Every so often, I treat myself to a silent film, and what impressed me so much about this one is how well it stands up over time. I also rediscovered a younger Garbo, in the prime of her life and sexual powers. AND THOSE EYES!! They were absolutely mesmerizing, just the thing to lure to young men into more, shall we say, heightened responses. Without the aid of sound, they were like two simmering volcanoes, just the thing for this combination love story and moral exploration on the enduring bonds of friendship. It certainly helped that both she and John Gilbert were having a similarly torrid love affair the at time. This was a fantastic production, and as one reviewer noted, it would make a fabulous remake in the right hands. On a strictly technical note, I just learned from a film historian friend, Dr. Richard Brown of NYU, that the reason old silent films all that that "herky-jerky" look to them is because "back in the day" these movies were operated at much slower, hand-cranked camera speeds, but when saved on modern celluloid, they have a "speeded up" effect due to the numbers of frames per second. The older the film, the worse the effect. Interesting factoid.
Review of Flesh and the Devil
