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Blind Husbands

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Wikipedia article




'Blind Husbands' is a 1919 American drama film directed by Erich von Stroheim. The film is an adaptation of the story 'The Pinnacle' by Stroheim.'The American Film Institute Catalog Feature Films: 1911-20' by The American Film Institute, c.1988

Plot



A group of holiday-makers arrive at Cortina d'Ampezzo, an Alpine village in the Dolomites. Among them are an American Doctor who does not pay much attention to his wife and an Austrian Lieutenant, who decides to seduce her. He manages to befriend the couple so that, when the Doctor has to leave to help a local physician, he asks the Lieutenant to look after his wife. When the Lieutenant becomes too pressing, she promises to leave with him but asks him to give her more time. During the night, she puts a letter under the door of his bedroom.

The Doctor goes on a climbing expedition with the Lieutenant, who had been bragging about his exploits as a mountaineer. In fact, he is not in very good shape and the Doctor must help him to reach the summit. In the process, the Doctor finds his wife's letter in the pocket of the Lieutenant's jacket, but before he can read it, the Lieutenant throws it away. He asks the Lieutenant whether his wife had promised to leave with him and the Lieutenant gives a positive answer. The Doctor decides to leave him on the summit and starts his descent, despite the Lieutenant now saying that he has been lying because he thought the Doctor would not believe the truth. On his way back, the Doctor finds his wife's letter, in which she had written that she loved only her husband and asked the Lieutenant not to bother her any longer with his attentions. While pondering whether he should go back to get the Lieutenant, he loses his balance and falls down. When the Doctor is finally saved by soldiers, he asks them to go and help the Lieutenant. Before they can reach him, the Lieutenant, attacked by vultures, falls to his death from the precipice.Review, synopsis and link to watch the film:

Cast



Background



Von Stroheim entered the Hollywood film industry in 1914 as an extra and horse handler on the greatest cinematic spectacle of the period, D. W. Griffiths 'The Birth of a Nation' (1915).Koszarski, 1983 p. 14: Stroheim a trained rider and expert horse handler...had little trouble finding work on this lavish production [with] costly spectacle sequences...This was the film that introduce Erich von Stroheim to the movies. Von Stroheim made persistent, but futile efforts to find work with the Griffith production unit after filming was completed. By chance, he had an encounter with Broadway director John Emerson, impressing him with his sartorial knowledge of formal military dress. This led to a small role in a film adaption of Ibsens 'Ghosts' with Mutual Film productions, followed by his first screen-credited feature later that year in 'Farewell to Thee' (1915). Emerson soon enlisted von Stroheim to serve as actor, assistant and technical advisor on the 1915 production of 'Old Heidelberg' (1915), beginning a two-year professional relationship and the single most important influence on von Stroheims early career. Von Stroheims fortunes rose with those of Emerson when the producer obtained a contract to direct a number of features starring Douglas Fairbanks.Koszarski, 1983 p. 18Gallagher, 2009: Rumors of Austrian nobility and military greatness surrounded von Stroheim from the beginning and were seemingly corroborated by his on-set behavior, which included self-proclaiming himself an expert on both military regalia (in order to become wardrobe supervisor to Henry B. Walthall on 'Ghosts' in 1915). The latter secured him a position on John Emersons adaptation of 'Old Heidelberg', for which von Stroheim was responsible for the casting and costuming of the student corps.

While working as production manager on an adaption of Shakespeares 'Macbeth' for the Triangle Fine Arts studio, von Stroheim was impressed into service as one of several assistant directors on Griffiths massive production 'Intolerance' (1916). Von Stroheim may have set up a number of shots in this so-called modern episode of the epic production.Koszarski, 1983 p. 22-23Gallagher, 2009: Von Stroheims education on the sets of Griffiths 'Birth of a Nation' and 'Intolerance' formed the basis for his own understanding of cinema. I worshiped D.W. Griffith the way that someone can worship the man who has taught him everything.

