Orphans of the Storm
|
List Price: Our Price: $3.60 You Save: $4.38 (55%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: DVD See more DVD releases |
|---|
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
Movie Reviews of Orphans of the Storm
Movie Review: You'll shiver better without that shawl
Summary: 5 Stars
ORPHANS OF THE STORM is a great movie, and this time I'm not going to deduct a point for print quality and its non-sequiter of a sound track. Real sisters Lillian and Dorothy Gish star as half-sisters Henriette and Louise Girard. Louise (Dorothy) was found on the cold and snowy steps of the church Henriette's father had, before a change of heart, placed her. Their parents die, the girls grow into porcelain beauties and Louise loses her sight. Henriette vows to take care of Louise forever, and they travel to Paris in hopes of restoring Louise's sight.
En route a cruel aristocrat is inflamed with Henriette's "virginal beauty" and connives to kidnap her. Henriette is indeed kidnapped shortly after her arrival in Paris, and the helpless Louise is forced to fend for herself.
Half of the fun of ORPHANS OF THE STORM is watching the indignities DW Griffith subjects his two starlets to. Henriette is kidnapped by one of the slimier specimens of the over-fed and over-sexed aristocracy. Her desperate search for Louise is frustrated at every turn- when she finally spots Louise and attempts to reach her the police arrive and she is sent to a prison for fallen women. Oh, yeah, did I mention her delivery to "the foot of Death's gate?"
Louise has it no better. She is kidnapped by the monstrous Mother Frochard (Lucille La Verne). Mother Frochard, with her hair mole and moustache and missing teeth, may be the ugliest woman ever filmed. Mother F is a street beggar, and she plans to use the blind Louise as her main attraction. After she breaks Louise's spirit, that is. So, down into the rat-infested cellar with Louise and up comes the ladder. They're real rats down there. Griffith also throws a few cold days of beggary and an attempted rape in Louise's direction.
It's all great fun and the girls are indomitably strong and resourceful. The print quality is quite good in spots, simply awful in others. Most of the stock is sepia-toned, but some battle scenes seem to have been tinted red and there's a scene towards the end of the movie that seems to have been colorized. Because this isn't a restored print it's impossible to tell.
Having watched a handful of silent movies recently I'm beginning to wonder why they aren't rescored. Alpha Video puts a classical recording on the track of their releases and calls it good. It's not. These old films are works of art and national treasures, and they deserve better than this. Sound IS an important component to movies. Either restore the original music or have a contemporary composer write a brand new score. (Note: I watched the discount Alpha release of the film, and I didn't realize that Kino has a pricier print that includes the original music. I'm going out on a ledge here, but I'll bet the print quality is better, too. I'll be trading up to the Kino version in the near future.)
Movie Review: A compelling historic drama
Summary: 4 Stars
By 1921, "the Father of Film" D.W. Griffith was well on his way to setting the standard for Hollywood epics with all the main ingredients: emotional drama and tragedy, romance, political intrigues, moral injustices and the essential thrilling climax to keep you on the edge of your seat. In fact, Griffith had set the benchmark several years earlier with grand epics such as "Birth of a Nation" and "Intolerance", and like these, "Orphans of the Storm" is also a fast-paced drama packed with action and emotion, as well as conveying an important message, which Griffith had always done since his early short films from 1908 onwards. Like these fascinating short films, such as for Biograph in those early years which always carried some kind of social or moral message, the point Griffith wanted to make in "Orphans of the Storm" is of the destructive elements which lead to bad governments, anarchy and revolution, such as in France where this story takes place, but also the Russian Revolution of 1917, which apparently inspired Griffith to use this theme. He also made the point that we, living in peaceful countries, should be glad and grateful for our good governments. Soapbox speeches aside, Griffith was also a master storyteller and could balance all elements of an entertaining but also meaningful film, and "Orphans of the Storm" is a good example. From the very start, the audience is drawn into pity and empathy for the two orphan girls, one of whom becomes blind and is lovingly cared for by the other. Lillian and Dorothy Gish are perfectly cast in these roles, and once their path leads straight into the debauchery of French aristocrats, peasants and revolutionists, and they become separated and lost, the suspense continually escalates up to the grand climax. With so many events and scenes, the viewer has to stay reasonably alert to follow the story and become familiar with the many varied characters in this film, but the effort is rewarding. There is not a single dull moment in the entire two hours of "Orphans of the Storm", and while following the fast action, one cannot fail to notice that a lot of effort was put into sets and costumes to recreate Paris at the time of the French Revolution. Although this DVD is by the budget-priced label, Alpha Video, the picture quality is very good in this case, and only the accompanying music is at a lower standard than most other labels such as Kino Video and Image Entertainment. The score is orchestral classical music, and while it was not composed for this film, it is actually still quite suitable and fits the atmosphere of the period. For a budget-priced version of this Griffith epic, this DVD is not too bad at all.
Movie Review: Opinion of Orphans of the Storm
Summary: 3 Stars
Orphans of the Storm is worth watching. To me, it is not a great film, but it is definately a good one from the silent era. Even if you are not a silent film fan, you'll come away satisfied. Take a chance.