Blind Husbands
Blind Husbands (Eric von Stroheim, US, 1919)
If ‘A Fool There Was’ showed us one side of uncensored sexuality in the early years of cinema, the films of Eric von Stroheim showed us another. Instead of Theda Bara’s ‘vamp’, we had von Stroheim’s exotic Europeanism. Himself a product of self-mythology, his screen persona was developed in ‘Blind Husbands’ and utilised in numerous subsequent films. An American couple vacation in the Alps; Dr Armstrong (Sam De Grasse) is the complacent, inattentive husband of Margaret (Francelia Billington), who envies the romance and happiness of other couples she notices. Ready to come between this couple is von Steuben (von Stroheim), an Austrian colonel who confidently seduces women without any effort. The first time the three meet, Dr Armstrong contentedly puffs away at his pipe, whilst von Steuben checks out Mrs Armstrong’s bare ankles, which is as suggestive as it got in the 1910s. von Steuben pursues the doctor’s wife, whilst he obliviously and inadvertently leaves his wife in von Steuben’s hands whilst he has to attend to a patient, though what develops is a battle of wills at the peak of the Alps and the prevailing morality of the day ensures a conclusion that would satisfy audiences. Whilst it’s contrived in places, there’s much subtle, natural acting on display, which is quite rare for the period. von Stroheim would make stronger, more controversial films in the next decade, but this was a very promising start.
Into Great Silents 