playing at the film Forum in November

I was there last night, my first viewing of this epic film, and it was impressive. I'd say the theater was about 90% full, maybe more. The print ran about two hours and forty minutes or so, quite long for a silent feature, but despite a couple of slow stretches it held most of the audience all the way. And happily the print was in great shape, with very little evidence of decomposition, scratches, or splices.

Music was provided by Steve Sterner at the keyboard, and he played beautifully as usual. One unexpected element: the intertitles were in Swedish, so they were translated by an actress (whose name I didn't catch, sorry to say) who sat at a podium reading from a thick script. This couldn't have been easy, but she did a splendid job of it.

Garbo's first appearance, riding in the carriage with her foppish husband, was greeted with intense interest; you could just feel a general intake of breath. All of her scenes boosted the film considerably, but Lars Hanson carried the bulk of the story and had considerable charisma himself. There were notable performances by others in the ensemble unknown to me.

A great film, and a memorable evening.