Though never one of Griffiths inner circle, von Stroheim apprenticeship imbued him with the directorshis obsession with linking settings with his players character development. The fussy perfectionism and attention to detail displayed by von Stroheim in his own films is a legacy of Griffiths profound influence.Koszarski, 1983 p. 23-24: The emphasis on correct relationship between character and setting made a tremendous impact on von Stroheim. Griffiths other assistants never quite grasped the reason for D.W.'s fussy perfectionism. Von Stroheim saw and learned...he never chided Griffith as a romantic dreamer, for he, too, shared the same dream.Gallagher, 2009: Traces of Griffiths signature style are present throughout von Stroheims work. The presentational mise-en-scene that privileges both the actors expression and the obsessively, painstakingly detailed sets; poetic (sometimes excessively so) title-cards; idyllic, romantic interludes that off-set an otherwise realist aesthetic; close-ups that reveal the characters soul (for Griffith often signs of purity, for von Stroheim corruption); and a dexterous use of montage to maneuver around a set, or to cross-cut different scenes for dramatic effect. Von Stroheim often takes Griffiths stylizations to their furthest extreme, strictly adhering to montage and rarely moving the camera (defiantly against-the-times, as filmmakers were more and more employing expressive lighting and tracking shots).

With the United States entry into the First World War in 1917 against Germany, the Hollywood studios and distributors became anxious about presenting audiences with Teutonic figures. Von Stroheim name was dropped from cast billings, then he was discharged entirely from Douglas Fairbanks production company. When the studios turned to pro-American, pro-war and anti-German propaganda films, opportunities arose for actors who could convincingly portray Prussian military villains. Von Stroheim took advantage of his looks, name and reputation, and carved out a new career as a professional Hun.Koszarski, 1983 p. 24-25

As an expert in German military uniforms and paraphernalia, Von Stroheim returned to Paramount Pictures to serve as advisor to D. W. Griffith on 'Hearts of the World' and at Famous Players-Lasky on 'The Hun Within', both 1918.Koszarski, 1983 p. 26-27

When von Stroheim was hired by Universal Studios to star in 'The Heart of Humanity' (1918) opposite Dorothy Phillips, he came prepared to contribute his eagerness and proficiency to every aspect of the production. Possessing directorial expertise acquired under Griffiths influence, Von Stroheim honestly felt himself to be Griffiths true heir. His inflammatory portrayal of Prussian lieutenant Eric von Eberhard, von Stroheim made his screen image notorious to the American public, particularly a scene in which he snatches an infant from its cradle and casts it from a two-story window.Koszarski, 1983 p. 27, p.29: ...the scene were von Stroheim throws the baby out the window...Gallagher, 2009: There is an honest depravity to his characters, none of whom shy away from, or apologize for, their amoral desires. The philandering wife of Blind Husbands and the duplicitous seducer of 'Foolish Wives' are certainly a world away from the True Heart Susies of D.W. Griffith or the Pollyannas portrayed by Mary Pickford.

Pre-Production



At the peak of the Spanish Influenza in late 1918, von Stroheim attempted to interest film studios in his script-in-progress entitled 'The Pinnacle', concerning an American couple and an Austrian Lieutenant in a mnage trois.



He decided his best prospect for funding would be Carl Laemmle at Universal studios, where von Stroheim had recently completed the profitable 'The Heart of Humanity'. Laemmle, of German birth and ethnicity was known to hire German-speaking countrymen, an important consideration for von Stroheim when post-war anti-German hysteria briefly persisted in the United States.Koszarski, 1983 p. 32-33 Unlike other established studios such as Paramount and First National Pictures that often produced elaborate and expensive features with top-rank stars, Laemmles vast Universal operation churned out relatively low-budget movies and offered parsimonious contracts for its actors and technicians, ensuring a high turnover.Koszarski, 1983 p. 33

Considering Universals frequent need for experienced staff, Von Stroheim approached Laemmle confident that he could enlist the producer in the project with two enticements: von Stroheim would hand over the story and script, 'gratis', and waive all wages for directing the picture. The only caveat was $200 per week to star in the film. After a short, intense interview, von Stroheim won the support of the movie mogul. The budget for the film was initially estimated at $25,000, and von Stroheim immediately began casting the production for 'The Pinnacle' began on 3 April 1919.Koszarski, 1983 p. 34-35

