14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
taut, emotional drama with lots of action and brilliant acting, too, May 23, 2008
The Love Light is an excellent Mary Pickford vehicle that packs incredible amounts of action and adventure into the total running time of 89 minutes. This taut drama focuses on the life and times of Angela Carlotti (Mary Pickford) just before the First World War, during the war and thereafter. The acting is rather good although there are a few times when some of their "faces" are exaggerated; and the plot held my attention every step of the way. The music that goes along with the film could have been better but it doesn't truly lessen the value of the film.
When the action begins, Angela Carlotti is seen with her brothers Mario (Eddie Phillips) and Antonio (Jean De Briac). They tease the amorous Giovanni (Raymond Bloomer) who pines away for Angela even though she does not return his love. Unfortunately, war breaks out and Angela's two brothers go to serve much to Angela's chagrin.
At about the same time, Angela works at the local fishing village lighthouse and one morning as she returns home from her night shift she discovers a stranger who has somehow managed to save himself from the ocean; and he asks her to hide him because, as he tells her, he's an American deserter. What Angela doesn't know, however, is that this man Joseph (Fred Thomson) is actually an enemy German spy. By the time Angela finds out that Joseph is a fraud, they have been married and she has hidden him from the Italians in the village for much too long. Giovanni is off to war, too, while all this goes on.
Many questions remain: what will happen to Joseph when the villagers discover he's really a German spy? How will Angela cope with her newborn baby girl conceived during her brief secret marriage to Joseph? Maria, another woman in the village, wants a baby badly--will this cause any trouble? What about Angela's strife after she learns both of her brothers are dead from the war? And how does Mario, Angela's younger brother, really die? Does Mario die in the war or at some other time? No plot spoilers here, folks--you'll just have to watch the movie to find out!
I agree with reviewers who write that the blue tinting for the outdoors at night scenes is just too blue. You can barely see Mary Pickford on the screen! The print is rather good considering its age but that musical score really should be replaced--it made it somewhat more difficult at times to keep up with the action in some scenes.
The DVD has no extras but the film stands on its own very well.
The Love Light is a magnificent Mary Pickford film and it's great to see so many other talented actors play their roles so convincingly. I highly recommend this film for fans of Mary Pickford and silent movie buffs will enjoy this as well.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Historical Film, August 6, 2000
This review is from: The Love Light [VHS] (VHS Tape)
This release gives us a film, not just with America's Sweetheart, but written and DIRECTED by Frances Marion who wrote more screenplays than any other woman in screen history. It's a wonderful love story about a woman who falls in love with a stray (AWOL) soldier who she thinks is American. But he turns out to be German. Not a comedy. Nice print, nicely restored. The musical accompaniment starts out quite nice and eventually nearly drove me crazy. But you can always turn it off. The film is worth it.....
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12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Fine Pickford Performance, September 3, 2001
The Love Light is a good Mary Pickford film with an interesting story. It is set in Italy during the First World War. Pickford plays Angela and shows, with this role, that her acting was not at all limited in scope. The standard image of `Little Mary' is of someone who always played cute girls, as if she was some sort of silent Shirley Temple. Granted there were a fair number of little girl roles in Pickford's career, but there were also many films, like The Love Light, where she played fully realised adult characters. But whether playing children or adults, she always made the audience care about her. This ability to evoke sympathy is the secret to Pickford's acting and the reason why her films can still be such a wonderful emotional experience. As Angela she has moments of great comedy, including a very funny dance sequence, but what makes this role so special is the dramatic acting. Pickford shows the despair of wartime life. A scene where she almost descends into madness is truly harrowing. The film's story may at times be a little creaky and implausible, but Pickford carries the audience with her so that holes in the plot are quickly forgotten.
The print used for this Milestone Collection DVD is fine. There are some visible scratches and at times the image is a bit dark. This may be the fault of the colour tinting which has been added to the print, for in the night scenes, the blue tinting seems overdone. I'm all in favour of tinting, but it has to be done in a subtle way. There are also some scenes where the image has faded and the picture appears washed out and lacking detail. Nevertheless, and for the most part, the print looks good and sometimes stunningly beautiful. This is especially the case with some scenes looking out over the Mediterranean with the sun glistening on the sea. Maria Newman has provided a chamber music score to accompany the film. I quite enjoyed it, although I recognise that some people will not. Her music style does not always obviously fit the mood of the film and the score has some strange moments. The Love Light may not be one of Pickford's very best films, but it is entertaining and a must for her fans.
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