La femme au corbeau

This film was a revelation to me of Frank Borzage's true capacities of a very different and more original kind than the later professional films of his that made him world famous, especially the ones with Janet Gaynor. This is a wildly romantic epic of the wilderness in spectacular settings, which in part could have been Frank Borzage's own background and origin. The scenery is fantastic around the river in the mountains with its primitive community, and the story is perfect for that almost surrealistic environment. Charles Farrell is still young here, he hasn't met Janet Gaynor yet, and is the helpless prey of Mary Duncan as an experienced lady with a brutal past without enough sex. Charles fights her temptations, on one occasion he cuts down four trees in succession with just an axe to vent his boiled-up energy and frustration, while she amusedly looks on only the more certain of having him hooked.

It's an amazing film in spite of being mutilated, the beginning and finale are missing, but from the added stills you still get the whole story, which ought to have been a wonder of cinematic art if not among Borzage's very best - who knows, but at least you can hope for that it will turn up somewhere - 80% percent of all American silents were lost, while only a fifth have come down to us - so far.

But what really lifts the film to impressing heights is the tremendous music, pushing on all the way in sustained tension and perfectly matched to the loaded drama, and it was the music that caught my interest in even this mutilated film of poor technical quality. The music is as fascinating as the drama and the film and its romantic settings, and these different elements add to each other to enhance the vitality and volcanic life of the film. Yes, there is some Rimsky-Korsakov in it, but there is nothing wrong with Rimsky-Korsakov, and the mood of his brief interplay is perfectly suited to that particular moment of intimate intriguing intensity, like all the highly dramatic music to all the rest of the film. This would have been a tenner if it had been complete.

I saw this movie several years ago at the Harvard Film Archives. Apparently, the beginning and end of the movie are extinct, and all that remains is a long romantic sequence involving Farrell & Duncan. We couldn't tell how the romance started, or how it was supposed to end. It was nevertheless quite interesting, with an erotic charge similar to that in Borzage's "Man's Castle".

I should clarify that 'The River (1929)' today exists only in an incomplete form, with about forty minutes of footage considered lost, including the opening and final acts. Nevertheless, a 2006 reconstruction runs for 55 minutes and fills in narrative gaps with intertitles and promotional stills. Importantly, the surviving footage pretty much depicts in its entirety the romance of Allen John (Charles Farrell) and Rosalee (Mary Duncan), which is the backbone of the story.

I originally heard 'The River' described as the most erotic film of the silent era, so I naturally said to myself, "that piece of information has absolutely no bearing on my interest in this film." In fact, it isn't as described (something like 'Erotikon (1929)' would probably be closer to the mark), though leading actress Mary Duncan certainly does sultry very well. Farrell's traditional co-star was Janet Gaynor, but I can see why the switch was made here. Gaynor was always the epitome of feminine innocence and fragility; this role requires an actress with a hard crust, someone along the lines of Marlene Dietrich.

Most of 'The River' unfolds in an isolated valley, where the construction of a dam has been temporarily postponed. All the workers leave for the winter, except for Rosalee, whose boyfriend has been arrested for murder, and Allen John, who misses the last train because he keeps getting distracted by the womanly presence. The small cast, and confined surroundings, thus breed an element of intimacy (though I can't recall so much as a kiss between the two lovers). Nobody did melodrama like Borzage, and this here is beautifully-shot melodrama.

The River (1928) : Brief Review -

Borzage's silent era Romance is unusually seductive, despite the common theories of true love. Aside from all of Borzage's known talkie films, the three silent films I remember or call my favourites are "7th Heaven" (1927), "Street Angel" (1928), and "Lucky Star" (1929), all of which starred the legendary Janet Gaynor. So this is the first silent film by Frank Borzage I saw that didn't have Gaynor. Well, it doesn't matter if I'm looking at a filmography from the director's perspective, but I would have loved to see Janet Gaynor portraying Rosalee in "The River". Wait, would it be too much to ask of Janet? I mean, she would have agreed to do those sexually appealing scenes? No, I guess. So it's better that Mary Duncan did it, someone whom I loved seeing in FW Murnau's "City Girl" (1930). The River is a typical romantic drama. By typical, I mean for its time, not today, but it's a very unusual film for its time. One of the major reasons is the seductive features of the lead pair. Their expressions (no dialogues, of course) make it more appealing because you feel the hype and intensity there. The River is about a young man working at a logging camp beside a turbulent river. When it closes for the winter, he opts to stay for the experience. He meets a woman who was the girlfriend of the boss of the outfit, recently locked up for murder. This worldly lady and the innocent boy find a powerful attraction, but is it that simple for them? You are free to find out the answers in this predictable drama, or you can predict them even before they appear on screen. Nevertheless, it still makes for a good watch. Charles Farrell and Mary Duncan's seductive chemistry makes that sure, while Borzage goes on telling common theories without any big blunders. Overall, there's nothing much to say, but it's a real good watch if you really care about the sex appeal of the early cinema.

RATING - 7/10*

By - #samthebestest.

The other reviewers have pretty well covered this film, but I would like to add that the Cinémethèque Suisse, along with some other film preservationists, has created a version that reconstructs the plot using the script deposited at UCLA, and still images. Thanks to their hard work, it is now easy to understand the story (though the music they added left something to be desired--"Flight of the Bumblebees" is not appropriate for a seduction scene).

If you've always wanted to see Charles Farrell without his shirt on (and who hasn't?), this is the movie for you. I agree with the other reviewers that the film contains a strong erotic charge. The stunning camera-work and lighting, the world-weary, Dietrichesque beauty of Mary Duncan (intriguingly out of place in the hardscrabble setting), and the always-gorgeous Farrell combine to fashion a moody, seductive world. But most of my fellow audience members were unable to give themselves over to the melodrama, and could only laugh at the plot and complain afterward, which was very annoying to us romantics in the audience.

In addition to Charles and Mary, the remaining footage contains pieces of Ivan Linow's sympathetic portrayal of "a deaf-mute giant". You will also see a trained pet crow with a lot of personality, and a dead bear whose presence is unwittingly tragic.