Production



Like Griffith, von Stroheim was averse to hiring theater trained actors and established screen stars, preferring to assemble a stock company from untrained talent whom he would mentor to achieve his cinematic goals.Koszarski, 1983 p. 22: ...Griffiths use of untrained talent, molded by the force of the directors will And p. 35: ...the cast would be old friends and associates, the beginnings of a stock company system, learned from Griffith, which he would continue through all his later films. Actors Francelia Billington and Sam de Grasse would play the American couple on vacation in the Dolomite Alps, both who had been Mutual players. British actor Gibson Gowland would play the mountain guide, Silent Sepp Innerkofler, and later star as McTeague in von Stroheims 'Greed' (1924). Von Stroheim played the meddling lover Lieutenant Eric Von Steuben.Koszarski, 1983 p. 34-35. And p. 44: Koszarski see quote.

An indication of Laemmles determination to assure a commercially impressive production, he provided von Stroheim with their top cinematographers Ben Reynolds, and assistant William Daniels, both of whom would serve with the director until he moved to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1924.

By the time shooting of 'Blind Husbands' was completed on 12 June 1919, the costs had far exceeded the initial budget estimate. Combined film stock and advertising expenses had reached over $250,000. As such, 'Blind Husbands' emerged as a critically important project. Universals response was to deepen its commitments to success of the production.Koszarski, 1983 p. 37: If von Stroheim was counting desperately on the films success, so was Universal.

Promotional articles were planted in movie magazines that were careful to counter any residual anti-German prejudices. Von Stroheim's personal character was praised and readers reminded of his American citizenshipa citizenship he would not possess for almost seven years. Press releases assured moviegoers that he had relinquished his royal title of Count and dropped the nobiliary particle von .Koszarski, 1983 p. 37: Not surprisingly, the more cash the studio sank into the production, the more eager they were to ensure its success by any means possible.

The methods von Stroheim used to extract impressive performances from his actors were effective, but it required immense amounts of raw footage. Key scenes were performed and re-performed again and again until an ideal was provoked, often at the price of frustrating the cast and crew. Von Stroheim was then confronted with the task of sifting through this dross-like footage to discover the gems he had elicited on the set.Koszarski, 1983 p. 37-38: Von Stroheims technique invariably resulted performances of incredible power and conviction. It also resulted in huge amounts of footage [which he was] agonizingly slow to reduce to manageable length.

By mid-summer studio executives, wishing to expedite its release, submitted the partially edited footage to Grant Whytock, who prepared the final cut for distribution. Universal was sanguine about the prospects for a commercially and critically successful film. A press screening elicited fulsome praise for 'Blind Husbands' and director von Stroheim, including one accolade that anointed him a direct descendant of [D.W] Griffith.Koszarski, 1983 p. 38

When the completed film was delivered to Universals New York City sales department to arrange distribution in August 1919, Universals vice-president, R. H. Cochrane, emphatically rejected the title of the film 'The Pinnacle'. (n.b. The movies climax and denouement occurs at the top of an alpine peak). Film titles, then strictly within the domain of sales and exhibition personnel, initiated a search for a new title. Von Stroheim, outraged, placed a full-page protest in 'Motion Picture News', without effect. 'Blind Husbands' opened at Washingtons Rialto Theater on 19 October 1919.Koszarski, 1983 p. 38-39

Critical response



In an effort to maximize anticipated profits for 'Blind Husbands', Universal launched a massive promotional campaign. Nationwide, the picture grossed over $325,000 in receipts during its first year when typical five-reel feature films averaged $55,000.Koszarski, 1983 p. 41

Universals productions, which usually exhibited in less exalted venues, arranged for 'Blind Husbands' to run at New Yorks palatial Capitol Theater though this required a months-long delay.Koszarski, 1983 p. 39: Universals products were seldom seen in the best Broadway houses, and the studio jumped at the booking. 'Blind Husbands' inspired fulsome responses from American film critics and almost without exception both director and his cinematic creation were hailed as an advance for the art form.Koszarski, 1983 p. 40

Agnes Smith of the New York Telegraph wrote:

