Blind husbands (1919) Erich von Stroheim (silent)

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Description

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0009937/
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Blind Husbands (1919)



Directed by

Erich von Stroheim



Writing credits

Lillian Ducey titles

Erich von Stroheim screenplay

Erich von Stroheim story "The Pinnacle"



An Austrian military officer and roue' attempts to seduce the wife of a surgeon.



Cast

Sam De Grasse ... Dr. Armstrong

Francelia Billington ... Margaret Armstrong

Erich von Stroheim ... Lieutenant Erich von Steuben

Gibson Gowland ... Silent Sepp (as T.H. Gibson Gowland)

Fay Holderness ... The 'Vamp' Waitress

Ruby Kendrick ... A Village Blossom

Valerie Germonprez ... The Newlywed

Jack Perrin ... The Newlywed

Richard Cummings ... The Village Physician

Louis Fitzroy ... The Village Priest

William De Vaull ... Man from 'Home'

Jack Mathis ... Man from 'Home'

Percy Challenger ... Man from 'Home'

Tiny Sandford ... (uncredited)



Produced by

Erich von Stroheim .... producer



Cinematography by

Ben F. Reynolds



Film Editing by

Eleanor Fried

Frank Lawrence

Viola Mallory (uncredited)

Erich von Stroheim (uncredited)

Grant Whytock (uncredited)



Art Direction by

Erich von Stroheim (uncredited)



Set Decoration by

Richard Day



Second Unit Director or Assistant Director

Edward Sowders .... assistant director (as Eddy Sowders)

K.C. Stewart .... assistant director



Camera and Electrical Department

William H. Daniels .... camera operator (uncredited)



Other crew

Carl Laemmle .... presenter



Genre:Drama | Romance



User Comments (Comment on this title)

15 out of 15 people found the following comment useful :-

The remarkable debut of a cinematic icon, 23 May 2004

Author: wm from Westchester County, NY



Erich von Stroheim's first film as writer/director stands as one of his most satisfying works. Not so coincidentally, it is the only film he directed that was left largely intact by the 'Front Office' executives of his studio, at least on its initial release; surviving prints of BLIND HUSBANDS lack some material cut for a 1924 reissue. After this successful debut Von Stroheim's productions became more elaborate, his off-camera behavior more outrageous, and his relationships with the studio chiefs and money men behind the scenes more contentious, always resulting in the films being taken out of his hands and re-edited by others. [Orson Welles' movie career would follow a sadly similar trajectory.] But the trouble and notoriety came later. In 1919 Erich von Stroheim was still a semi-obscure character actor best known for playing sadistic Huns in war movies, and this maiden effort as screenwriter, director and star took Hollywood by surprise.



In comparison with Von Stroheim's later, more elaborate (and occasionally bizarre) works, BLIND HUSBANDS is simple and straightforward. The story concerns an unhappy romantic triangle involving an upper class American couple, Dr. Robert Armstrong and his wife Margaret, and a Lieutenant Eric von Steuben, whom they encounter while vacationing at a resort in the Austrian Alps. The tension between the three is apparent from the beginning, as they share a carriage ride uphill to the resort. The husband is inattentive to his wife; she is frustrated; and the lieutenant, having quickly analyzed the situation (and Margaret's legs) begins a determined campaign to seduce her away from her seemingly indifferent husband. This opening sequence gives us the essence of the plot in a matter of moments, primarily through visuals instead of wordy intertitles.



We soon learn that Lieutenant von Steuben has other irons in the fire, so to speak: he is a 'serial seducer' with a number of lady friends at the resort, including a blowsy middle-aged chambermaid and a young local girl who pathetically takes his protestations of love at face value. Dr. Armstrong, on the other hand, treats his wife coldly, and the only clue we're given as to why this is so comes when he cheerfully handles a villager's baby-- then shoots a significant look of unhappiness at his wife, who is shopping and doesn't notice. Clearly, this man wants to have a child, and his wife is either unwilling or unable to accommodate him. We have to assume that the former is the case, because as the story develops we learn that although the doctor is something of a cold fish he is also a basically decent guy, and not someone who would resent his wife for a medical condition beyond her control. Margaret appears to be considerably younger than her husband, and presumably doesn't feel ready to settle down to child-rearing.



