Though obviously influenced by D. W. Griffith's WAY DOWN EAST/’20, this adaptation of Zona Gale’s Pulitzer Prize winning book & play makes a fine chamber companion to that unlikely epic. Lois Wilson (imagine Lillian Gish as a ‘regular’ gal) is like a modern Cinderella as the housekeeping spinster in the dysfunctional home of her married elder sister. As her overbearing husband, Theodore Roberts’ acting style seems a bit old-fashioned, but everyone else in the superb cast finds enough truth in their archetypal roles to help turn what could play out as a formulaic romance into something deeply touching. This is particularly true in the gentle scenes between Lois Wilson & the gentlemanly Milton Sills. (You’d never guess from his quietly lovely work here that Sills could swash & buckle with the best of them in something like THE SEA HAWK/’24. https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2010/06/sea-hawk-1924.html) William de Mille, who wrote & directed, has a long list of credits, much of it now lost or unavailable. Compared to his kid brother Cecil B. or his daughter, Agnes, the great theatrical choreographer, he's barely known. But he must have been awfully good. Even here, adapting a play with more than its share of explanatory inter-titles, he manages to show uncommon visual flair & imagination. It’s a real charmer.
NOTE: The Image DVD of C. B. DeMille’s mediocre WHY CHANGE YOUR WIFE/'20 comes with a fine transfer of this title.
READ ALL ABOUT IT: Although there are lots of books about C. B. De Mille, the best way to get a feel for older brother William is by reading DANCE TO THE PIPER, the superb auto-bio of his daughter Agnes. It gives a wonderful portrait of early Hollywood days and, of course, Uncle Cecil shows up. She also wrote a lesser follow-up, AND PROMENADE HOME.
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