Lorna Doone

I've seen 4 versions of this story and this silent classic starring John Bowers and Madge Bellamy is by far the best, much more poignant than the modern A+E version!

The action is great, the romantic characters obtain your sympathy immediately, and the cinematography for a 1922 film is outstanding. This must have been a real epic in its day.

One chilling aspect of this film is the fact that when we first meet the adult John Bowers in his role as John the shepherd boy he is fighting for his life, trying to save himself from drowning in rough waters. Later we see him deliberately jumping over a waterfall into the same waters below. One wonders whether this film gave John Bowers the idea that drowning was the way to go, since he committed suicide by drowning. The character of Norman Maine in three versions of A Star Is Born is based on poor John Bowers. He was so handsome in this film, and quite a good actor. It is too bad that someone couldn't have reached out to him and given him some acting jobs once talkies came in; they might have saved his life.

Continuing with a short Herr Maurice Tourneur film programme at the Schloss theatre and due to the fact that these are modern and strange times and in accordance with this and having in mind the aristocratic conservatism, it is always better and safer to invest in silent secure stocks and forget those risky and changeable talkie shares. For that reason it is always an excellent investment to watch any Herr Maurice Tourneur silent film.

"Lorna Doone" (1922) is another excellent work of the French director that belongs to his American period. The story is set in old Britain and is an interesting international Saxon mixture based on a famous and classic oeuvre written by Herr Richard Doddridge Blackmore, a novel that obviously this German count hasn't read because the first edition didn't include any illustrations.

But fortunately Herr Tourneur's silent film adaptation of that book provides plenty of illustrations that often resemble paintings. They film compositions are evocative, dramatic and beautiful, the kind of visuals for which the French director is well-known and they are perfectly done with a strong sense of background helped greatly by Herr Henry Sharp's sharp cinematography. Herr Tourneur's direction and the cinematography, combined with the superb art direction that is characteristic of the French director makes for a dramatic exercise in romanticism.

Although it is a short sequence at the beginning of the film, the first meeting as children between Lorna and John, is especially beautiful and remarkable and a perfect excuse for this German aristocrat to commend the delicacy and mastery that Herr Tourneur always demonstrates when he directs children ( those evil little creatures ); it is not a very easy task to try to dominate those miniature demons and achieve good and natural performances while avoiding insipidness or too obvious acting. The magic innocence and mystery of childhood is a usual subject in many Herr Tourneur films. It is a hard job but the French director always triumphs when he explores that primal and fascinating early age.

Besides the film has plenty of action, one of those classical adventure films full of wicked bandits who do wrongs that must be righted not to mention a larger than life love story that defies conventionalism or social class differences; that is to say, an immortal historical romantic drama.

All the merits of "Lorna Doone" can be appreciated nowadays thanks to the excellent film work restoration by the youngsters at "Kino", a superb effort available in one of those modern discs that the longhaired likes so much and it includes a beautiful and delicate score composed and arranged by Dame Mari Lijima .

And now, if you'll allow me, I must temporarily take my leave because this German Count must keep away the Doones from the Schloss surroundings.

Herr Graf Ferdinand Von Galitzien http://ferdinandvongalitzien.blogspot.com/

Watching Maurice Tourneur's "Lorna Doone " is very much like visiting an art gallery; it is so filled with gorgeous images, expertly photographed by Henry Sharp. Interestingly, Mr. Tourneur uses the camera to tell a simpler, less stylized story than previously. This time, it's the simple, but everlasting love of soul-mated Madge Bellamy (as Lorna Doone) and John Bowers (as John Ridd).

The intimate-looking location scenes are a highlight: for example, note how Tourneur stages the lovers' introduction, as children, with young Mae Giraci drawn to young Charles Hatton as he is pumping water to wash his hair. (Tourneur directs children and water beautifully, as a rule.) Later, watch for the "farewell" scene after Ms. Bellamy's "true identity" is revealed. Mr. Bowers' body language, even when in the background, is revealing. Also, the "bridge" they have crossed, moves over to the left of the screen, with the carriage door opening, and a hand reaching out to take Bellamy away...

On the downside, the story takes turns, and introduces characters that are difficult to understand. In the early scenes, it appears "Lorna" is abducted by the evil "Doone" family (by the way, both she and "John" appear old enough to know what's going on). Later, that event becomes more complicated. A check with the original novel's plot, and a second viewing, doesn't exactly help.

******** Lorna Doone (1922) Maurice Tourneur ~ John Bowers, Madge Bellamy, Donald MacDonald

An excellent silent film.

I like the modern music score on the version shown on TCM in March 2005. It was composed by Mari Iijima (if you're going to bad-mouth a composer, you ought to spell their name correctly...), and has nice Philip Glass-like qualities. I love modern music scores for old silent films generally (for instance, the Alloy Orchestra's work).

The film has some great cinematography, and it's worth seeing just for that. The shots of the water in several places, the beach where Lorna is kidnapped, and of mad villagers chasing on horseback are really excellent, with great texture and lighting.

Shockingly silly, abrupt ending.

In 17th-century England, the outlaw Doone clan kidnaps a young girl, who grows up among them. The farm boy who met her just before the kidnapping eventually rescues her, and they fall in love.

I wasn't familiar with this story, having neither read the novel nor seen the various movie and TV adaptations. The bare bones of this boy-meets-girl tale are, of course, familiar to anyone; but (in this version, at least) it is fleshed out in a particularly engaging way. The graceful photography of Henry Sharp, under Maurice Tourneur's direction, is the movie's main asset. Both leads (Madge Bellamy in the title role and John Bowers as the hero) are strong. Frank Keenan, as the elderly leader of the outlaw clan and Lorna's protector, gives a fascinatingly florid performance (an improvement over his equally striking, but ridiculously slow-motion, acting in "The Coward" from 1915). Charles Hatton, who plays the hero as a boy, has a strong screen presence: it's disappointing to see from his IMDb filmography that he only made a few films and then disappeared.

The 2001 presentations of this film has a lovely background music by Mari Iijima; but unfortunately, Iijima didn't exactly score the film so much as write a few pieces for it, which are repeated without variation throughout the movie. The repetitiveness is a defect.