This long lost film by Cecil B. DeMille, The Captive is an interesting time capsule and makes for an interesting, if not quick, viewing just to see a film from that era. The Blu-ray released through Olive actually is half impressive; although there are no features, the video doesn’t look bad and the music comes through nicely enough.
The Captive
(1915)
Genre(s): Drama, War
Olive Films | NR – 51 min. – $24.95 | September 13, 2016
Date Published: 09/07/2016 | Author: The Movieman
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PLOT SYNOPSIS
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| Set during the Balkan Wars, The Captive tells the story of Sonia (BLANCHE SWEET), a young woman living in Montenegro and left to care for her younger brother Milos (GERARD WARD) and the family farm when older brother Marko (PAGE PETERS) goes off to battle. Unable to handle the farm’s day-to-day tasks following her brother’s death, Sonia finds help in the form of Mahmud Hassan (HOUSE PETERS), a captured Turkish nobleman, now a prisoner of war. As Mahmud is tasked with helping Sonia, their initial frosty relationship soon melts into love. As the war rages on, Sonia,Mahmud and Milos will face near insurmountable obstacles in their quest for a better life. |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 0/5 |
| No features were included. |
VIDEO – 3.0/5 |
| Olive Films delivers us The Captive shown with a 1.33 Full Frame presentation and a 1080p high-definition transfer. Since this film is now going on 100 years old, I was rather impressed. No, it doesn’t look fantastic with some shots having a yellow tint to it, for the most part it looks fairly clean though there are plenty of little dust marks. |
AUDIO – 3.5/5 |
| The movie has been given a 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio track which showcases the score recorded by Lucy Duke. Obviously since this isn’t a “talky”, there’s not a whole lot to judge yet there’s some fine depth although the track does top out in spots, otherwise it’s a nice lossless track. |
OVERALL – 2.5/5 |
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Overall, this long lost film by Cecil B. DeMille, The Captive is an interesting time capsule and makes for an interesting, if not quick, viewing just to see a film from that era. The Blu-ray released through Olive actually is half impressive; although there are no features (I would’ve liked a commentary from a film historian), the video doesn’t look bad and the music comes through nicely enough. |
Check out some more screen caps by going to page 2. Please note, these do contain spoilers.
Hi there,
I should note that the “yellow tint” you see in this picture is not a flaw but a common practice during the silent era. Films were regularly tinted various shades in order to set the mood or to communicate nighttime, sunlight, etc. So this can hardly be counted as a flaw in the film’s quality.
Good to know. I should have really researched that. I think this is the first silent film I’ve seen (in full) and the only one I own.