The Unfortunate Marriage

The 1917 version of the much-adapted THE WOMAN IN WHITE is a competent if unremarkable example of 1910s melodrama. There is much mustache-twirling and plotting against doe-eyed ingenues in this exposition-heavy tale that does not appear to lend itself well to silent film's unique language. The plot borders on the ludicrous often, with the bad guys plotting in the most inconvenient locations (always by open windows or balconies where innocent maids might overhear their sinister schemes, of course) or trailing people with only two feet between themselves and the mark. I have no clue how faithful this movie is or is not to the book, but the 1947 adaptation struck me as a more coherent and interesting product, maybe because it had more time to tell the story. As it is, this movie feels rushed and, aside from a few interesting compositions and double-exposures here and there, not terribly imaginative.

This was one of the last projects of the Thanhouser company and movie star Florence La Badie. Thanhouser's short films are among the best movies you'll find in the 1910s, while La Badie was a charming young actress whose promising career would be cut short by a fatal car accident not too long after THE WOMAN IN WHITE saw release.