Review of The Devil's Needle

[Rodney]

At DVDTalk.com:

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/55666/ki ... edemption/" target="_blank

[Christopher Jacobs]

That's a decent review, although he apparently doesn't realize that the 28-minute THE INSIDE OF THE WHITE SLAVE TRAFFIC is only a two-reel abridgement of a four-reel feature, which likely accounts for much of the confusing continuity gaps. Overall the disc is quite impressive. I should have my review up in the "Old Movies in HD" thread in the next few days.

[BenModel]

SLAVE TRADE was a challenge to score, since the story hops around so much because of all the footage that was removed in what probably was local censors' pruning.

[Christopher Jacobs]

SLAVE TRADE was a challenge to score, since the story hops around so much because of all the footage that was removed in what probably was local censors' pruning.

I get the feeling that whoever reissued the print they discovered also was more concerned in the film's exploitation value despite the lengthy social-worker endorsements at the beginning (added in the "modern" 1920s Pastel font rather than the sporadic and charmingly crude hand-lettered titles that survive in the film itself). As a result they probably trimmed out most plot structure and character motivation to get to the meat of their sermonette. The Library of Congress's occasional reconstructed intertitles help explain what's happening, but it's very much your strong score that gives the film most of the coherence it is able to have. The location shooting is amazing and most performances are surprisingly natural for 1913, and it would be great if someone could find a full-length original cut with as sharp and clear picture quality (but fewer scratches -- this heavily-worn fragment must have been preserved before wet-gate printing was available or economical).

[BenModel]

Thanks for the kind words about my "music". Glad it helped hold the picture together.

Ben

[silentfilm]

I checked my Thunderbird Films catalogs from 1978 and 1982, and the version that they sold of Inside the White Slave Traffic was the two-reel re-edited version.

[FrankFay]

I'm surprised (and pleased) at The Devil's Needle starting out as a rather entertaining light comedy. Tully Marshall has always been a favorite of mine & it's nice to see him doing nicely nuanced comic frustration, the better to contrast with his addict later.

It's very nice to see Norma Talmadge when she was still young and vulnerable. She's very attractive, and a little plump at this stage- and her looks can go from commonplace to regal in a flash. Her acting has a nice natural quality to it. She can project her thoughts on her face without over emoting.

(I should say, without over emoting by the standards of 1916. There's a bit of arm waving but it's that kind of a plot)

[telical]

Glad to see morality plays are making such a riotous comeback.

[Rodney]

I showed the dance-hall sequences in "Children of Eve" to Richard Powers, who studies American popular dance (he's a dance history prof at Stanford). He was almost floored. "They're dancing the Texas Tommy! I've never seen those moves from this early!" He mentioned that a lot of the dancers were "spieling," which was a spinning move, and sure enough, there's an inter-title where someone asks Mamie if she wants to "go for a spiel."

So, the Edison folks were up on their 1915 pop culture.

[Rodney]

The New York Times has a brief review, as part of a longer article:

The Devil’s Needle and Other Tales of Vice and Redemption

The films in this set of silents, from the Library of Congress’s collection, carry provocative titles like “The Inside of the White Slave Traffic” (1913) and “Children of Eve” (1915) and are of interest for their portrayals of drug use and prostitution, which are simultaneously surprisingly honest and humorously oblique. But the primary value here is the opportunity to see an early performance by the silent-era superstar Norma Talmadge in “The Devil’s Needle” (1916), written by Chester Withey and Roy Somerville and directed by Withey.

Talmadge plays an artist’s model with “a habit contracted in times of stress in order to ‘carry on’ and never completely broken.” She meets her dealer, identified as a “drug vendor,” and then retreats between poses to her dressing table, where she pulls out her spoon and syringe and gets to work. (We don’t see her actually shooting up.) Before long she’s given the painter a little taste — it’s “inspiration ready-made” — and the rest of the film follows their divergent paths as she gets clean, and he becomes a bug-eyed addict.

“The Devil’s Needle” is certainly preachy, but unlike so many later addiction melodramas it doesn’t feel the need to sacrifice its characters — there are happy endings to be had for everyone but the drug merchants. It also has quite a bit of sly humor, as in the scene when the model turns art critic and deems the painter’s morphine-aided work “artificial and uninspired.” And Talmadge, in her second year as a feature-film star, is a delight, appealingly spunky and tender. One caution: The print, from a 1923 rerelease, had significantly deteriorated in some places, and one late scene in particular is almost illegible. (Kino Lorber, Blu-ray $39.95, DVD $34.95, not rated)

[FrankFay]

I noticed that the titles went to great effort to explain that Renee took up the drug habit as relief from strenuous war work. I think this must have been done in the 1923 reissue to make the character more sympathetic- Talmadge was a star by then so she couldn't be just a thrill-seeking addict.

Marguerite Marsh was certainly pretty, but she didn't seem to register very much to me. I DID like the simpering girl who tried out as a model- she was a hoot.

[Christopher Jacobs]

Nice to see this disc getting some publicity. The title might inspire some curious non-silent-fans to take a look. I hope it sells well and gets more people "hooked on" silent films! And I'm greatly looking forward to more rarities on Blu-ray from the Library of Congress and the Eastman House (through Kino or anyone else)!

I've finally stopped writing after over 3000 words and posted my review of all three movies on the disc in the "Old Movies in HD" thread under the "Talking About Talkies" forum.

[syd]

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film4/blu-ray_ ... lu-ray.htm" target="_blank

DVD Beaver review.

[Danny]

Tully Marshall as a Romantic Lead? I never thought I'd ever see that.

Danny

[Bob Furem]

This DVD exceeds my expectations. These mid-teens social dramas can be hit or miss for me. However, Norma hooked me (no pun intended), and I enjoyed the entire disc very much and found myself in love with Viola Dana from the first shot. Any more of her films readily available? Oh, and did I mention I love Viola Dana? I would also be remiss if I didn't mention the wonderful music by Rodney and Ben. Well done, gentlemen.