Customer Reviews

The White Sister [VHS]

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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 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.

Lillian Gish is cheated of her inheritance by her half-sister. Her fiance', Italian army captain Ronald Coleman, remains steadfast. However, he is ordered to head an engineering project in the North African desert, where he is reportedly killed by Arab bandits. Lillian determines to take the veil. Her ceremony before the altar is presented in great detail. She is gowned as a bride, stripped of her earthly garments to stand bare-armed in a shift, and so acquiescent as she offers her head on a salver for the Archbishop to shear her tresses. Frankly, I was bothered by the overtones in all this. (Then I read that Bride of Christ is a phrase encompassing all the adherents collectively who follow Him.)

In nun's habit, Lillian serves as a nursing sister at the hospital. There Capt. Coleman, miraculously returned, discovers her, and the two have an agonizing confrontation. Later he goes so far as to lure her to a villa to demand she renounce her vow or indeed he will rescind it by assaulting her. Of course, they both realize he could never be such a cad.

A nearby gauge indicates that Vesuvius is brimming to an eruption. Forgetting all else, Capt. Coleman gallops off to warn villagers to evacuate. So we expect spectacular special effects with hundreds perishing in molten lava! But no, that would cancel out the Captain's heroism. So the scenario writers divert to dam failure and flooding--which the populace manages to survive.

However, Capt. Coleman loses his life in this selfless act. Sister Lillian will carry on, knowing she will someday be reunited with Ronald in heaven.

This long (143 min) silent film was shot in Italy, performances are strong, and only sparse titles are necessary. The music track excerpted from recordings becomes quite a hodgepodge in attempting to fit each scene.

This film was released by Inspirational Pictures, Inc. and distributed by Metro. It was inspirational, all right--it inspired me to hate the Catholic Church all the more. Roland Coleman's statement, "Oh, the Tyranny of the Church! Enslaving women who should be wives and mothers!" resonates with me strongly. Look through the Bible and see anywhere where you see anything about people being "married" to the Church (not that things not being in the Bible ever stopped the Catholic Church before). Remaining single to devote yourself to a calling is one thing (that's what I'm doing), but if a woman loves a man that much, then she should be free to marry him. The senselessness of the single monk/nun/priest system makes itself completely apparent in this film. At least the Orthodox church and the protestants and "low" church crowd have figured out that marriage is a beautiful institution and that there is no reason that people can't be devoted to religious ministry and a marriage partner at the same time.

But what about the movie? Well, I have Grapevine's "roadshow" version, and although it's a little slow and could probably use some cuts, there's no doubt that it's a powerful film that presents a "what if" situation passionately and powerfully, the "what if" situation being of an heiress losing everything, including (so she thinks) the only man she's ever loved, and runs to the church to become a nun, after which her fiancee proves to be alive after all and comes back to marry her. There are some spots where there is some overracting and some rather poorly-hatched plot segueways, but if nothing else it was great to see Lillian Gish in the movies again--I just love her. Ronald Coleman was great too, but I will say I like him a little better in the talkies as a middle-aged "man about town". An eruption of Mt. Vesuvius works its way into the story and we have a really dramamtic climax with some really amazing "how'd they do that" shots, including one where a flood of water appears out of nowhere and washes people downstream. Early on, we get a shot where a man falls off a jumping horse and you see the fall in its unflinching entirety--it looks incredibly, gut-wrenchingly real.

And yes, poor transfers are getting harder to watch these days, what with the myriad of stellar-looking transfers we're getting of even the most obscure pictures these days. This print was so dark that when Lillian is holding a baby, it looks like she's holding the head of a man in the latter stages of rigor mortis (no kiding!). There's other places where the action is completely obscured by darkness--not good.

Otherwise, I'm glad I finally got this movie, although I won't be returning to it too much--one chruch-burning saga in Norway (thanks to the Black metal crowd) ten years ago is enough, and besides, I hate to have any arson charges on my record.

Never thought I could sit through a silent movie on tv, but (once I got into the pace) I had to admire everything about it.

The White Sister was a Christmas gift, so I don't even know what it is about. My step-mother loves the old movies, so I buy from a list she has given me. I know that she has thoroughly enjoyed the movies I have bought in the past.

I am a fan of susan haward I saw this movie in 1951 and I thought it was great I also liked her in I want to live to name a few. can anyone tell me if the movie THE DESERT SONG is on video I mean the one wiht Dennis Morgan Bruce Cabot made in 1944 .