Director: Erich Von Stroheim
Writers: Erich Von Stroheim, Marian Ainslee, Benjamin Glazer
Stars: Gloria Swanson, Walter Byron, Seena Owen
Synopsis: A convent girl is abducted and seduced by a prince before being sent off to a brothel in East Africa.
Queen Kelly is a great cinematic experiment. A film that was never properly finished by its original filmmaker, Erich Von Stroheim, distributor Milestone Films sought to reconstruct Queen Kelly in von Stroheim’s image. While a restoration of this magnitude is an arduous effort, the result is a mixed bag. The enthralling first act is broken by a Frankenstein effort of stills and incomplete scenes which amounts to something akin of a glorified PowerPoint presentation. Not to completely dismiss this effort, however, this is a piece of cinematic history that is certainly worth it to devout fans of the cinematic medium.
In the original making of the film, producer and star Gloria Swanson decided to pull the plug on financing because of the direction the film was heading. If you had seen this film previously, the only available version was the one where Swanson pulled in filmmaker Richard Boleslawski and shot an alternate ending to the film. The ending in the original release doesn’t make a dramatic location change, and remains in the confines of the original narrative. In the version premiering at the 63rd New York Film Festival, Milestone pieced together elements of the original script, storyboard art, and scenes filmed by von Stroheim to make a relatively coherent narrative.
Queen Kelly is a film in two halves. The first, completed half follows an unhappy European prince, Prince Wolfram (Walter Byron), who is set to marry a mad queen, Queen Regina V. Wolfram would spend his days frolicking with other women and ogling not from afar. Queen Regina V spends her days in very little clothing, taking long baths, with her cat companion always in her arms. Regina is aware of Wolfram’s activities and would punish him. One day Wolfram spots a young convent woman, Kitty Kelly (Gloria Swanson), and is immediately swept away by her beauty. The remainder of the first half is about Wolfram’s pursuit of Kelly. The second half is an amalgamation of added intertitle cards (labeled as such to not confuse for the original intertitle cards), production stills, and completed scenes that were done by von Stroheim prior to his firing.
The first half of Queen Kelly, while a little drawn out, is captivating. While production on the film occurred prior to the enforcement of the ‘Hays Code’ on censorship, it is surprising to see the amount of skin and level of adulterous activity being displayed on a film from this era. Each of the three characters have their own environment that you’re drawn into. Queen Regina V, for example, feels so isolating, the large black tiled bathroom sucks the air out of you. Wolfram feels incredibly shady and Kelly feels so full of life. Everything is incredibly grand and regal, from the set to the dinner.
The second half of Queen Kelly, however, leaves a lot to be desired. Now, the point of this specific restoration was an attempt to finalize von Stroheim’s vision by using whatever was available. In doing so, the second half takes you out and feels more like a historical lecture on the making of the film. Which is interesting, but completely derails what happened beforehand. The film moves away from Europe and goes to South Africa and follows Kelly exclusively. Kelly was not interesting enough of a character to put the primary focus on, and what made the first half work was the dynamic between the three stars of the film. Understandably, in line with filmmaking of the time, the financier would eventually remain the star, but no favors were done for Swanson once it became her movie.
An effort of this caliber and this scale, restoring a film that was produced almost 100 years ago, then using original production elements to round out a narrative that was butchered by financier interference is commendable (to put it lightly). The restoration work on the scenes that were shot looks incredible. How the second half of the film flows, while not as tight as the completely shot first half, is done brilliantly well. The drawbacks of this experience is less about the quality of the work behind it, but the unfortunate fate of this film’s production. Milestone’s effort is well done and makes for an interesting experience in a theater.
Queen Kelly is a masterpiece that was deprived of its ability to grow. The scale Erich von Stroheim had in mind for this film was grander than anything anyone could’ve pictured at the time and we are fortunate to have a taste of it. In another reality, Queen Kelly is referenced in the same breath as films such as Nosferatu, Metropolis, or The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Milestone’s restoration was brilliantly done, and the Frankenstein effort is worth the 100 minute runtime.
