Director:
Erich von Stroheim
Year: 1929
Rating: 6.0
This is one of the most famous unfinished films that is certainly more famous
for the production history than the content of the film and for the fact
that it is the film that Norma Desmond watches in Sunset Boulevard. It has
a few huge personalities around it. First there was Gloria Swanson who had
been a huge star in the silent era first beginning with Chaplin and then
the Keystone Cops before DeMille made her a gigantic star. By 1929 her fame
was beginning to soften. She had been offered a $1 million contract but turned
it down to make her own films within the United Artists brotherhood. That
turned out to be a bad idea.
The director is the legendary Erich von Stroheim who made some great films
for Universal but was famous for taking forever to finish a film, ending
up with a five hour film that the studios had to whittle down to two hours
and going way beyond the budget. But a few of his films are considered genius
today though his versions of them are lost. Swanson hired him to direct her
film. That turned out to be a bad idea. He is of course the butler in Sunset
Boulevard, a film that he hated but that most people remember him by.
The film was financed by none other than Joseph Kennedy (father of JFK) who
was having a lusty affair with Swanson. That turned out to be a bad idea.
He got so frustrated with the time that Stroheim was taking that he pulled
his financing and the film was never finished and he ended his affair with
Swanson. Swanson had also invested her money and lost it.
The film was never released in the USA. And of course it was never finished
though Swanson shot an ending and released it in Europe. That fake ending
is not in the version now available. It ends with a few placards saying how
the story was going to go. Five hours of this film could have been responsible
for killing people. At 107 minutes it is pretty slow until the one hour mark.
The film is a lavish period piece that takes place in a made up European
country where the Queen (Seena Owen) rules the land with an iron hand and
is a bit insane. But not bad looking as she goes everywhere with a white
cat nestled on her shoulder - an early incarnation of Blofelt! She is intent
on marrying a Royal Prince. He isn't so thrilled and sees a young convent
girl walking on the street and falls in love.
This young innocent convent girl is Swanson at 30 years old. And looks it.
So the Prince does the natural thing by kidnapping her, bringing her back
to the Queen's palace and seducing her. All kind of slow moving - but things
get fun when the Queen discovers them in bed and starts whipping Swanson
all over the palace as the guards look on laughing. Then Swanson has to go
to Africa where an aunt is dying but who betrothed her to this creepy old
man on crutches right out of Twin Peaks. Oh, the aunt ran a bordello and
Swanson takes it over which is pretty much when Stroheim was booted and the
film never finished. They nickname her Queen Kelly in the brothel.
