The silent The Three Passions is not only not lost, it's in very good condition.
Rex Ingram's The Three Passions (1928) stars Alice Terry, Ivan Petrovich, Shayle Gardner, Clare Eames, Leslie Faber, and in a bit part in a nightclub scene a very young Merle Oberon!
The film boasts solid cinematography, sets, and excellent performances by everyone involved! The "three passions" in the film are stated to be 1) ambition, 2) greed, 3) lust for power.
Rex Ingram was a stickler for creating an impressive film style, paying attention to the smallest details other directors would have missed.
The story is about a tycoon (Shayle Gardner) who had worked his way up from the docks of a ship building factory to actually owning the factory. It was his whole life's work and he looks forward to turning it over to his beloved son when he retires. His marriage is a sham. His wife openly plays around with younger men and so the tycoon's only happiness is in his relationship with his son, which is strong and loving. Ivan Petrovich plays the son very well, if a bit stoically.
There is a tragedy in the factory and a worker dies, leaving a wife and child. The tycoon's son blames himself for the death because the workers were protesting for better job conditions and not receiving them.
In his guilt he chooses to leave his jazz era life going to dances and sipping champagne with his fiancé and become a priest! His father is distraught. He tells his son's fiancé to do all she can to try and win him back.
Alice Terry plays the fiancé and does an excellent job with her character. She shows magnificently the torn emotions of a woman who wants her man back but who grudgingly admits that he is happy serving the poor and God. She starts to help out at the "mission" where he works, at first to lure him, but then to honestly help out as she herself softens and changes, admiring his new dedication.
However one night she is alone with a scar faced brute who tries to rape her. Her fiancé rescues her just in time, knocking the guy out cold. This scene has tremendous suspense because of the way Alice Terry plays it, strong yet frightened at the same time. Usually women play these kinds of scenes with simple terror, but Terry's character is so strong she fights back and uses her brain to try and outwit him.
There is a combination sad but happy ending that I won't reveal. Hopefully the film will be seen by more people soon.
Still not as great as Mare Nostrum, but a worthy endeavor by Rex Ingram with some very fine performances by the principals, especially Shayle Gardner as the father.
And no, Harpo Marx is not in the film. His footage was obviously cut. In a way it's a shame, it would have been great to see him, but he probably would have been distracting to the flow of the story.
Rex Ingram's The Three Passions (1928) stars Alice Terry, Ivan Petrovich, Shayle Gardner, Clare Eames, Leslie Faber, and in a bit part in a nightclub scene a very young Merle Oberon!
The film boasts solid cinematography, sets, and excellent performances by everyone involved! The "three passions" in the film are stated to be 1) ambition, 2) greed, 3) lust for power.
Rex Ingram was a stickler for creating an impressive film style, paying attention to the smallest details other directors would have missed.
The story is about a tycoon (Shayle Gardner) who had worked his way up from the docks of a ship building factory to actually owning the factory. It was his whole life's work and he looks forward to turning it over to his beloved son when he retires. His marriage is a sham. His wife openly plays around with younger men and so the tycoon's only happiness is in his relationship with his son, which is strong and loving. Ivan Petrovich plays the son very well, if a bit stoically.
There is a tragedy in the factory and a worker dies, leaving a wife and child. The tycoon's son blames himself for the death because the workers were protesting for better job conditions and not receiving them.
In his guilt he chooses to leave his jazz era life going to dances and sipping champagne with his fiancé and become a priest! His father is distraught. He tells his son's fiancé to do all she can to try and win him back.
Alice Terry plays the fiancé and does an excellent job with her character. She shows magnificently the torn emotions of a woman who wants her man back but who grudgingly admits that he is happy serving the poor and God. She starts to help out at the "mission" where he works, at first to lure him, but then to honestly help out as she herself softens and changes, admiring his new dedication.
However one night she is alone with a scar faced brute who tries to rape her. Her fiancé rescues her just in time, knocking the guy out cold. This scene has tremendous suspense because of the way Alice Terry plays it, strong yet frightened at the same time. Usually women play these kinds of scenes with simple terror, but Terry's character is so strong she fights back and uses her brain to try and outwit him.
There is a combination sad but happy ending that I won't reveal. Hopefully the film will be seen by more people soon.
Still not as great as Mare Nostrum, but a worthy endeavor by Rex Ingram with some very fine performances by the principals, especially Shayle Gardner as the father.
And no, Harpo Marx is not in the film. His footage was obviously cut. In a way it's a shame, it would have been great to see him, but he probably would have been distracting to the flow of the story.