I have just got thru viewing this movie via DVD from Grapevine Video, and I enjoyed it...yes, it does have some melodramatics in it, yet one must remember that this is early film and most actors were considered stage actors.
They also used a lot of heavy makeup on the face...due to improper lighting/camera lens, etc...again the technology of movies was in it's infant stages.
I still enjoyed this film...I read some where that the last Romonavs, before being sent out of their fortress and before Lenin stormed in...that they enjoyed viewing silent films in their large living room, w/projector, screen etc...and the last film they viewed was even an earlier version of The Passion: Madame DuBarry (1915 or 16) and is no where to be found...lost...so this film is the - in my opinion the best film about Madame DuBarry to date...about her dismal plight via Madame Guillotine.
Oh yeah, I know there is a comedy version - mostly a dream sequence about Madame Dubarry - but this 1919 version in my books is tops for sure! Grapevine Video did a nice job transferring this to DVD...but warning: on the box it states that the background music is Orchestra music...it is not...it is Organ music and not too bad either! Do I recommend this movie? YES!
"During the last years of the Romanov Dynasty the Semi-circular Hall was also regularly used to show silent movies and slide shows. A square hole was punched through the wall on the right hand side of the doorway and a Pathe film projector installed. A portable screen was constructed. Movies were usually shown on Saturdays, when the Imperial family would sit in front, while the servants stood behind them to watch the show. While most films were educational - on nature subjects, travel or WWI - comedies and thrillers were also shown. One of the most interesting programs was one which included a film on the life of Madame DuBarry during the French Revolution. The climax of the film was a chilling scene of Madame DuBarry's execution on the guillotine, which the entire Imperial family watched without visible reaction. This scene took place just a few months before the Russian Revolution and was long remembered by people who saw it. After the exile of the family to Siberia the projector and a number of films were sent to entertain them in Tolbolsk." -- quote from website: http://www.alexanderpalace.org/palace/semicircular.html
They also used a lot of heavy makeup on the face...due to improper lighting/camera lens, etc...again the technology of movies was in it's infant stages.
I still enjoyed this film...I read some where that the last Romonavs, before being sent out of their fortress and before Lenin stormed in...that they enjoyed viewing silent films in their large living room, w/projector, screen etc...and the last film they viewed was even an earlier version of The Passion: Madame DuBarry (1915 or 16) and is no where to be found...lost...so this film is the - in my opinion the best film about Madame DuBarry to date...about her dismal plight via Madame Guillotine.
Oh yeah, I know there is a comedy version - mostly a dream sequence about Madame Dubarry - but this 1919 version in my books is tops for sure! Grapevine Video did a nice job transferring this to DVD...but warning: on the box it states that the background music is Orchestra music...it is not...it is Organ music and not too bad either! Do I recommend this movie? YES!
"During the last years of the Romanov Dynasty the Semi-circular Hall was also regularly used to show silent movies and slide shows. A square hole was punched through the wall on the right hand side of the doorway and a Pathe film projector installed. A portable screen was constructed. Movies were usually shown on Saturdays, when the Imperial family would sit in front, while the servants stood behind them to watch the show. While most films were educational - on nature subjects, travel or WWI - comedies and thrillers were also shown. One of the most interesting programs was one which included a film on the life of Madame DuBarry during the French Revolution. The climax of the film was a chilling scene of Madame DuBarry's execution on the guillotine, which the entire Imperial family watched without visible reaction. This scene took place just a few months before the Russian Revolution and was long remembered by people who saw it. After the exile of the family to Siberia the projector and a number of films were sent to entertain them in Tolbolsk." -- quote from website: http://www.alexanderpalace.org/palace/semicircular.html