Product Details

• Actors: Lillian Gish, Lars Hanson, Montagu Love, Dorothy Cumming, Edward Earle
• Directors: Victor Sjöström
• Writers: Dorothy Scarborough, Frances Marion
• Producers: David Gill, Kevin Brownlow
• Format: Black & White, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: MGM/UA Home Video
• VHS Release Date: May 18, 1999
• Run Time: 78 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6301976096
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #71,122 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The film and the Ending debate, September 21, 2003

By 

Gwen Kramer "gwenhwyvar" (Sunny and not-so-sunny California) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Wind [VHS] (VHS Tape)

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.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Experience the power of silent cinema, February 24, 2000

By 

Christoph Berner (Vienna, Austria) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Wind [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Truly one of the last great classics of the silent era, "The Wind" is an outstanding film throughout helped by an excellent cast (Lillian Gish and Lars Hanson), the legendary director Victor Seastrom and an intelligent and very dynamic script which tells of a young woman facing a hostile environment in the old west, a recurring theme in American silent movies of those days. The movie is further given a special treatment by Miss Lillian Gish (probably silent cinema`s most beautiful and gracious actress), especially in the dramatic climax which almost contains a certain element of horror. Anyway this is one of MGM`s greatest silent films (in the same category as "Greed") and the restoration by "silent" experts Brownlow and Gill is very good (plus the dramatic Carl Davis score) .... oh, this were the times when the lion roared ...

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Young girl and culture shock, December 10, 2000

By 

Barbara Yerby "barbarayerby" (Decatur, Texas USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Wind [VHS] (VHS Tape)

A young girl from Virginia must live with distant relatives in Texas until she is married. The drastic change of culture eventually becomes more than she can handle.Anyone who has experienced such a change, or anyone who lives in Texas or like areas, can appreciate what she must endure. The story is captivating and suspenseful. The book's ending varies drastically from the movie.