Captain Salvation

[spadeneal]

Thank you TCM - "Captain Salvation" was wonderful.

 

I'm aware a lot of us silent film fanatics say things like "Why don't you show this?" or "Why don't you show that?" But this was a case of TCM reviving something from the vaults no one had ever heard of (except maybe Bob Birchard) and blowing us all away. It was a real cinematic gem.

 

I can't recall an instance where heretofore I've seen a Philip Carli score which was orchestral rather than his usual outstanding piano scores. I certainly hope you agree that he did an excellent job here and that you will employ him again for this purpose.

 

Thanks again - that was an extremely pleasant surprise.

 

spadeneal

[bhryun]

I was also enjoying Captain Salvation, but I fell asleep before the end. Hope they show it again sometime!

 

I enjoy all the Silent Sundays and just about any other silent film TCM chooses to show. The 'From the Vault' shorts are excellent too. Where else can you see things like this on TV?

[gagman66]

Wow! This unknown silent feature was truly outstanding! Certainly it ranks among the finest little known silent's TCM has aired in quite awhile! The Philip Carli score was excellent as well! I had never heard of this film before, but it should be viewed as a major rediscovery! Powerfully moving at times, this is one of the better pure silent drama's that I have seen.

 

I'm so happy I recorded this picture, because I hadn't intended to initially. Lars Hanson was already a big star internationally before he came to Hollywood. Subsequently, he took an immediate back seat to people like John Gilbert and Romone Novarro at MGM. Here he proved himself worthy of star status. Meantime beautiful Marceline Day and Pauline Starke gave what has to be considered the finest performances of their career's! This movie was wonderful, and I'm sure their are numerous other as of yet undiscovered treasures buried in the MGM vault from the great decidedly romantic silent days!

[nickdimeo]

Just wanted to add my two cents and say that Captain Salvation was a nice little gem of a movie. The photography was beautiful, probably because it was done by (Garbo's favorite) William Daniels. Lars Hanson does have to ability to overact and use those "silent mannerisms" too much. All in all it was a great weekend to be a TCM fan with the airing of this movie and the airing of Rules of the Game early Sunday morning.

[path40a]

lorrekarloff,

 

if you want to know what happened at the end of this film, read about it here:

 

http://www.classicfilmguide.com/index.php?s=pageA&item=111

 

For anyone else interested in its plot, who doesn't want to know the ending, I've got a spoiler warning in my summary (just don't read past it).

[therealfuster]

for showing this film!

 

Now I've always been a fan of Torrence since seeing him as the horrid lug in "Tolable David". The poor Patent Leather Kid looked like he was going to be beaten to a pulp in that film. It is a wonderful movie, and shows a vision of America in real settings, that is mostly gone now, and is an historical document of an untrammelled countryside, that is a sort of paradise.

 

As for Lars Hanson, my first viewing of him was in "The Scarlet Letter" in which his Dimmesdale is as shallow in many ways as the book, and he is a great counterpoint to Gish.

 

One is not often treated to seeing Torrence or Hanson films, so this was marvelous. A real revelation of Torrence in a comedic part, is as the father in "Steamboat Bill Junior" and I wonder if anyone else gets a kick out of his hilarious scenes with Keaton, as the son who is a bit of a disappointment?

 

Thanks TCM...I love Silents!