SAPPHO 1921

drednm · Post by **drednm** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 7:47 am

Watched the new Sappho this weekend and have mixed feelings about it.

Although Pola Negri can be a mesmerizing silent force, she's not one of my favorites. Here she plays a ruthless vamp names Sappho (why I have no idea, but she seems to have nothing to do with the lesbian Greek poet). She goes through several men, driving one into an insane asylum and then takes up with his brother. The set design is quite good.

The print quality is excellent as are the varied tints.

What did anyone else think?

Danny · Post by **Danny** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 8:33 am

I thought "Sappho" was terrific, although I'm in agreement with you that Pola Negri was never one of my favorites. Here her character was a bit more complex. Neither saint nor sinner She did have that scene of tenderness when the kid was drowning. But it's the DVD transfer that makes this so special. The tinting, the music, the restoration. I was very impressed.

BTW, I recently had a treat when I saw Pola Negri in "Hi Diddle Diddle", a 1940's "screwball" comedy. In that film she portrays a temperamental, volatile opera singer and she is quite funny. Nothing like her Silent persona.

Danny

drednm · Post by **drednm** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 8:48 am

The work on Sappho was indeed terrific. I'm a big fan of tints and the work here is stunning.

For me Negri always seemed to play the same character in her silents and lacks subtlety. I have Hi Diddle Diddle as well as her talkie musical A Woman Commands. I guess my favorite Negri film is A Woman of the World in which she charges the locals to look at her tattooes.

FrankFay · Post by **FrankFay** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 12:25 pm

One of the best Pola Negri films is THE YELLOW PASS (1918). Ferdinand von Galitzen has summarized the plot well (quoted below) though to spell things out a Yellow Pass was only given to Prostitutes. . At this stage Pola is still convincing as a young girl and her screen personality hasn't stylized. She's very touching.

"Lea, Damen Pola Negri, is a Jewish girl who wants to go to St. Petersburg to help her ailing foster father. She's learning to be a wise and independent girl (those kind of characters that Damen Negri was so fond of during her career) but she is warned by her teacher that because she is Jewish she will not be given the usual work/travel permits, if she wants to travel she will have to be given a special paper, a yellow ticket. These permits are usually given to a certain kind of woman and even longhaired people as you are know pretty well what this German count means even though he is speaking in German…

When Lea is rejected by the University she knows that finally she will have to swallow her pride and ask for a yellow ticket even though it's a free pass to decadence.

In a book given to her by her teacher, Lea finds papers belonging to his deceased sister; she decides to use the papers to impersonate the dead woman and accomplish her greatest desire, to study at the University. Lea finds herself at the center of various events and has to deal with her false identity, her true identity, and an identity crisis… These will be solved in a thrilling and emotional way at the end of the film.

"Der Gelbe Schein" was directed by two hands: Herr Eugen Illés ( who also photographed the film ) and Herr Victor Janson ( who also plays Lea's teacher ) and for this German count it was a revelation as he knew little of these fellow countrymen until this time. It was a pleasant surprise to see such skill in a film from this year; excellent rhythm and film structure narrative (flashbacks, close-ups and some camera movements ) and as always Damen Negri was very much the star.

The film was made in 1918 with the German army still occupying Warsaw (which stands in for St. Petersburg in the film) and some film scenes were taken in the Warsaw ghetto. The film was restored by the longhaired Herr Kevin Brownlow, one of the most important names when the aristocracy are talking about silent films.

And now, if you'll allow me, I must temporarily take my leave because this German Count must discover who finally he is. "

Richard P. May · Post by **Richard P. May** » Wed Oct 14, 2009 12:11 pm

Does anybody know the source of the SAPPHO print?
In 1986, just about when Turner took over the MGM library, I was working with their film library. MGM was not permitted to store nitrate in Culver City, so rented vaults in the old "Film Row" area of Los Angeles on Vermont Avenue.
We made a visit to see what was there, and among other strange finds, was an original print of SAPPHO. It was on the edge of decomposition, but still in good enough condition to preserve. It was turned over to the UCLA Film Archive, and as far as I know they did copy it to color stock.
Why this print came to MGM, I have no idea. I would think this might have been the only copy existing.

misspickford9 · Post by **misspickford9** » Wed Oct 14, 2009 12:40 pm

Richard P. May wrote:Does anybody know the source of the SAPPHO print?
In 1986, just about when Turner took over the MGM library, I was working with their film library. MGM was not permitted to store nitrate in Culver City, so rented vaults in the old "Film Row" area of Los Angeles on Vermont Avenue.
We made a visit to see what was there, and among other strange finds, was an original print of SAPPHO. It was on the edge of decomposition, but still in good enough condition to preserve. It was turned over to the UCLA Film Archive, and as far as I know they did copy it to color stock.
Why this print came to MGM, I have no idea. I would think this might have been the only copy existing.

I do believe Grapevine video uses all their own prints. But I think someone else mentioned UCLA having a copy as well.

drednm · Post by **drednm** » Wed Oct 14, 2009 12:50 pm

David Gasten says this version is from the European print (different from the US release which was titled MAD LOVE). But where it comes from I don't know. I thought David had written about this but I can't find it....