05 February 2009

the passage

in "Foolish Wives" in which Dale Fuller locks a pair of would-be lovers in a room then sets the place on fire is an entire world.

Fuller becomes one of the silent screen's greats with this moment. we see not just madness in her eyes but a whole life condensd into a few moments of acting.

von Stroheim's 1922 million-dollar classic creaks a bit but has delicious moments. & it makes me want to see more of Fuller. some say her best performance was another at the hands of von Stroheim. but most of her footage in "Greed" has disappeard. she seems a woman worth rediscovering. her mother was a western legend -- the first female stage coach driver while still in her teens. & Dale began on screen doing Keystone comedies before her work with von Stroheim & Lubitsch.

No comments: