Because it's Panto Season...

[victoriavandal.livejournal.com]

There are loads of silent films on Youtube (a joy, if you like watching effete men in eyeshadow staring wildly and waving their arms around, which I do, for some reason), and, though Abel Gance's 'Napoleon' isn't up there - yet - D.W. Griffith's 1921 'Orphans of the Storm' is! And it's hilarious! I haven't seen it since I was about 10 so just had a dim memory of how silly it was, but I've just watched parts 9-14 (from the bit where Danton - the fairy godmother of the piece - storms the Bastille (oh, yes, it's that sort of film) to the end, where Danton rides his white charger to...oh, but I won't spoil it for you! Robespierre, btw, is the chap who looks like a cross between the Child-Catcher, the Cabaret MC and Kenneth Williams as Dandy Desmond, and his existence apparently has a negative effect on horticulture. He's also a Bolshevik, according to the inter-titles, and watch out for the wonderful Charleston-dancing Flapper Sansculotte chicks with headbands and off the shoulder dresses!
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=7TE68skx4As

Comments

[estellacat.livejournal.com]

Very true. It's been several years since I've watched it--and it left me with very little desire to so again any time soon, despite its unintentional comedic effect--but I do remember generally how ludicrous it was.

It's an interesting possibility you bring up about the titles. After all, it's fairly easy to change title cards (as opposed to spoken dialogue), so it wouldn't surprise me if there were different versions.

[victoriavandal.livejournal.com]

Titles would have been easy to change: obviously, the ease of translating them was what made silent stars global stars - and made the coming of Talkies so drastic (some Hollywood films were reshot with Spanish-speaking actors, using the same sets and costumes at night: the Spanish 'Dracula'is supposed to be better than the Lugosi version). I don't know if titles were changed to suit the politics of regions, but it's possible (I imagine the title describing the CSP as 'Bolshevik' would be applauded in some world cities in 1921!) Most studios destroyed their silent stock so I suppose there are so few surviving versions now it's not possible to compare.

[estellacat.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, I remember that from the film class I took a few years back. It's really a pity we can't compare versions on this one...