Eerie Tales - 1919 - Germany

Eerie Tales - 1919 - 6/10
AKA - Unheimliche Geschichten

 
Closing time in the rare book shop, and three characters emerge from paintings.
The Devil, the prostitute, and Death.  Pre-Internet, pre-radio, what do they do?
Start reading books.
Five-part anthology, of which the best known adaptations might be Poe and Stevenson.
Dramatic interpretations are over the top and sweepingly theatrical.
Conrad Veidt is especially flamboyant.
Nonetheless, one watches this creaky vehicle to see the scandalous Anita Berber.
If her story were told today, Berber would tempt a caricature of Weimar decadence. Except she was the real thing.

Subs for this are easy to find.  If you cannot =
https://subscene.com/subtitles/eerie-tales-aka-tales-of-horror-aka-five-sinister-stories-unheimliche-gechichten/english/1145993

The Broken Butterfly - 1919 - USA

The Broken Butterfly - 1919 - 6/10

 
A composer, sojourning in the Canadian woodlands, meets a spirited maiden.
Orphaned, she lives with her bitter, scolding aunt and her faithful dog.
Love develops between the couple, he composes an orchestral work in her honor, and proposes.
The story is patchy, yet extends good twists, flashbacks and fateful encounters.
Lew Cody as the composer is fine, if made up to look too old.
Pauline Starke as Marcène lights up the screen.  She is the reason to watch this early Silent.

False Faces - 1919 - USA

False Faces - 1919 - 6/10

 
After he crawls through No-Man’s Land, over barbed wire, and into the trenches, international jewel thief, now espionage agent, Lone Wolf, brings intelligence to High Command.
From there on, more spy vs spy activity as hero Henry Walthall squares off against villain Lon Chaney.
Decent production values (typical for Thomas Ince films).  WWI battlegrounds, sea crossing.
Melodramatic story creaks at times, and the print I saw desperately needed restoration.
Walthall nicely underplays romantic leanings, and for Chaney fans, he commands when he is on.

Wagon Tracks - 1919 - USA

Wagon Tracks - 1919 - 6/10

Stodgy, William S Hart western, though Hart vehicles typically carry the dust of Victorian theatre boards.
Hart goes to meet his younger brother, a recently graduated doctor, arriving on a paddle-wheeler.
While card playing, however, the young man has been gunned down.
Hart, leading the wagon trail to Santa Fe, ponders how the cull the guilty out of the herd.
The print I saw was wonderful, the tinting outstanding.
Even small details such as inter-titles, feature imaginative touches.

At barely an hour, the pace is unhurried, and effectively evokes the Old West.
Hart knew and was friends with Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson, and he strived for authenticity in his Westerns.
A first class production.