Blind Husbands
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Erich Von Stroheim
Sam Degrasse
Francelia Billington
Erich Von Stroheim
T. H. Gibson-gowland
Fay Holderness
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
American Margaret Armstrong tolerates a mild flirtation with Austrian cavalry officer Lieut. Erich Von Steuben when her husband, a famous surgeon, neglects her during their vacation at Cortina d'Ampezzo in the Alps. After Margaret slips a note under the lieutenant's door, Von Steuben goes to her room at night, but encounters Armstrong's friend and mountain guide Silent Sepp, who changed rooms to protect Margaret from Von Steuben's advances. The next day, the doctor and Von Steuben climb the Pinnacle, a peak known for its inaccessibility. At the top, Armstrong sees Margaret's note in Von Steuben's coat, but it blows away before he can read it. He threatens Von Steuben with death unless he tells the truth about whether Margaret agreed to go away with him. Von Steuben, afraid that Armstrong will not believe the truth, says that she did agree. Armstrong starts down the mountain alone but finds his wife's note which unequivocally states her love for her husband. He goes to help Von Steuben but slips and is saved by a rescue party. They arrive too late for Von Steuben who panics and falls to his death. As the Armstrongs prepare to leave, Sepp advises his friend that his wife needs love. Armstrong tenderly takes Margaret's hand as they ride away.
Director
Erich Von Stroheim
Cast
Sam Degrasse
Francelia Billington
Erich Von Stroheim
T. H. Gibson-gowland
Fay Holderness
Ruby Kendrick
Valerie Germonprez
Jack Perrin
Richard Cummings
Louis Fitzroy
William Duvalle
Jack Mathes
Percy Challenger
Bob, The Dog
Crew
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
This was Erich von Stroheim's first film as a combined director, writer and leading man. According to a contemporary news item, Stroheim wrote the story while he was a prisoner in an Austrian military fortress. The item relates that Stroheim, while a lieutenant in the Royal Palace guard which accompanied Emperor Franz Joseph everywhere, fought a duel over a woman which resulted in the death of another officer. Although Stroheim was in the Royal Palace guard, the veracity of the rest of the story is questionable.
The working title of the film was The Pinnacle. According to a news item, after the film was shown to a number of critics and exhibitors, the name was changed because exhibitors thought that the title was "too deep." Out of a list of 422 possible titles, eight were selected and submitted to all the exhibitors in New York. After the title Blind Husbands was selected in a vote, Stroheim took out a full-page ad in Motion Picture News September 27, 1919 to protest. Of the new title, he wrote that it was "...a name which I would have rejected in disgust had it been submitted to me. I would, in fact, have been ashamed of myself had I ever thought of it." Carl Laemmle responded in an ad in the same paper the next week, and justified the change by stating that the new title would draw more people to theaters. He wrote about the old title that "I've even heard it accented pee-nokkle in a joking manner, a thing which would kill your picture deader than a salt mackerel."
Some scenes in the film were shot in the California mountains. The film opened at the Capitol Theatre in New York on December 7, 1919. The national release date for the film was not located. Modern sources add the following credits: assistant director, Eddy Sowders; second cameraman, William Daniels; art director, Erich von Stroheim; editors (in addition to Frank Lawrence and Eleanor Fried), Erich von Stroheim, Viola Mallory, Grant Whytock. Modern sources also note that actress Valerie Germonprez, who played one of the honeymooners, and Stroheim were married after the film was finished.
