Blind Husbands / The Great Gabbo

Customer Reviews:

Historically interesting, but not really classics.......2006-10-05

The two films on this disc are both historic milestones in von Stroheim's career, though I personally found them more of historic interest than the stuff of classic films or extraordinarly captivating entertainment. 'Blind Husbands' (1919) wasn't the first film he ever acted in, but it was the first film he directed. Most people associate him with epic-length extravaganzas, but this film is only a bit over an hour long. Simply told, it's the story of a wife who goes astray while she and her husband are on vacation, although contrary to the average film of this time, it's not because she's some evil or morally deficient woman or even the other man's fault (even though in this story he is a notorious seducer of women), but rather because her husband doesn't pay enough attention to her or show her he loves her, quite taking her and her love for granted. However, I personally didn't feel that connected to the characters, and wished they had been given some more development. I also wished the plot could have been fleshed out a little more instead of things more or less just happening right away. It also doesn't help matters that in 1919, a lot of these things could only be hinted at or shown as much tamer than they'd be today; for example, we never even see Margaret and von Steuben in bed together or see a real indication of a hot and heavy affair. That aspect does make it kind of dated, since the 1919 definition of an affair or its depiction on the screen is far, far different from the one the average person has today, to say the least. However, things do start picking up when Margaret's husband and Lt. von Steuben climb to the top of the mountain and have their confrontation.

'The Great Gabbo' (1929) was von Stroheim's first talkie, and is about as interesting as most talkies from 1929. The camera is so static, the action is so stilted, and the actors are chattering almost nonstop, as though overcompensating for the fact that movies now had sound. It is so true that moviemaking took a huge step backwards in time when sound came in, and took a number of years to get back to the level it had been at in the late Twenties. Sure most of these very early talkies made a lot of money, but because people would pay money to see anything with sound in it, whether or not most of these films have aged well. How many 1929 talkies are still considered classics today, let alone even worthwhile? The only one I can think of off of the top of my head is 'The Cocoanuts,' and even that isn't without some bugs. 'The Great Gabbo' itself is also bogged down by a numer of lame song and dance numbers (musicals were also really popular in the early talkie era). I didn't really feel connected to any of the characters, and the plot is also clunky and dragged out. Even the presence of von Stroheim can't save this rather boring turkey. The storyline about a ventriloquist who is left by his girlfriend and then becomes obsessed with his dummy had a lot of potential, though, and it could actually have been a halfway decent film, at least, had it been made as a silent or later on in the sound era, when most of the kinks had gotten a chance to be ironed out and movies no longer looked and sounded so horribly stilted and stage-like as opposed to being actual "motion pictures."

There are also numerous great extras, such as an episode from a radio program von Stroheim did during WWII, two of his favorite recipes, press materials, a photo gallery, personal memos from him, audio interviews, information on the attempted sound remake of 'Blind Husbands,' and a summary of the books von Stroheim published.

Overall, it's not something I'd recommend to the average person unfamiliar with silent films in general or von Stroheim's career in particular, but it does have high historic importance that certainly would interest someone more familiar with these subjects.

Famous color sequence is in black and white........2006-05-13

Even thought the Great Gabbo is supposedly restored the famous color sequence is in black and white.

Two Thumbs Up for this Double!.......2004-05-19

This excellent DVD features a wonderful silent film from 1919 and one of the first Hollywood musicals from 1929, when "talkies" were introduced, and although I was expecting two silent films, I was not one bit disappointed. Knowing next to nothing about Erich von Stroheim (except that I had to see some of his work one day!) I watched and enjoyed both films without any expectations or preconceived ideas, and simply cannot fault either film.
Blind Husbands is visually lovely, the music is perfectly suited, and it is a poignant story with the morale that it's not always "the other man" who is solely to blame in marriage difficulties. It moves along at a comfortable pace as it unfolds and shows the emotions of each character just at the right moment. It's impressive that von Stroheim wrote and directed, as well as played a lead role. As an actor he comes across subtly yet strongly in this film, and overall I rate this film as a top quality silent movie.
The Great Gabbo is a Talkie and shows that von Stroheim was also very competent in speech, playing a very difficult and troubled showman; a ventriloquist, whose dummy almost steals the show. The dummy dialogues and scenes are superb and delightful, balancing the negative and rough character played by Stroheim. Then the musical really gets going; visually surprising, intriguing and fascinating, with very high quality music and songs as good as any famous Hollywood musical since (and personally, I enjoyed this one more than many others musicals) The picture quality is extremely good, being in pristine black and white, and while the sound might sound a bit tinny to sensitive ears, I still think it's a superior work of remastering. While the music and dummy entertain us, a very moving love story also unfolds, leaving the viewer feeling very satisfied after both of these memorable movies.
The DVD also has some interesting special features; photos, interviews and other snippets, including two recipes by Stroheim such as Almond Strudel which sounds worth a try! Definitely a worthwhile DVD - thanks, Kino Video!

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