless marriage and an incredibly hostile environment. Haunting and memorable.