Whatever the reasons for the friction in the Armstrong marriage, the plot turns on Margaret's response to Lieutenant von Steuben's brazen advances, and this is the crux of the film and what makes it worth watching today. Viewers unaccustomed to silent drama might expect a great deal of arm-waving, eyebrow-waggling, plate hurling, and other histrionics associated (with some justification) with the early days of cinema, but here is where BLIND HUSBANDS made its mark in 1919, and why it's still surprisingly watchable today: director Von Stroheim, a one-time assistant to D.W. Griffith, inspired his actors to give intensely felt but remarkably restrained performances which for latter-day viewers might suggest Ingmar Bergman's ensemble company, or, more specifically where this material is concerned, the triangle at the center of Roman Polanski's A KNIFE IN THE WATER. Thanks especially to the understated work of Francellia Billington as Margaret Armstrong, a great deal of information is conveyed with glances, shrugs, half-smiles, and frowns; no plate smashing is necessary. It is plain to the viewer that Margaret is startled and somewhat flattered by the lieutenant's audacity, at least at first, but also that she soon feels he has overstepped his bounds and is more upset than pleased about the situation. Erich von Stroheim's own performance as [his alter ego?] Eric von Steuben is highly enjoyable and set the standard for some of his later screen scoundrels, although the character is rather limited in scope in this early incarnation. Also notable in a supporting role is Gibson Gowland, who would later embody the dentist MacTeague in Von Stroheim's masterpiece GREED.



Unfortunately, the plotting of BLIND HUSBANDS turns corny at the climax, when the doctor confronts his rival face-to-face on a mountain top (the screenplay's original title was "The Pinnacle"). There is some melodramatic hokum over a letter Margaret wrote to Von Steuben, but after all that understatement a little melodrama is forgivable --and, frankly, rather fun.



An earlier posting concerning this film suggests it's a comedy, which it's not, but there are nice comic touches throughout. I first saw it at a museum screening a long time ago, and still remember the laughter when Von Steuben approaches two different women at a party and uses the same pick-up lines, verbatim, on each of them. Now that's funny! And this movie stands as one of Erich von Stroheim's strongest achievements in his all-too-brief, bizarre career as a filmmaker.



5 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-

Von Stroheim's first and seminal directorial effort, 15 August 2001

Author: AA from Putney, VT



BLIND HUSBANDS was Von Stroheim's first directorial effort. It is separated from his third (FOOLISH WIVES)by the lost DEVIL'S PASSKEY and seems a seminal work re themes he was to use later in FOOLISH WIVES and indeed which were to have an influence on many of his films. Here he cuts the same figure he does in FOOLISH WIVES and THE WEDDING MARCH - the Austrian military man with shaved head, high boots, monacle and high military cap. He has a dapper air with cigarette and either riding strap or walking stick. He essentially always plays the same character in these films - the roue, out to seduce a married woman with the goal of obtaining either sex (BLIND HUSBANDS) or money (FOOLISH WIVES). In one of his two masterpieces, THE WEDDING MARCH, this character was to be softened by actually falling in love with an unobtainable woman, while pursuing a marriage of title. In BLIND HUSBANDS he is also two-timing a jealous woman of the lower classes (here an inn maid). Although this sub-plot does not advance here, it does in FOOLISH WIVES to the point of disaster.



Von Stroheim's films were certainly revolutionary for their time, in exposing the vice and duplicity in human nature that other film makers were avoiding. BLIND HUSBANDS is rather crude in its acting, cinematography and editing - it was, after all, Von Stroheim's first film and the medium was just teetering on the edge of its advancement as a true art form (something which Von Stroheim was to take full advantage of in GREED and THE WEDDING MARCH.) Here then it is the story that fascinates, not the production values.



Von Stroheim's character latches onto the neglected wife of an American surgeon, vacationing in Austria. He makes love to her behind her husband's back but observed by the husband's mountain-climbing guide friend. Eventually the two men are alone on a summit. Von Stroheim is the weaker men, having had to be helped considerably by the husband to reach the peak. There the latter finds a letter in Von Stroheim's jacket pocket in his wife's handwriting. Before being able to read it, Von Stroheim knocks it from his hand and it falls down the mountainside. Did the letter prove his wife's unfaithfulness? Von Stroheim says yes and the husband leaves him to rot on the summit (We see shadows of vultures on the rocks - obviously and badly originating in someone offscreen whirling a fake bird on a string). During the descent, the husband finds the letter and reading it, learns of his wife's innocence. Why did Von Stroheim lie and should the husband now return to save him or let him rot? I won't spoil the ending.



This is certainly a triangle with more thought involved in its writing and character development than is to be found in most product of 1919.



