Queen Kelly
Director: Erich von Stroheim
Year Released: 1932
Rating: 3.0
Title victim (Gloria Swanson) catches the eye of soon-to-be married Wolfram (Walter Byron), but loony Queen Regina (Seena Owen), prone to frothing at the mouth and employing a whip as a woman-deterrent (S&M is always so prominent in von Stroheim's work), kicks her out. It's a shame that all that remains of the director's proposed 4-hour-plus work is this 104 minute cut-up - it only gives a partial glimpse into what this could have been. Few directors seem to have the same level of patience as von Stroheim: the framing, the holding of the shots, the wonderful lighting and impeccable editing all reinforce the oft-recounted stories of his obsessive approach to filmmaking.
