The Valley of Silent Men (1922) User Reviews

Doesn't Quite Work, But Oh, The Photography!

[boblipton · 6/10 · 14 November 2022]

Shot Mountie Lew Cody discovers his old friend with a corpse, strangled with a hank of hair. He says he didn't do it. Because Cody thinks he will die from his wounds, he falsely confesses to the murder. Enter mysterious Alma Rubens, who overawes RCMP commandant George Nash, and rescues the recovered Cody, taking him to the mysterious Valley of Silent Men, pursued by Cody's friend Joe King over mountains and glaciers.

The DVD copy I looked at was from a print rescued and restored by the Library of Congress, but there's a lot of damage and large missing sections, which have been replaced by titles derived from reviews of the movie, shooting script, and the novel by James Oliver Curwood it is based on. Andrew Simpson provides an appropriately melodramatic score. Despite some flaws with the story as it is reconstructed, director Frank Borzage and cameraman Chester Lyons have taken advantage of extensive location shooting around Lake Louise and Banff to lend an ironic tone to the petty doings of men and women.

Breathtaking photography in this early Frank Borzage directed film. Exciting, if preposterous; but highly recommended!

[mmipyle · 8/10 · 9 November 2022]

"The Valley of Silent Men" (1922), directed by Frank Borzage, starring Alma Rubens, Lew Cody, Joe King, Mario Majeroni, George Nash, and Jack W. Johnston, and based on a novel by James Oliver Curwood, is a super, exciting action drama that takes place on the boundaries of Quebec and Ontario, and was filmed in the Rocky Mountains in Alberta, Canada, Banff National Park in Alberta, with some interior scenes filmed at Lake Louise in Alberta. The scenery is absolutely spectacular! The film is missing somewhere in the vicinity of 2 reels of its original 7. Although some continuity, as a result, is not as fluid as it should be, this restoration (part of a Kickstarter campaign) has put in connecting intertitles based on Curwood's novel, and the interruptions are nicely bridged. Near the end, however, where the climax occurs, much missing footage that explains the outcome and reasoning for the happenings that have gone on has needed to be filled in with explanatory intertitles. That alone is disconcerting, but not enough to not enjoy the film overall. The restoration is actually quite well done and very much appreciated.

Alma Rubens shows up after we've seen Lew Cody shot and told he has only a couple of weeks to live. She moves into the home of the head Royal Canadian Mounted Police individual of the area, George Nash. At this point we not sure why. Cody's best friend, Joe King, is staying in the area, too, waiting for Cody to die. Another person has been found murdered, and Cody takes the blame, even though he didn't commit the murder. He thinks he's going to die, and he doesn't want his best friend to be accused of the murder. Suddenly, the doctor realizes he's made a mistake. Cody isn't going to die after all! Now Cody has to face a murder charge. Meanwhile, a couple of other murders occur. Cody and Alma Rubens escape together (for reasons not made immediately clear) to go to the Valley of Silent Men where they will probably not be found. The escape route is over a glacier. The photography during this escape attempt is breathtaking!

The plot makes sense, but the reality of the occurrence is simply nonsense and the stuff of fantasy and fiction. Indeed, the probability of a genuine escape the way it's shown is preposterous. BUT - the way this is filmed - especially for 1922 - is magnificent and really a fun watch. It keeps the viewer glued to the screen. Really enjoyed this film and the nice restoration. Music by Andrew Earle Simpson is an organ score which I wasn't sure about when the film began, but it accompanied the film extremely well! My compliments all around.

Very much recommended! This is an Undercrank Production release.