THE VALLEY OF SILENT MEN (United States, 1922, Frank Borzage)

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Actor and filmmaker Frank Borzage, winner of the first Academy Award for Best Director, is perhaps best known for helming the Hollywood features SEVENTH HEAVEN (1927), STREET ANGEL (1928), and LUCKY STAR (1929). GME is proud to distribute one of the director’s earlier works, 1922’s THE VALLEY OF SILENT MEN, as a new 4K digital restoration spearheaded by Undercrank Productions.

Available digitally for the first time, THE VALLEY OF SILENT MEN is an adventure story based on James Oliver Curwood’s novel of the same name. Curwood, who was the highest-paid author in the world by the time of his death in 1927, specialized in stories of Canadian Mounties and/or animals in the far north. THE VALLEY OF SILENT MEN, shot entirely on location in Canada, is one of his Mountie tales.

In THE VALLEY OF SILENT MEN, a string of bizarre and identical murders makes the mysterious Marette Radisson, played by Alma Rubens, the prime suspect. Or is the man who loves her — Corporal James Kent of the Mounties (played by Lew Cody) — the killer?

Audiences at New York’s Rialto Theater in 1922 burst into applause in response to the stunning mountain vistas featured in THE VALLEY OF SILENT MEN. Borzage’s visually-arresting film is presented here in a new 4K scan of the Library of Congress’ 35mm preservation materials. It is not known whether the film currently survives in its entirety; the incomplete print in the Library of Congress is missing two reels. As a result, lost scenes have been reconstructed from the novel, reviews, and existing stills for this digital restoration.

In his review of this release for PopMatters, Michael Barrett notes:

Despite the missing footage, an interesting scenario scripted by John Lynch comes across… the story’s second half is devoted to a chase across rapids and glaciers until we finally learn what’s going on. The revelation is worth the wait. The big attraction here is the glorious photography in Banff, Alberta. We also get a cameo from John Hunter, aka Chief Sitting Eagle of the Stoney Nakoda First Nation. They participated on the crew in various capacities, such as stunt coordination, and did a lot of film work in Alberta.

Like his other 1922 production, BACK PAY, Borzage’s THE VALLEY OF SILENT MEN was distributed by Paramount Pictures and produced by William Randolph Hearst’s Cosmopolitan Productions, a New York City-based production company that eventually relocated to Hollywood in 1923 before ceasing operations in 1938.

Early in his career, Borzage was known for directing mostly Westerns. Then, Hearst paired Borzage with scenarist Frances Marion in 1920 to adapt Fanny Hurst’s story HUMORESQUE into a film (which was later adapted into a better-known remake in 1947 starring Joan Crawford). This collaboration marked a turning point in Borzage’s directorial career, as he began to tackle more diverse genres.

This 4K digital restoration of Borzage’s murder mystery-meets-adventure film features a new piano and theatre organ score composed and performed by silent film musician Andrew Earle Simpson.

BACK PAY
(United States, 1922)

Director: Frank Borzage

  • 82 minutes
  • 35mm
  • Black & white
  • Silent
Distribution Format/s: DSL/Downloadable 2K .mp4 file on server

Published By: Undercrank Productions

Institutional Price: $500

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