Secrets(1923) was a silent film starring Norma Talmadge as Mary Carlton.
Though the film still exists today, but about a third of it has been
lost. The story is still basically the same, but many of the locations and a
few of the plot devices have been changed to better fit the silent screen
better. Some of the changes that were made included changes such as the fact
that Talmadge starts out in England and ends up in Scotland instead of back in
England, and that in the skirmish in the wilderness, the Carlton’s baby does
not survive. Instead of having the action of the play be in the form of a
flashback from a dream sequence, the movie uses the diary of the wife to bring
back the memories. By having Norma Talmadge star as Mary in the production, Secrets was guaranteed to have an
enraptured audience: Norma Talmadge was a very popular actor of her time, and
audiences loved to come see her tragic characters suffer through an exciting
ordeal. Secrets delivered in exciting trials for our heroine and even in
the movie adaptions of Secrets the
most intense and most enjoyed by the audience is the fight scene against the
cattle rustlers. In the silent film Secrets
with Norma Talmadge as Mary Carlton, the staging of the cattle rustler fight
“differs from the action of the play; but it is decidedly vigorous, especially
when one beholds the forbidding countenance of Dick Sutherland as one of the
robbing, death-dealing crew" ("New York Times"). The intense
action was definitely one of the reasons that the play did as well as it did,
and was just as successful as a movie. In a review from Variety, March 26th,
1924 it compared the film adaptation to the original stage production,
“On
the screen "Secrets" is a far better entertainment than it was on the
spoken stage. Its punches are driven home with greater effect than they were in
the spoken play, and the interpretation Miss Talmadge gives of the wife who
never wavered, but remained firm in the belief that her husband still loved her
best of all, even at the times that she knew he was unfaithful, is something
that will go down in film history. It is a work of art, deftly handled with a
divine touch that makes it stand out as one of the greatest screen
characterizations in years” (de Groat).
This
raving review was not the only one that believed that the film would go down in
history. The New York Times also believed that Secrets was a “love story is of unusual depths and one which, in a
picture, considering its appeal to hundreds of thousands, will undoubtedly have
an effect upon the spectators who see it. It may patch up squabbles between
young married couples and it may cause others to think twice before they decide
upon separating" ("New York Times"). The love and devotion that
is so evidently embedded into the story was exactly what the audiences of a
silent film wanted. The only part of the play that any critic called into
question was the historical accuracy and Talmadge’s makeup. While "the
elopement scenes are beautifully pictured, it would, however, have been
difficult for a young man, no matter how much in love he was, to ride far with
his precious charge on one of those high bicycles. But perhaps here and there
are harmless anachronisms. Postmen in London do not whistle, and in even those
days the old door knocker with the double tat-tat according to the authors, was
in vogue" ("New York Times"). These are things that an audience
can easily forgive if they become invested into the show. The suspension of
disbelief is a saving grace for those little inaccuracies.
Unlike the past
actresses who had played Mary Compton, Norma Talmadge had mixed reviews on her
ability to play all of the ages seamlessly. The review in the New York Times
lamented that "Miss Talmadge appears to have been reluctant to do anything
more than submit to gray hair. There are no signs of sunken eyes, or thinnish
neck, no wrinkled forehead, or lines of laughter. She is 40! A beautiful woman
with hair tinged with signs of age" ("New York Times"). Even
with the makeup mishap the show was a great success and eventually influenced
the creation of another revival and another motion picture.
Secrets(1923) was a silent film starring Norma Talmadge as Mary Carlton. Though the film still exists today, but about a third of it has been
lost. The story is still basically the same, but many of the locations and a
few of the plot devices have been changed to better fit the silent screen
better. Some of the changes that were made included changes such as the fact
that Talmadge starts out in England and ends up in Scotland instead of back in
England, and that in the skirmish in the wilderness, the Carlton’s baby does
not survive. Instead of having the action of the play be in the form of a
flashback from a dream sequence, the movie uses the diary of the wife to bring
back the memories. By having Norma Talmadge star as Mary in the production, Secrets was guaranteed to have an
enraptured audience: Norma Talmadge was a very popular actor of her time, and
audiences loved to come see her tragic characters suffer through an exciting
ordeal. Secrets delivered in exciting trials for our heroine and even in
the movie adaptions of Secrets the
most intense and most enjoyed by the audience is the fight scene against the
cattle rustlers. In the silent film Secrets
with Norma Talmadge as Mary Carlton, the staging of the cattle rustler fight
“differs from the action of the play; but it is decidedly vigorous, especially
when one beholds the forbidding countenance of Dick Sutherland as one of the
robbing, death-dealing crew" ("New York Times"). The intense
action was definitely one of the reasons that the play did as well as it did,
and was just as successful as a movie. In a review from Variety, March 26th,
1924 it compared the film adaptation to the original stage production,
“On
the screen "Secrets" is a far better entertainment than it was on the
spoken stage. Its punches are driven home with greater effect than they were in
the spoken play, and the interpretation Miss Talmadge gives of the wife who
never wavered, but remained firm in the belief that her husband still loved her
best of all, even at the times that she knew he was unfaithful, is something
that will go down in film history. It is a work of art, deftly handled with a
divine touch that makes it stand out as one of the greatest screen
characterizations in years” (de Groat).
This
raving review was not the only one that believed that the film would go down in
history. The New York Times also believed that Secrets was a “love story is of unusual depths and one which, in a
picture, considering its appeal to hundreds of thousands, will undoubtedly have
an effect upon the spectators who see it. It may patch up squabbles between
young married couples and it may cause others to think twice before they decide
upon separating" ("New York Times"). The love and devotion that
is so evidently embedded into the story was exactly what the audiences of a
silent film wanted. The only part of the play that any critic called into
question was the historical accuracy and Talmadge’s makeup. While "the
elopement scenes are beautifully pictured, it would, however, have been
difficult for a young man, no matter how much in love he was, to ride far with
his precious charge on one of those high bicycles. But perhaps here and there
are harmless anachronisms. Postmen in London do not whistle, and in even those
days the old door knocker with the double tat-tat according to the authors, was
in vogue" ("New York Times"). These are things that an audience
can easily forgive if they become invested into the show. The suspension of
disbelief is a saving grace for those little inaccuracies. 
Unlike the past
actresses who had played Mary Compton, Norma Talmadge had mixed reviews on her
ability to play all of the ages seamlessly. The review in the New York Times
lamented that "Miss Talmadge appears to have been reluctant to do anything
more than submit to gray hair. There are no signs of sunken eyes, or thinnish
neck, no wrinkled forehead, or lines of laughter. She is 40! A beautiful woman
with hair tinged with signs of age" ("New York Times"). Even
with the makeup mishap the show was a great success and eventually influenced
the creation of another revival and another motion picture.
No comments:
Post a Comment