La suora bianca

This second version of The White Sister, an earlier silent was done in 1915 was the first project of the Gish sisters after they had left the paternal care of D.W. Griffith. Lillian Gish spared no expense in this very long silent film, 123 minutes was quite a demand on the audience's attention. She and director Henry King took the principal cast members to Italy to film on location, something rarely done back in that day.

Gish and King also personally selected their leading man in Ronald Colman who had appeared in several British silents and one American feature before The White Sister. According to the Citadel Film series book, The Films of Ronald Colman, Gish and King saw him on the stage.

Now Ronald Colman had one of the greatest speaking voices in the English language, something we know since the advent of talkies and Colman's sound debut in Bulldog Drummond. But what attracted Gish and King to him was the swarthiness of his complexion, they thought he would pass convincingly for an Italian on the silent screen.

He and Gish made a fine screen team. The story today is rather old fashioned and Gish's saintliness is a bit much at times. Still the film does hold up well.

Gish is the younger half sister of Gail Kane and both are the daughters of Italian duke Charles Lane. When Lane is killed during a hunting accident, Kane quickly finds her father's will and burns it, effectively disinheriting Gish who was they used to say, born on the wrong side of the blanket.

Gish's Catholic faith sees her through the crisis and also the love of young officer Ronald Colman who originally was Kane's guy. Later on he's chosen to head a military mission to North Africa in what is now Libya. This was in the colonial expansionist period in the 19th century in a newly united Italy. But he's reported killed and Gish in her grief surrenders herself to her religion and becomes a nun.

That's as far as I'll go, the ending is not typical of Hollywood normally would give its audience. Still the loose ends of the plot are neatly tied together.

I'm surprised Gail Kane did not come out of this film with a bigger reputation. Her portrayal what might be called the Black Sister is really quite good.

The location cinematography in Italy is first rate and the special effects with Versuvius erupting and a dam bursting for its time are also nicely done. The White Sister is worth a look, I think it's better than the 1933 sound version with Clark Gable and Helen Hayes.