![World War 1 Films of Silent Era [VHS]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/513V3TZND2L.__AC_SX300_SY300_QL70_ML2_.jpg)
This is a very good DVD produced by David Shepard - who has given us many other excellent silent films of all sorts - and it contains four different films: a documentary, a feature film ("The Secret Game") from 1917 and two films of authentic footage from World War I. Although I usually prefer a good silent drama, I still found the first two films of actual war footage quite interesting, and no doubt they would also appeal to the general history buff. The first film, "Fighting the War" gives an overview and insight into the battles, equipment and conditions facing WWI soldiers, and I preferred this one to the second, which focuses more on the exploits of a German U-Boat in the Mediterranean. After a while it became just a little tedious seeing one cruiser, steamer or other vessel being sunk after another, but it still has its appeal and some fascination due to the authentic footage, and the film quality of both these films is very good. They also have an excellent musical score by Eric Beheim which I enjoyed, and there are some good notes on both these films as well.
The highlight of the DVD for me is the feature film, "The Secret Game", directed by William C. de Mille, Cecil's brother. It stars Japanese-American actor, Sessue Hayakawa who was popular at the time and had made a big impression in Cecil B. DeMille's "The Cheat" two years earlier. His role in "The Secret Game" is similar to that in "The Cheat" in that his motives are questionable and he attempts to take a woman by force - but only after an interesting story about espionage involving German Secret Service agents, one of them being a young woman by the name of Kitty Little. The plot revolves around Kitty and whether she will fulfil her mission to spy on her new boss for the Germans, or will she change her mind and be loyal to her new boss and America?
Finally, there is a good and interesting documentary, "The Moving Picture Boys in the Great War" made in 1975, featuring short footage from some well-known films of the time such as Thomas Ince's "Civilization" and D W Griffith's "Intolerance" and "Hearts of the World", along with various other interesting bits. The documentary gives a good overview of America's neutrality in the first half of the war, and how this was represented in moving pictures at that time; then the decision to fight after all, and the dramatic change in motion pictures which were, of course, a good means of propaganda. Altogether, this DVD is historically very interesting and surely a treat for WWI and history buffs, but also of value to the silent film fan.
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Barbara Underwood
A good and entertaining collection of films
2005年7月10日にアメリカ合衆国でレビュー済みAmazonで購入
