Love Never Dies

The review that ought to be seen is "Larry41OnEbay-2" He apparently saw the whole 80 minute original, or, at least refers to a contemporaneous review that did. The version I saw ends abruptly and incompletely, despite a great movie, and leaves out some elements he mentions (the mother's story, the final happy resolution...) that I was guessing should be there. The review of "HarlowMGM" is also good, but lacks the 80-minute details.

Personally, I rated the movie with the greats, even though I guessed it was incomplete. King Vidor was a great director and it is tragic to have his movie fragmented. I had not previously seen the two stars and was impressed by them, as well. I hope that Kino or Flicker Alley could find a more complete version and make it available.

I can't agree with Mr. Atfield - the film just doesn't make sense or hold together. First the man is ashamed of his mother, then later reunites with her. First the girl stands by her man, then later lets her father take her away from him. The man doesn't even try to get an explanation as to why she's supposedly left him - he just runs away and allows a train wreck to end his identity. None of these people are remotely stable or likeable - they are totally shallow people. And a society where a father can reclaim his married daughter because her husband's mother is a whore and/or justifiably be ready to kill him because of the sins of his mother just can't be taken seriously. It's mentally ill as is every character in this choppy and ridiculously melodramatic silent. Quite poor in every department and quite unlikeable. However, I must agree with one thing- Lloyd Hughes is a gorgeous hunk.

This may not be one of the best silent films ever made, nor is it one of the best made by the great King Vidor, but it is still vastly entertaining and visually exciting. Lloyd Hughes is the hero, and he's an amazingly beautiful man. He's the son of a prostitute and hides this from his girlfriend, the sweet Madge Bellamy. But after they get married... Somehow this all leads to a spectacular train crash and boats careening down rapids. Vidor keeps the pace and emotion happening through brilliant camera movements and angles, and the use of emotive close-ups of faces. The story is constantly surprising and the acting excellent. It ends rather abruptly, but I suspect the print I saw was incomplete.

We don't know who are (were) John's parents (let alone those of the girl who calls him "brother"), and we don't even need to know. From another angle, we'd very much like to know why Liz Trott - a woman with a bad reputation in town - makes John believe that she is his real mother; and we will have no answer through the entire movie (wait: through the remaining part of it; some footage might be missing). Then, why this make-believe? It is totally irrilevant to the plot, so: why is it there?

In trying to shed some light on the matter I even consulted some synopsis of the film: in one of these (from an importante specialized site) I read that, at the conclusion of the story, John - who has been haunted his whole life by his association with Liz - was relieved to come to know that between himself and her there was no kinship at all. Ingenious, and totally made up.

All movie long, again, there is no such revelation, nor any hint about why Liz should have waited so much time to relieve his foster-son of the burden she herself had put on him, or about who might have told him the truth.

This is a sweet melodrama - love story with a very attractive and believable cast. For once even Madge Bellamy's gorgeous looks couldn't upstage her co-star's, Lloyd Hughes. But his handsome looks wouldn't matter much if his acting weren't so good in this role, but it is, and he carries the film with his performance, giving the story a poignancy that sets it apart from other melodramas of the same ilk.

If you're a romantic, and believe in love triumphing over adversity, this is your film! King Vidor knew his stuff.