Theme



'Blind Husbands', set amidst a tourist resort in the Austrian Dolomites, opens with the arrival of an upper-middle American couple, Dr. Robert Armstrong and his wife Margaret. The story examines their reaction to the strenuous efforts of an Austrian military officer, Lieutenant Eric von Steuben, to seduce Margaret. Von Stroheims characterization of an unscrupulous yet sophisticated sexual predator was a refined variation of his role of the man you love to hate that he had cultivated in his post-WWI roles, most recently in Universals 'The Heart of Humanity' (1918). Here, however, von Stroheim seeks sexual conquest through low cunning, rather than with psychological terror and physical violence.Koszarski, 1983 p. 41: The lieutenants part was an extension of the man you love to hate, the Prussian villain created by von Stroheim in films like 'The Hearts of Humanity'...the film concerns itself with how the overly civilized [Armstrongs] react to the intrusion of this disturbing element.

The original title of the movie, 'The Pinnacle', was based on von Stroheim's original screenplay and served as a metaphor that resonated physiologically with the pictures climax, in which Dr. Armstrong and Lieutenant von Steuben struggle for dominance on a lofty alpine mountain peak. Von Stroheim, outraged at Universals substitution of the title with 'Blind Husbands', provoked a public denunciation from the director, defending 'The Pinnacle' as a meaningful title, a title that meant everything to the man who created [the film]. The title 'Blind Husbands' invokes the aristocratic American visitors and Dr. Armstrong, who fails to exhibit any signs of romantic affection towards his attractive wife, a failure that the lounge lizard von Steuben expects to exploit. The complacent doctor, preoccupied with his alpine hiking, is slow to discern his wifes conflicted response to the officers advances.Koszarski, 1983 p. 41-42: The two men engage in a sexual duel on the mountain peak.

'Blind Husbands' is the only film in which von Stroheim submits members of Americas leisure class to artistic analysis. This is the same social stratum that the young von Stroheim had serviced as an expert equestrian and a resort guide in Northern California during the years before World War I and before his arrival in Hollywood, a venue where he seems to have had particular success with the ladies.Koszarski, 1983 p. 44-45: ...his experiences in the resort hotels of northern California

Whereas von Stroheims scenario for 'Blind Husbands' required that his alter ego suffer a spectacular death, his subsequent autobiographical representations avoid similar fates.Koszarski, 1983 p. 45: When [von Stroheim] came to rewrite this script of a proposed [sound film] in 1930, he made only one major change: the lieutenant no longer had to die.

A religious component appears in the film to reinforce the film's central metaphor that culminates in a contest on the pinnacle. Informed by von Stroheims recent conversion to Catholicism, 'Blind Husbands' romantic triangle unfolds during a local celebration of the Gala Peter and the reenactment of Christs transfiguration on Mt. Tabor, an unambiguous reference to the films central theme.Koszarski, 1983 p. 42: Von Stroheim incorporates the rituals of [his] adopted Roman Catholicism [and] the combination of sexual and religious imagery.

The most striking element in von Stroheims thematic scheme is the presentation of a young married woman who seriously contemplates engaging in an extramarital affair, which constitutes a daring break with tradition in cinematic treatments of the topic.Koszarski, 1983 p. 42-43: That Margaret stops to even consider the attentions of von Steuben was daring break with tradition, and has long been noted as the films most innovative plot element. The realism that von Stroheim brings to the first encounter among the principle characters establishes the psychological complexity of this theme. According to film historian Richard Koszarski:

That the film and its theme arise from von Stroheims own life experiences is beyond question: the characterization of Lieutenant Eric von Stuben is a direct projection of von Stroheim himself.Koszarski, 1983 p. 44

Accolades



The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:

* 2002: AFI's 100 Years...100 Passions Nominated

Survival status



A copy of 'Blind Husbands' is in the Museum of Modern Art film archive and in several other collections.

References



Sources



*Gallagher, Cullen et al. 2009. '[http://www.notcoming.com/features/erichvonstroheim/ Oh, the Depravity! The Cinema of Erich von Stroheim]'. Retrieved 28 August 2020.

*Higham, Charles. 1973. 'The Art of the American Film: 1900-1971.' Doubleday & Company, Inc. New York. . Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 70-186026.

*Koszarski, Richard. 1983. 'The Man You Loved to Hate: Erich von Stroheim and Hollywood.' Oxford University Press.


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