The Dumb Girl of Portici

Watching Anna Pavlova is a real treat. Her dancing is inspired and magical, and after watching the movie through once, I went back to specific dancing sections. I can't imagine wanting to see the entire movie a second time, however. It's nice enough, though a little ponderous at times. Visually, it's not too striking - the restoration had only limited sources to work with. The newly devised score, based on the Auber opera, La Muette de Portici, is quite attractive. Of great disappointment to me, however, is the apparent lack of extras, despite several interesting ones being listed on the box. If they're on the Blu-Ray disc, they are not accessible. There is a single menu, with "Play" and "Scenes" but no mention of extras. What gives, Milestone? UPDATE: I contacted Milestone about the missing extras, and they explained the first pressing of the video went out without the second disc. So if you purchase this and there's only one disc, contact Milestone and they will send you the second disc along with a case to hold both discs. The extras are worth the price of the disc.

The Dumb Girl of Portici is a big production - spectacular sets, lots of extras. The camera movement, for 1916, was amazing. This is the same year as Intolerance & Joan the Woman - both better films, but Dumb Girl is just as well made. Overall, the film is just OK. Anna Pavlova’s performance is not any better than most of the era, & she doesn’t have a great screen presence. Part of that is the character she plays - she wears the same costume throughout the film & really doesn’t have much to do. Also, the story is confusing at times & not engaging. I have not seen any other Pavlova performances, so I don’t know if there are better films with her out there. I did not see her as an early Garbo as one reviewer rated her. The print is watchable, but not great - certainly nothing like the recent Intolerance restoration. I’m glad the film is available, but it doesn’t warrant multiple viewings. The direction by Lois Weber has some great moments, but is uneven.

I have never seen a Lois Weber movie quite like this one and that is both good and bad. What is good about THE DUMB GIRL OF PORTICI is Weber's moving camera and her editing of scenes. The scope of the production is also impressive with large scale sets and Weber's staging of massive crowd scenes. Another big plus, which is courtesy of this restoration, is John Sweeney's adaptation of Daniel Auber's original 1829 operatic score. Last but not least there is Anna Pavlova. This movie gives us the rare opportunity of seeing the legendary dancer in her prime.Unfortunately Pavlova is also one of the things that is bad about PORTICI. She was unquestionably a great dancer but not a great actress based on what we see here. It's not completely her fault as all of the performances are on the broad side with excessive gesturing and exaggerated facial reactions. It's easy to see why Rupert Julian, who plays Pavlova's brother. gave up acting. He's remembered today for directing the original 1925 PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. A lot of the blame should be laid at Weber's feet as she allows her actors free rein unlike her smaller films where the performances are much more subtle. The story is also hard to follow.Nevertheless, PORTICI is worth seeing for any fan of silent cinema and definitely should be seen by anyone interested in the career of Lois Weber. In addition to the visuals, there is plenty of dancing in addition to Pavlova. The costumes are impressive and, as mentioned earlier, so are the sets. The restoration by The Library of Congress and others is very good for the most part with only a few 16mm sequences having to be used to complete the film. As good as the restoration is, it cannot hide the fact that Weber was far more successful in her more intimate character driven films like the recently released SHOES or THE BLOT.My review is of the DVD version not the Blu-Ray so I cannot comment on the latter. However the special features that one reviewer mentions are to be found on a second DVD which was originally left out of the initial DVD release but has now been corrected. They include a 48 minute film on Anna Pavlova along with some home movies and a few newsreels. There are also clips of her dancing at the Douglas Fairbanks studio during the filming of THE THIEF OF BAGDAD. Again thanks to Milestone Films & Friends for making PORTICI available. To experience Weber at her best, check out the Milestone/Library Of Congress restoration of SHOES.