I recently viewed 4 DeMille silents from the 1918-ish time period -- Don't Change Your Husband, The Golden Chance, Old Wives for New, and The Whispering Chorus. The Whispering Chorus was by far the best.
I liked this film for its interesting editing (which I assume must've been very clever at the time): superimposed heads floating near John Tremble, telling him what he should do in various situations that tested his moral character -- should he gamble the Christmas money he's intended to buy his wife a dress with or not, should he embezzle from his employer or not.
John Tremble makes a series of really bad choices -- so bad, that one has to wonder about his mental health and his intelligence! But no matter, without his bad choices we wouldn't have such an interesting and twist-turning plot! One of these bad choices leads John to switch identities with a dead man -- changing clothes, wallets, etc., and smashing the dead man's skull beyond recognition so the dead body can't be identified by the face. John then goes on the run and is eventually caught and accused of his own murder! Pretty exciting stuff for 1918 if you ask me!
John's wife, meanwhile, has taken a job with a kindly government official (played by Elliott Dexter, who must've been a fave of DeMille's as he was in 3 of the 4 flicks I watched), who goes on to become governor of the state. The governor and John's wife, Jane, inevitably fall in love and get married. Jane has hesitated for a long time, out of deference to John's mother, but John's mother finally makes it clear to the couple that they have her blessing.
There is a really interesting presentation of the wedding -- we see shots of the happy couple getting married, intercut with shots of a bedraggled on-the-run John in Chinatown making love to a Chinese prostitute. It was a very powerful statement on the contrast of these two peoples' lives (John's and Jane's), and where John's bad choices have led him to.
The courtroom scene (John has been caught and is on trial for his own murder; no one believes he's really John Tremble) was rather suspenseful for me -- when Jane walked right by John on her way to the witness chair, and then again when she was asked point blank by the lawyer to look at John and say if she'd ever seen him before, my attention was definitely held captive! She looked straight at John and honestly did not recognize him. Needless to say, John was found guilty of murder and sent to death row.
While in jail, Jane goes to visit him and, looking at him upclose and in the eyes, she does recognize her former husband. She asks her new husband, the governor to pardon him, but John tells her not to go to such trouble, that he deserves to die for other crimes and acts. (John had promised his mother he would save Jane even if it meant he had to die in the process, so I presume that John realizes Jane is better off with the governor than with him and the only way she can remain with the governor is if he's really not John, i.e., if John is dead.)
Very heady, psychological stuff that makes you think both during the movie and even after it's over. To me, that's the mark of good storytelling. I was overall very impressed with this early DeMille, especially after watching the other 3 that I mentioned above, all of which were pretty light and fluffy.
I liked this film for its interesting editing (which I assume must've been very clever at the time): superimposed heads floating near John Tremble, telling him what he should do in various situations that tested his moral character -- should he gamble the Christmas money he's intended to buy his wife a dress with or not, should he embezzle from his employer or not.
John Tremble makes a series of really bad choices -- so bad, that one has to wonder about his mental health and his intelligence! But no matter, without his bad choices we wouldn't have such an interesting and twist-turning plot! One of these bad choices leads John to switch identities with a dead man -- changing clothes, wallets, etc., and smashing the dead man's skull beyond recognition so the dead body can't be identified by the face. John then goes on the run and is eventually caught and accused of his own murder! Pretty exciting stuff for 1918 if you ask me!
John's wife, meanwhile, has taken a job with a kindly government official (played by Elliott Dexter, who must've been a fave of DeMille's as he was in 3 of the 4 flicks I watched), who goes on to become governor of the state. The governor and John's wife, Jane, inevitably fall in love and get married. Jane has hesitated for a long time, out of deference to John's mother, but John's mother finally makes it clear to the couple that they have her blessing.
There is a really interesting presentation of the wedding -- we see shots of the happy couple getting married, intercut with shots of a bedraggled on-the-run John in Chinatown making love to a Chinese prostitute. It was a very powerful statement on the contrast of these two peoples' lives (John's and Jane's), and where John's bad choices have led him to.
The courtroom scene (John has been caught and is on trial for his own murder; no one believes he's really John Tremble) was rather suspenseful for me -- when Jane walked right by John on her way to the witness chair, and then again when she was asked point blank by the lawyer to look at John and say if she'd ever seen him before, my attention was definitely held captive! She looked straight at John and honestly did not recognize him. Needless to say, John was found guilty of murder and sent to death row.
While in jail, Jane goes to visit him and, looking at him upclose and in the eyes, she does recognize her former husband. She asks her new husband, the governor to pardon him, but John tells her not to go to such trouble, that he deserves to die for other crimes and acts. (John had promised his mother he would save Jane even if it meant he had to die in the process, so I presume that John realizes Jane is better off with the governor than with him and the only way she can remain with the governor is if he's really not John, i.e., if John is dead.)
Very heady, psychological stuff that makes you think both during the movie and even after it's over. To me, that's the mark of good storytelling. I was overall very impressed with this early DeMille, especially after watching the other 3 that I mentioned above, all of which were pretty light and fluffy.