Blind husbands

After several years of work in Hollywood, Erich von Stroheim made his first film as an actor, consultant, costume designer and assistant director for J.W. Griffith himself (in 1914-1918). To make the film, Stroheim himself had to act as a producer and abandon the fees due to him as a scriptwriter and director - he received a salary ($ 200 a week) only as an actor.

The film had the working title “The Pinnacle” - after the name of the peak to which its heroes ascend; in the credits the book “The Pinnacle” is indicated as the source, but this book did not exist. Although the film takes place in the Alps , Stroheim shot it without leaving California . The premiere of the film, which received excellent press reviews, took place in New York on December 8, 1919; his financial success exceeded all expectations, brought considerable profit to the film studio, and Stroheim allowed himself to establish himself in a new profession ^[1] .

An American doctor named Armstrong and his wife are resting in the Dolomites ; In a small hotel, an Austrian officer and ladies man Erich von Steuben lives with them. Taking advantage of the fact that the doctor neglects his wife, often simply does not notice her presence (and his wife looks with envy at the cooing newlyweds), von Stoiben courts Mrs. Armstrong and finally subdues the woman with her courtesy, which distinguishes him so favorably from her husband. Mrs. Armstrong, weaned from male attention, accepts his courtship; but the pair is closely watched by the conductor Sepp, whom Dr. Armstrong once saved his life.

Meanwhile, the doctor discovers a new, unfamiliar object in the hotel room: a box with a bunch of flowers and a note ...

Mrs. Armstrong moves to a separate room; a woman suffering from unrequited love for her husband decides to play the lieutenant, and at the same time annoy her husband: in a letter she invites von Steuben to a night date, but at the same time indicates the wrong number. At night, the lieutenant preens for a long time and carefully in front of the mirror and - gets into the room to the conductor Sepp.

In the morning, the doctor and lieutenant in one bundle climb to the top of the mountain. Helping the exhausted Steuben to undress, the doctor discovers an envelope with a letter in his jacket pocket, asks if his wife wrote this letter; the lieutenant tries to grab it, and the letter falls down. Believing that it has disappeared permanently, Steuben willingly admits that the letter was written by Mrs. Armstrong. With all the apparent indifference to his wife, treason shocks the doctor; having cut the rope that bound them, the doctor alone descends, leaving Steuben on top.

On the way down, Armstrong finds a letter and discovers that it was a rally.

Meanwhile, feeling that something was amiss, fearing a clash between the men, Mrs. Arsstrong asks Sepp to call the rescuers - and on time: the doctor really has problems during the descent. Armstrong asks the rescuers who came to the aid of him to remove von Steuben from the top; however, the lieutenant, who presented himself as an experienced climber who conquered more than one peak, hitting himself in a panic, falls down and breaks.

Spouses leave the hotel; Saying goodbye, Sepp tells the doctor that he should be more attentive to his wife, but Armstrong already understood this himself ...

• Sam De Grasse - Dr. Robert Armstrong
• Frances Billington - Margaret Armstrong, His Wife
• Erich von Stroheim - Lieutenant Erich von Steuben
• Gibson Gowland - conductor Sepp

• Erich von Stroheim - Director and Scriptwriter
• Ben F. Reynolds - operator
• Richard Day - Scenery

Producer : Erich von Stroheim

• Arthur Lennig. Stroheim. - Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky, 2000 .-- ISBN 0-8131-2138-8 . (English) pp. 101-120