La Boheme (1926)

Set in the Bohemian district of 1830 Paris, a fragile young seamstress (Lillian Gish) and a struggling playwright (John Gilbert) fall in love. But poverty and jealousy has a negative effect on their relationship. Based on the Giacomo Puccini opera which in turn was based on SCENES DE LA VIE DE BOHEME by Henri Murger and directed by King Vidor (DUEL IN THE SUN). Has any actress in silent cinema suffered as much as Lillian Gish? Tossed out into a snow storm and floating on ice to a waterfall death in WAY DOWN EAST, hiding terrified in a closet from an abusive father in BROKEN BLOSSOMS, driven mad in the desert in THE WIND etc. Here, dying, she literally drags herself through the cobblestoned streets of Paris to see her love for the last time! Vidor's BOHEME is a lovely film that allows the legendary Gish to give one of her best performances as the doomed waif, Mimi. Gish has one of the longest death scenes in movies but it's hard to keep the tear ducts dry. The tinny piano score that accompanied the transfer I saw doesn't do the film justice. With Renee Adoree (THE BIG PARADE) and Edward Everett Horton.