Having just seen and reviewed the new Blu-ray for OUTSIDE THE LAW, I then turned my attention to Kino's other Priscilla Dean Blu-ray release DRIFTING/THE WHITE TIGER (both 1923) especially as I had never seen either one of them before. That leaves only THE WICKED DARLING (1919) as the last surviving Priscilla Dean/Tod Browning collaboration not to be released on Blu-ray. During the late teens and early 1920s Priscilla Dean (1896-1987) was one of America's most popular actresses and the top star at Universal Pictures. Her popularity declined rapidly in the mid 1920s as the studios moved away from the image of the strong, independent woman (who had gotten the right to vote in 1920) to the glamorous, more exotic one. The fact that Dean was zaftig (heavy set) as opposed to svelte also hastened the end of her status as a major star.
DRIFTING is a typical Dean vehicle in that she starts out as a criminal (in this case an opium smuggler) who eventually sees the error of her ways and decides to go straight at the end but only after much soul searching. Ultimately it is her love for the leading man that sways her decision. Her pictures were formulaic but that's what audiences expected back then and what she did, she did very well. DRIFTING is still fun to watch today because of the exotic setting (Shanghai) and lots of action especially in the finale. Director Tod Browning always had an eye for detail and he gives you plenty to look at here. This time around there is no Lon Chaney to be the nefarious villain (he was busy with THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME) but Wallace Beery was just as good in his own way and he's always fun to watch because you can see him thinking ahead.
The plot, as it is, concerns Dean and Beery who are opium smugglers. They try to move the stuff from under the nose of a government agent (Matt Moore) who is posing as a mining engineer. Dean wants to help her girl friend, a recovering addict, get back to America while Beery just wants more money. After several cat and mouse games between the characters, the film climaxes on a grand scale with a local uprising as peasants, led by the agent, try to overthrow the drug lords. In addition to Dean and Beery, the movie showcases a young Anna May Wong in a pivotal role as a MADAME BUTTERFLY like character. Her final scenes with Matt Moore are still moving even after almost 100 years. The transfer of the film from 35 mm materials is very good and the score by Andrew Earle Simpson enhances the action.
The other movie, THE WHITE TIGER, is taken from a surviving 16mm home print so the visual look of the film is not as good but it's more than watchable especially for silent film fans who are used to variable print quality. Storywise, TIGER is more interesting as it follows the escapades of 3 jewel thieves who hide out in a mountain cabin and eventually begin to turn on one another. Director Tod Browning would virtually remake this film at MGM 2 years later with Lon Chaney as THE UNHOLY THREE, one of his biggest successes. Once again Priscilla Dean is joined by Wallace Beery as the chief bad guy with Raymond Griffith as the third member of the trio. Griffith was a leading player during the silent era who transitioned into character parts once sound arrived. The bonus commentary by silent film specialist Bret Wood is both interesting and informative.
Finally there is the only surviving reel (about 11 minutes) of Dean's 1919 feature, THE EXQUISITE THIEF, and it is exquisite as it contains her robbing a society dinner and then escaping with her confederate in his car with members of the party in hot pursuit. One thing about the Dean/Browning collaborations, they never suffered from a lack of action sequences which keeps them interesting for today's audiences. It's really good to see Priscilla Dean finally receiving some recognition for her own merits rather than as some forgotten star whose movies featured a young Lon Chaney (he's in none of these) but the chances are that if these titles hadn't been directed by Tod Browning then they probably wouldn't have seen the light of day or at least not in quality editions like these.
BTW since several reviewers have asked about the title, DRIFTING refers to the Priscilla Dean character's drifting back and forth between doing what is right or continuing with what is wrong...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.
