I am confident PamelaShort will be pleased to learn this is not a lost film. I just saw the Museum of Modern Art's copy. The titles before the story began explained that this was a restoration from a nitrate negative made by the Cinematheque Francaise in 1995; discussion with accompanist Ben Model leads me to state with some confidence that this copy showed up in 2009, that the Cinematheque Francaise has a copy and that this was shown some time in the last few years at Pordenone.
So there are at least two copies in existence, with the interesting novelty of the original English titles and their French translations. These titles were done at the time of the restoration and are in impeccable condition. This allows me to draw the conclusion that the negative was neither the original negative nor the European master, but almost certainly a contact negative taken from a rather worn print. The dupy print we saw showed signs of great wear and one or two spots of decomposition. It was quite watchable.
PamelaShort has given a good synopsis of the movie, so all that I can add is that the acting was good, the scenery was fine and there was a bit of underworked subtext: Mildred Harris, as Hart's dying Virginia sister is not fit for the new state of California; Alma Rubens, as the hot-blooded Mexican temptress lacks the moral fortitude for this new, rough country. Only Sylvia Breamer, the western-born Rose can survive and even prosper in this land.
So there are at least two copies in existence, with the interesting novelty of the original English titles and their French translations. These titles were done at the time of the restoration and are in impeccable condition. This allows me to draw the conclusion that the negative was neither the original negative nor the European master, but almost certainly a contact negative taken from a rather worn print. The dupy print we saw showed signs of great wear and one or two spots of decomposition. It was quite watchable.
PamelaShort has given a good synopsis of the movie, so all that I can add is that the acting was good, the scenery was fine and there was a bit of underworked subtext: Mildred Harris, as Hart's dying Virginia sister is not fit for the new state of California; Alma Rubens, as the hot-blooded Mexican temptress lacks the moral fortitude for this new, rough country. Only Sylvia Breamer, the western-born Rose can survive and even prosper in this land.
