As silent cinema continues to grow in popularity with new silent film festivals popping up and the rediscovery of more and more titles once thought lost, we are beginning to get a clearer picture of the types of movies that were made then. Everyone is familiar with silent comedy thanks to the antics of Chaplin, Keaton, Lloyd & company but silent dramas and especially movies made before 1920 when filming was centered on the East Coast are virtually unknown. A lot of this has to do with the attrition rate (92% of films from 1908-1918 are considered lost) but also to the fact that many of these movies were issue oriented as befits the Progressive Era in U. S. history.
The fact that movies could be a powerful tool in the dissemination of ideas was not lost on early filmmakers and organizations. Women filmmakers such as Alice Guy Blache and Lois Weber and men such as George Loane Tucker, John H. Collins, and even D. W. Griffith early on in his career made films that strove to educate their audiences as well as entertain them. This DVD/Blu-Ray is an excellent example of those types of films which were deadly earnest without a hint of camp (not counting the lurid artwork on the posters) that would plague later 1930s exploitation films like REEFER MADNESS. It also clearly illustrates the fate of most of these movies as only one of the three films featured here is in decent shape.
The titular film is clearly the big draw here. Not only is a movie about drug addiction (in this case cocaine) guarenteed to arouse interest today but this 1916 Triangle Films feature showcases two performers who would later make it big in Hollywood. Tully Marshall would become a silent character actor par excellance while Norma Talmadge was one of the silent era’s greatest dramatic actresses. THE INSIDE OF THE WHITE SLAVE TRAFFIC from 1913 exists only in a very incomplete form (28 minutes) but there is enough there to get the gist of it. While there are no big names here, it does give a penetrating glimpse into the title subject. A better film on the subject that is readily available (and from the same year) is TRAFFIC IN SOULS. Check it out.
The gem of the collection, as far as I’m concerned, is CHILDREN OF EVE from 1915. This is one of the rare surviving feature length films from the Edison Company and it is in remarkable condition. It stars the once popular Viola Dana (whom I only knew from interviews 60 years later) as a down and out dance hall girl with a fascinating history who overcomes her background to become a crusader against the evils of child labor. The film ends with a spectacular sequence that recalls the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist factory in which dozens of young women were killed because of unsafe working conditions. The film’s young progressive director, John H. Collins, died in the great influenza epidemic 3 years later.
Thanks to the Library of Congress for 1) preserving these films even though they weren’t given a top priority and 2) for making them available outside their walls so that others could see them. Very special thanks to the folks responsible for restoring these films as best they could despite severe deterioration in THE DEVIL’S NEEDLE and lots of missing footage in INSIDE OF THE WHITE SLAVE TRAFFIC. All three are eminently watchable especially for silent film enthusiasts who are used to prints being less than perfect. Thanks to Kino Lorber for making these films available to the general public in their choice of formats. While it is definitely a specialized release, those interested will not be disappointed.
The Capsule Critic 