The film is interesting and might be worth pairing with FOOLISH WIVES. It is no great achievement on its own, but does gain significance when studying the developing writing and diectorial career of Herr Von Stroheim and is recommended more for study than entertainment.





2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful.

Restraint, 16 July 2005



Author: C



The story is simple and unoriginal: a love triangle, plus man's determination to conquer nature. But, this early effort by director Erich von Stroheim displays great restraint, especially for a filmmaker who would become notorious for excess. His films, such as 'Greed' (1924) are better known for their production and post-production histories than for their actual merits. He would shoot an excessive amount of footage for films of extraordinary length, which the producers then butchered. That's not the case with 'Blind Husbands,' though; this one has a normal runtime.



It also features the familiar Stroheim touches on a smaller scale. The acting is rather subtile. Stroheim introduces his typical role as a villainous Teutonic womanizer, with a scar, a monocle and a history of military service--"the man you love to hate." Here, he's the other man. Furthermore, the mise-en-scène takes precedence over camera movement or editing. The décor is detailed and occasionally allegorical to the melodrama. Attention to lighting is also evident. 'Blind Husbands' is sensational and too contrived and ruminant at times, but, for the most part, the simple story is harmonious with the restrained, yet detailed, film-making.





1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-

Delightful alpine movie - review of the Austrian version, 30 May 2009



Author: ms from United Kingdom



This is a review of the Austrian version of the film, which is available on the R2 Edition Filmmuseum DVD. I believe it is also available in the States on Kino DVD in the truncated American version that has a different sentiment.



Blind Husbands is a story about folks holidaying in the alps (Cortina specifically). The main characters are a famous American surgeon, his wife Maguerite, and Leutnant von Steuben, a German military man (the filmmuseum English subtitles are a bit misleading here because they translate the intertitles referring to him as an impostor, whereas I believe von Stroheim's intention was to portray him as someone unfit to wear the uniform rather than literally not allowed to wear it). Von Steuben is played by von Stroheim himself.



He's meant to be a philanderer of married women. He looks the part, excepting that he is actually very short, shorter in fact than Maguerite. The world may have changed a lot in ninety years, but I doubt the women back then were too different from women today who are generally unable to take the advances of men shorter than themselves seriously.



I'll give the world and the female race the benefit of the doubt for the movie's sake. Von Steuben is after a clinch with Maguerite, but he's already had a squeeze with two of the hotel serving girls by the time he gets round to her. He's got a soft target really, because the husband is much too self-involved to notice that his wife is feeling lonely and in need of rekindling. Obviously where the title "Blind Husbands" arises from.



There's quite a lovely dinner scene outside the hotel in Cortina at night, there's all these paper lanterns in lines interspersed with the permanent hotel lanterns, very pretty really. Maguerite excuses herself from the hubbub and goes inside to play the piano. Whilst sat at the piano we see her head shot against a totally black background, quite an unusual shot for a film of any era. It's at this point that she appears totally alone, not just lonely, but alone. Back to the normal shot and Steuben has sidled in. He picks up a violin and starts to play a duet. What a powerful thing to do to one in such a suggestive frame of mind! Part two of the plan is to buy her the marquetry box that hubby was too busy to notice that she wanted. It's apparently two hundred years old, the design on the lid is all lozenges and grains, really reminded me very much of a Matisse type pattern, we get a lovely close up of it.



As it happens there are another two shots against a dark background, one of a bell ringing in the bell tower (to mourn the dead) and one of von Steuben pointing his grubby finger at Maguerite.



Most of the film basically concerns the von Steuben/Maguerite cat and mouse game. Can't blame him for chasing Maguerite really, my favourite shot of her was her wearing these lovely antique sunglasses with wildflowers in the back of her alpinist hat band. The movie is all shot really quite sympathetically, I'd almost call it realism, a surprising term for a 1919 film! According to others the level of mise en scene is apparently not up to Foolish Wives or Greed standard, but I'll go with it on an absolute basis.



If you see the movie as containing realism, then the ending is a bit of a cop-out, a sop to dramatic cliché. However we'll let Erich off as it still kind of works. The movie turns into a bit of a bergfilm at the end, American superman, surgeon, strong, weakling German braggart, this being totally exposed as they climb the mountain, having been rather sotto voce before.



The only silly part of the film concerns the shadow of an eagle, which is blatantly produced by a crude silhouette hanging on the end of a wire (unl

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Blind husbands (1919) Erich von Stroheim (silent)

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