Blind Husbands
The studio insisted on cutting the film instead of letting Erich von Stroheim do it as he was deemed to be too unstable after allegedly killing a dog during production. Von Stroheim would ensure they didn't do this to him on his next film The Devil's Passkey (1920) by barricading himself into the editing suite with a loaded Winchester.,In one shot, when the wife walks across her bedroom, a spotlight beam is visible on the ground following her.,The Husband, Dr. Robert Armstrong: I am going to give you one chance - if you speak the truth - and I shall know it - I will not harm you. But if you lie - and I shall know that too - down you go...,Most sources state film length of 68 minutes but a restored 101-minute copy of Blind Husbands was screened at the 2022 San Francisco Silent Film Festival on 6 May 2022. Until now, we have only known the abbreviated American version from 1924. But the recent discovery by the Austrian Film Museum in Vienna of an original release print-together with the MoMA (San Francisco Musuem of Modern Art) print and the original screenplay and continuity script found in the archives of Universal Studios-has permitted an altogether new appreciation of Stroheim's singular vision, restoring some seven minutes to the film's length (most of them in extended shots) and reconstructing his careful tinting and toning color scheme.,Featured in Hollywood (1980),The story is simple and unoriginal: a love triangle, plus man's determination to conquer nature. But, this early effort by director Erich von Stroheim displays great restraint, especially for a filmmaker who would become notorious for excess. His films, such as "Greed" (1924), are better known for their production and post-production histories than for their actual merits. He would shoot an excessive amount of footage for films of extraordinary length, which the producers then butchered. That's not the case with "Blind Husbands", though; this one has a normal runtime.

It also features the familiar Stroheim touches on a smaller scale. The acting is rather subtile. Stroheim introduces his typical role as a villainous Teutonic womanizer, with a scar, a monocle and a history of military service--"the man you love to hate". Here, he's the other man. Furthermore, the mise-en-scène takes precedence over camera movement or editing. The décor is detailed and occasionally allegorical to the melodrama. Attention to lighting is also evident. "Blind Husbands" is sensational and too contrived and ruminant at times, but, for the most part, the simple story is harmonious with the restrained, yet detailed, film-making.,