Why had I heard nothing about "The Temptress" and almost nothing about its director, Fred Niblo, before TCM aired the movie this September? Niblo definitely deserves more credit for the fine work he did bringing Ibañez's story (which I admit I haven't read) to the screen. Its opening, tinted blue, has a scene of revelry reminiscent of the ending of the French classic "Children of Paradise." In that movie Baptiste is hampered by the crowd as he runs toward someone, and in this movie Elena is hindered as she runs away from someone. Finally making it outside, Elena enters into a scene that's so well choreographed and so evocative of a fragrant, exhilarating spring night that I have played it again . . . and again . . . and again, much as one would listen to a favorite song. And indeed, the music certainly enhances the mood of the scene, not just here, but throughout the film.
To my surprise, even my son's teenage friends, who had never seen a silent film, said they found this movie interesting and did not want to watch something else. I guess it helps that there's plenty of action as well as beauty in this production, along with a bit of levity. What more can you ask for? Well-written intertitles, perhaps? Well, you have them in the words chosen by Marian Ainslee, who likes to punctuate with a heavy dose of dashes. You also get a wallop of a message delivered when you don't expect it, and events that are hard to predict. OK, so the villain's expressions are overdonethey're no worse than the broad gestures screen legend Douglas Fairbanks employed. And OK, maybe the banquet scene could have been cut just a little. But the other dinner scenewhere Elena enters like a piece of Limoges among earthenware potsis so entertaining, it seems to end too soon. Another part of the movie is quite touching; I will always remember this: there were tears in my husband's eyes when Elena doesn't say, "I love you."
To my surprise, even my son's teenage friends, who had never seen a silent film, said they found this movie interesting and did not want to watch something else. I guess it helps that there's plenty of action as well as beauty in this production, along with a bit of levity. What more can you ask for? Well-written intertitles, perhaps? Well, you have them in the words chosen by Marian Ainslee, who likes to punctuate with a heavy dose of dashes. You also get a wallop of a message delivered when you don't expect it, and events that are hard to predict. OK, so the villain's expressions are overdonethey're no worse than the broad gestures screen legend Douglas Fairbanks employed. And OK, maybe the banquet scene could have been cut just a little. But the other dinner scenewhere Elena enters like a piece of Limoges among earthenware potsis so entertaining, it seems to end too soon. Another part of the movie is quite touching; I will always remember this: there were tears in my husband's eyes when Elena doesn't say, "I love you."