Wednesday, January 1, 2025

THE LOVE LIGHT (1921) (VCI Entertainment Blu-ray Review + Screenshots)

THE LOVE LIGHT (1921) 

Label: VCI Entertainment
Region Code: Region-Free 
Rating: Unrated 
Duration: 102 Minutes 53 Minutes 
Audio: English PCM 2.0 Stereo 
Video: 1080p HD Fullscreen (1.33:1) 
Director: Frances Marion
Cast: Mary Pickford, Evelyn Dumo, Fred Thomson, Eddie Phillips, Albert Prisco, Raymond Bloomer, George Regas, Jean De Briac

Silent film The Love  Light (1921), directed by Frances Marion, takes place during the first World War, where Mary Pickford (Sparrows) plays a young Italian woman, Angela Carlotti, who tends to the the local lighthouse on the coast of Italy. She is grief-stricken to discover that her brothers older brother Antonio (Jean de Briac, Half Past Midnight) has died in the war, just as her jokester younger sibling Mario (Eddie Phillips, White Heat) is consigned to fight. Making matters worse, her would-be suitor Giovanni (Raymond Bloomer, The Fool) is then called-up to serve in the war as well. While he is away Angela discovers a man washed-up on the shore, Joseph (Fred Thomson, Kit Carson, husband of the director),who says he is an American soldier deserter. She falls in love with the sailor who she keeps hidden away at the lighthouse for months, falling in love with him, and they secretly marry. She later gives birth to a child, a gorl they name Delora, but she is horrified to discover that her new husband is not only a German spy, but that he directly contributed to, and made her an accessory, to the death of her younger brother, and that "love signals" she sent to Joseph from the lighthouse played a part in that.

This must have been a shocker in it's day, because it still packs a wallop now with it's shocks and twists. The way she discovers her new husband is a secret German spy after overhearing him speaking a German phrase in his sleep was a nice touch, and how some stolen chocolate leads to the revelation that her younger brother has perished. more melodrama comes when a local woman Maria (Evelyn Dumo, The Black Butterfly) who conspires to take her child away from her, culminating with a fiery and storm-crashed finale, with a sort of happy but sad ending with Angela finding comfort in the arms of the newly returned beau Giovanni, who himself is now blind. 

Mary Pickford really shines here in a deeply dramatic role as the woman grieving for the loss of brothers but finding love unexpectedly, only to have that love curdled by the insidious revelation. Fred Thompson is also terrific as the spy who came in from the sea, his character is not altogether straight-up sinister, his love for Angela seems genuine, telling her that he "I am an enemy of your country, but not a traitor to you", culminating in a desperate act on his part showing that maybe he was not lying about that. This is a gorgeous looking film with some wonderful shadowy cinematography, the images of the moon floating above a shimmering sea, the opening scenes of the rustic village which are full of humor, wave crashed coastline, and striking shots in silhouette and the interiors of a convent, and the revelation of Giovanni's blindness, all make this silent film standout.   

Audio/Video: The Love Light (1921) arrives on region-free Blu-ray from VCI Entertainment, framed in the original 1.33:1 fullscreen in 1080p HD. The film was scanned in 4K, an we get the following information about the sources used. “UCLA Film & Television Archive restored the film by using portions of American and European release negatives, returning the film to its original eight-reel configuration. The film was restored using original camera negatives, nitrate positive prints, and 16mm elements with the cooperation with the Mary Pickford Foundation and the George Eastman House”. The composite restoration work afforded this silent classic looks absolutely terrific, while there are some faint vertical lines and speckling overall it looks fluid and filmic in motion, the natural grain field is retained, and we get deep blacks and bright white with terrific looking contrast and grayscale. VCI and their partners in these terrific Mary Pickford Foundation releases have really been doing the cinema-lord's work making these gorgeous restoration available to silent film lovers, and not lost to the dust-bins of cinema past. It's a silent film, but we do get a new score by orchestral-pop songstress turned film composer Maiah Manser via uncompressed PCM 2.0. There are no subtitles as the film's dialogue is conveyed through title cards. 


The disc is well-stocked with bonus content, starting off with an well-researched and informative Audio Commentary With Author/Film Historian Marc Wanamaker; a 5-min Extensive Photo Gallery that includes lobby cards, still and posters; the 17-min Friends (1912), an American Biograph short film released September 23, 1912. Newly remastered in HD with an original Score by Malah Mangser; this silent western was directed by D.W. Griffith, plus a 5-min The Love Light Final Restoration Comparison that offer a side-by-side comparison of this excellent restoration, showcasing the extensive manual clean-up that went into making ti look as good as it does. 

The 2-disc Blu-ray/DVD arrives in a clear keepcase with a s-sided non-reversible wrap, the reverse side featuring an image from the film. Inside there's a 16-Page Illustrated Booklet with Liner Notes Pictorial Booklet by Mary Pickford Foundation that also includes information about teh restoration, the genesis of the film with Pickford and Francis both on Italian honeymoons, sitting perched over the Adriatic Sea brainstorming the idea, as well as information about the new score, archival press notices, and cast and crew credits and Blu-ray acknowledgements. 


Special Features: 
- Audio Commentary With Marc Wanamaker, author and film historian.
- Liner Notes Pictorial Booklet by Mary Pickford Foundation
- Extensive Photo Gallery (5:24) 
- Friends, an American Biograph short film released September 23, 1912. Newly remastered in HD with an original Score by Malah Mangser (16:17) 
- The Love Light Final Restoration Comparison (5:15)

Screenshots from the VCI Blu-ray: 










































Extras: 


















Buy it!
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