The Raven

This biographical silent feature seems to focus almost entirely on Edgar Allan Poe's flaws: his alcoholism, his profligacy, his demented soul. He meets Virginia who should have known better than to get hooked up with him...but we know about love. But reality sets in. He is deeply in debt and has no answers for it. He writes, but no one will even read his manuscripts, leaving him penniless. Meanwhile, Virginia can't survive the cold (literally) realities of life. She stays with him and uses up her connection to her family. Of course, the film is called "The Raven." The final ten minutes show Poe sinking into madness as he imagines the title bird, sitting on a statue, taunting him as he hallucinates. The film is sketchy and dark, but it does have a few moments.

Edgar Allen Poe had ancestors and a stepfather, a kind heart and a lost love as portrayed in this movie by Henry B. Walthall. We get the particulars of these losses for most of this movie, until we witness a dramatization of the title poem.

This early in the history of features, matters were not set in stone, and an hour was considered a good, long length of time for an audience to sit through a movie. So director Charles Brabin and whoever was doing his editing for him decided to skip over large portions of Poe's time on earth, concentrating on the highlights. I won't say they absultely failed in any sensible attempt at continuity, but their methods are so alien to modern perceptions that I find lots of discontinuity. Indeed, I wondered if the copy of this movie that I looked at had been assembled in the wrong order. But no: there is a definite chronological order to the events here. So we'll allow that it's a valiant effort at editing that failed.

As for the acting, Brabin seems to have had his performers overact by the standards of his contemporaries. Certainly, Walthall knew how to hold it in and when to let it go. Here, he doesn't bother with the former.

As for the title poem, that is a matter of editing, mostly of catching the bird at the right moment.

Henry B. Walthall was, by 1915, one of the most celebrated actors on the motion picture screen; when "The Raven" was released, his stock was very high; and, watching his performance as Edgar Allen Poe illustrates why. Working with Director Charles Brabin, Mr. Walthall literally becomes Poe. In the actor's introduction, a portrait of Poe is replaced a with a close-up of Walthall's characterization. From then on, you believe the actor is Edgar Allen Poe; judging from Poe's well-known images, there is a convenient resemblance, as well. I may always think of Poe as Walthall.

Warda Howard co-stars as the women in Poe's life: Virginia Clemm, Helen Whitman, and their fantasized poetic counterpart(s). Filmmakers decided Ms. Howard would play each of Poe's female interests; and, it was a wise artistic decision. Howard handles the difficult assignment well; I especially enjoyed her marvelous expressions as Walthall and his rotund chum Harry Dunkinson (as Tony) vie for her affection.

On with the motley -- this is a biography of Poe. Considering the usual sanitization of the genre, and the era released; it's exceptionally well done. Poe is characterized as a romantic writer, with a fondness for drink -- who would have guessed? The story events seem digested, but accurate. The Poem is referenced, and the ending foreshadowed, with several images during the movie; a favorite, the caged bird, in background, by a window. Brabin's use of several delirious superimposed visions are disturbingly well done, and effectively compliment the story. The highlight is the ending, when Mr. Walthall acts out Poe's expiration, while a reading of "The Raven" takes place on the title cards. Don't miss the bird!

Walthall had just been seen in the Poe-inspired "The Avenging Conscience" (1914), the nightmarish "Ghosts" (1915), and the epic "Birth of a Nation". His Poe credentials stretched way back to Griffith's "The Sealed Room" (1909). If Best Actor awards were given in 1915, Walthall would certainly have one. He is terrific - and, "The Raven" is a biography like no other.

********* The Raven (11/8/15) Charles Brabin ~ Henry B. Walthall, Warda Howard, Harry Dunkinson, Ernest Maupain

Raven, The (1915)

*** (out of 4)

Three reeler about the life and career of Edgar Allan Poe (Griffith regular Henry B. Walthall). The actual story being told really isn't that interesting as it basically covers Poe not being able to sell his stories and of course the tragic event that would shape his life. There's one interesting scene where Poe goes into dept because he buys a slave that is being beaten by his owner. What really makes this thing worth viewing are the terrific special effects that are certainly some of the best I've seen from this period. There are many dream sequences that look superb and there's also a very nice sequence of The Raven being acted out. Walthall is also very good as Poe. Directed by Charles Brabin who would go on to direct The Mask of FuManchu.

This is a tough silent film to watch, as the print is very, very washed out and occasionally skips. It's desperately in need of restoration--DESPERATELY. Oddly, however, despite there being no apparent attempt to fix the quality of the print, the film has a really nice musical score--surprising since the film otherwise looks a mess.

As for the film itself, despite the title, it is NOT recreation of the Edgar Allen Poe tale, but a biography of Poe's life. Only later is the story of the raven recreated within the biopic. While this film is inferior when compared to biographies made in the following decades, for 1915 it's actually quite nice--with a run-time of almost one hour in its original form (very long for the time), decent acting, nice use of double-exposures and excellent costumes. It is noteworthy in the acting department that the film stars Henry B. Walthall. While not a common name today, in his time he was one of the stage's and screen's preeminent actors and he starred in a ton of films during the silent and sound era--the most notably being D.W. Griffith's "Birth of a Nation". His performance was very nice and natural, though I should also praise the rest of the cast, as they acted quite realistically--especially compared to some of the wildly exaggerating done by many actors in their day. The only exceptions were the terribly overdone black actors in the film. Not only did they overdo it, but I suspect they were all white folks in black-face makeup. Some clearly were, but it was hard to tell about all since the print was THAT bad! Believe it or not, having white actors do this is films was very common at this time--though today it's bound to raise a few eyebrows!! My score of 7 takes into the account the craptastic print. Should a restoration occur and I see it, I'll be glad to consider adding a point or two for this.