A couple of lovers who have eloped to Paris but get separated at the train station with disastrous results. It's a melodramatic and contrived story in that 19th century fiction sort of way, and as a warning, the female lead (Enid Bennett) takes quite a lot of abuse. We see her whipped by her uncle, sexually harassed at a menial job, and violently punched by the man who said he'd marry her (Ramon Novarro) when he discovers her living in squalor. It's a little depressing to watch.
On the other hand, there is so much power in her words "Must I go through all this again?", which hint that we're only seeing a part of it, and the film is certainly sympathetic to her. The cast is also excellent, starting with Bennett, who conveys such earnestness and emotion in her eyes. She really made me think of the line "We didn't need dialogue. We had faces!" from Sunset Boulevard, and I need to seek out more of her films. Her reaction in the scene where Novarro finds his "angel face" no longer made up and worn down by hardship, showing hope, fear, embarrassment, and love is simply fantastic. Novarro is quite good too, as is Wallace Beery, who plays a petty thief who has at least a little heart, but who also is a bad influence. I found in interesting that we also see a character who appears openly gay along with another who is cross-dressing, though they're in a den of iniquity and likely present to amplify the idea that this is a perverse place. The production value is pretty high, with lots of well framed shots and a great use of light and shadow especially during a thunderstorm scene by director Fred Niblo.
On the other hand, there is so much power in her words "Must I go through all this again?", which hint that we're only seeing a part of it, and the film is certainly sympathetic to her. The cast is also excellent, starting with Bennett, who conveys such earnestness and emotion in her eyes. She really made me think of the line "We didn't need dialogue. We had faces!" from Sunset Boulevard, and I need to seek out more of her films. Her reaction in the scene where Novarro finds his "angel face" no longer made up and worn down by hardship, showing hope, fear, embarrassment, and love is simply fantastic. Novarro is quite good too, as is Wallace Beery, who plays a petty thief who has at least a little heart, but who also is a bad influence. I found in interesting that we also see a character who appears openly gay along with another who is cross-dressing, though they're in a den of iniquity and likely present to amplify the idea that this is a perverse place. The production value is pretty high, with lots of well framed shots and a great use of light and shadow especially during a thunderstorm scene by director Fred Niblo.