Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #31684 in VHS
• Released on: 1993-12-01
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Formats: Black & White, Silent, NTSC
• Number of tapes: 1
• Running time: 65 minutes

Customer Reviews

This Print Was Horrendous
This MIGHT have been a good movie if the print of this silent film The White Sister was at least watchable. I sat through the whole thing but it was a chore all the way. The print is so dark in spots you can't see anything, the faces of the actors are whited out unless in close up, there was no attempt made to edit the film to take out defects, and it was grainy as well. Maybe someone else is selling a better print somewhere but this is not it. If I were this company I would be embarrassed to put this out on video and expect money for it.

A poignant romantic tragedy starring Lillian Gish
Lillian Gish didn't become silent cinema's greatest actress by playing happy characters living magically idyllic lives. D.W. Griffith helped mold her into the quintessential tragic heroine, an actress who combined a great sense of moral fortitude and incredible passion with the beauty and character of an angel from heaven. Gish was no longer working with Griffith in 1923 when she made The White Sister for Inspiration Pictures (the film was quickly picked up for distribution by Metro Picture Corporation). Freed of any restraints imposed upon her by the demanding Griffith, she truly shines in this story of tragic romance based upon a novel by Francis Marion Crawford.

Gish plays Angela Chiaromonte, the second daughter to a wealthy Italian nobleman. When her father is tragically killed, her evil, older half-sister quickly burns her father's will, thus assuring herself by law of possession of his entire estate. She wastes no time throwing poor Angela out of the house. As if things weren't already bad enough for the sweet and innocent Angela, she soon learns that the man she loves, Captain Giovanni Severini, is being called to lead a military excursion into Africa. Ronald Colman, in his first starring role, is wonderful as Captain Severini, playing his part with great emotion. When Angela later gets word that her beloved has been killed, she chooses to become a nun and work for humanity in the memory of the man she loved. Captain Severini is not in fact dead, but it takes him the better part of two years to make his way home and find, to his heart-breaking horror, that Angela, who had promised to wait for him forever, had chosen to wed herself to the church. The last meeting between Angela and Severini is an incredibly poignant one, one almost equaled by the power and passion of the final tragic moments of the film.

The White Sister, directed by Henry King, was filmed in Italy, predominantly in the beautiful locations of Rome and Naples. It premiered in New York on September 5, 1923 before being distributed in general release the following year, and it met with much critical and popular success. There is some question about the length of the film. Apparently, the movie at its premiere exceeded 13,000 feet but was cut down in stages to ten reels totaling less than 10,000 feet by the time of its general release. The version I saw totaled 68 minutes, but significantly longer versions of the film can reportedly be found. The picture quality is unfortunately rather poor, at least in the print I saw. A number of scenes were all but impossible to make out due to the obscurity of the print, and actors' faces, so crucial to the acting performances of silent films, were oftentimes blanked out to a nondescript white blob. Even still, The White Sister is a powerful emotional film that goes some way to proving just how good a silent film could be both then and now.

Ronald Colman loves Lillian Gish, but she just became a nun
Ronald Colman had his first starring role opposite Lillian Gish in this 1923 Silent Classic directed by Henry King. Gish plays Angela Chiaromonte, an aristocratic girl whose father dies. Her half-sister (Gail Kane) burns their father's will and sends Angela away into poverty. She falls in love with dashing young Captain Giovanni Severi (Colman), who is reportedly killed in action in Africa. The grief stricken Angela becomes a nun, not knowing her beloved has been captured by a Bedouin Chief (Sheik Mahomet). Giovanni returns too late, for Angela has taken her final vows. He tries to take her from the convent and finally tricks her into a meeting where he begs her to sign a petition to the Pope to release her from her vows. At that point the Mt. Vesuvius volcano erupts, causing storms and floods. Giovanni saves Angela, who finds her sister dying in a church. Angela forgives her sister, but then Giovanni tries to warn the villagers of the coming disaster and he drowns.

Lillian Gish had left D. W. Griffith and was having trouble getting "The White Star" released under her Inspiration Pictures label. But the film, shot on location in Italy, proved a great success in its initial New York showing and was picked up by Metro. The photography in this film is quite beautiful and the adaptation of Francis Marion Crawford's novel provides some good moments for both Gish and Colman. An earlier silent version had been made in 1915 with Viola Allen and Richard Travers in the two lead roles and a decidedly Hollywood version was produced in 1933 with Helen Hayes and Clark Gable. Final note: I have seen several indications that this particular video version of the 12-reel film is missing several scenes with Gish. If so, then this film is certainly deserving of restoration. Gish, Colman and King would triumph again in 1924 with "Romola," which cost $2 million to make and was shot in Florence, Italy.