Erich von Stroheim's "Blind Husbands" (1919) скачать в хорошем качестве

Erich von Stroheim's "Blind Husbands" (1919)

A group of holiday-makers arrives at Cortina d'Ampezzo, an Alpine village in the Dolomites. Among them are an American, Doctor Robert Armstrong (Sam De Grass), who does not pay much attention to his wife, Margaret Armstrong (Francelia Billington), and an Austrian, Lieutenant Eric Von Steuben (Erich von Stroheim), who decides to seduce her. The Lieutenant 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 has 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, scared by a staring vulture, falls to his death from the precipice. A 1919 American drama film written and directed by Erich von Stroheim, cinematography by Ben F. Reynolds, starring Sam De Grasse, Francelia Billington, Von Stroheim, and Gibson Gowland. 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. Griffith’s "The Birth of a Nation" (1915). Von Stroheim made persistent, but futile efforts to find work with the Griffith production unit after filming was completed. Broadway director John Emerson was impressed with Von Stroheim's sartorial knowledge of formal military dress. This led to a small role in Mutual Film production of Ibsen’s "Ghosts" (1915), followed by his first screen-credited feature in "Farewell to Thee" (1915). Emerson enlisted von Stroheim to serve as an actor, assistant, and technical advisor on "Old Heidelberg" (1915), beginning a two-year professional relationship and the single most important influence on von Stroheim’s early career. His fortunes rose when Emerson obtained a contract to direct a number of features starring Douglas Fairbanks. The film is an adaptation of the story "The Pinnacle" by Stroheim. At the peak of the Spanish Influenza in late 1918, von Stroheim attempted to interest film studios in his script-in-progress, concerning an American couple and an Austrian Lieutenant in a ménage à 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" (1918). 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. 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's name was dropped from cast billings, then he was discharged entirely from Douglas Fairbank’s 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. Unlike other established studios such as Paramount, Laemmle’s vast Universal operation churned out relatively low-budget movies and offered parsimonious contracts for its actors and technicians, ensuring a high turnover. 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. 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.