The SALVATION HUNTERS

The Salvation Hunters was shot in three weeks for 4.900 dollars, a starkly poetic tale of poverty and depression which, after being hissed at its premiere, was hailed as a masterpiece by Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and Charlie Chaplin - after its lead actor, George K. Arthur, bribed Chaplin's projectionist to show the first reel «by mistake». Salvation Hunters announced the emergence of a major new talent, even if audiences of the day didn't quite know what to make of its grimy settings, glum tone, and overt symbolizing. «Our aim has been to photograph a thought», Josef von Sternberg announces in his first movie. What thought? At movie's end he spells it out: «It is not conditions, nor is it environment - our faith controls our lives!» Really? Is von Sternberg so naïve? Would even his own characters agree with him? The film follows «The Boy» and «The Girl» as they escape the deplorable living conditions of their riverfront home to the city, only to encounter «The Brute», who is hell-bent on having the girl to himself.»
Tag Gallagher