Reviews of silent film releases on home video. Copyright © 1999-2024 by Carl Bennett and the Silent Era Company. All Rights Reserved.

Hypocrites (1915)

This short feature was written and directed by Lois Weber, and stars Courtenay Foote and Myrtle Stedman, with Herbert Standing, Adele Farrington and Nigel de Brulier.

Like a Cecil B. DeMille morality epic, the film begins with a historical prelude. A pious monk working on a sculpture in secrecy is ntent upon conveying God’s Truth to the masses. Upon its unveiling, the gathered crowds of ascetics and common townspeople are shocked to see a nude statue of a woman. The King and Queen promptly leave, the crowds boil, and the artist is killed for his sacrilege.

Modern day. A priest (Foote) is delivering his sermon on hypocracy to his congregation. Disapproval bubbles up among some in the flock, especially those who fancy flaunting their power. A pious young woman (Stedman) is inspired to make the religious struggle.

There follows an allegorical section with the faithful willing to make a difficult climb to redemption while the worldly are unwilling to make the effort, choosing to cling to their sins and stay on the easy path. The vision of the artist monk pleads with Truth (Margaret Edwards) inside the gates of Heaven to reveal herself to the earnest among the congregation but are too weak to sustain the moral effort.

Upon visiting Earth, Truth (with a hand mirror) reveals the hypocracy of corrupt politics, of exclusive society, of false love, of false modesty, of indulgence in sex (which has to be spelled out). Ultimately, Truth retreats to Heaven the issue unresolved.

The film may play as a little holier-than-thou and preachy but it represents an important benchmark in the development of Weber’s cinematic career.

— Carl Bennett

This Blu-ray Disc edition has been mastered from at high-resolution from a good to very-good archival 35mm print held by the Library of Congress. The source materials are damaged, with a sparce amount of dust, speckling, warping and frame jitters, but also with substantial emulsion scrapes, several moments of active nitrate decomposition, infrequent vertical scratches, moderate exposure fluctuations and some sprocket damage remaining. Some damage nearly obscures the entire picture. That said, compared to Kino’s original 2008 edition noted below, this presentation restores (our assumption) the prelude section to the beginning of the film.

The film is accompanied by a music score composed and performed on virtual theatre pipe organ by Ben Model.

Supplementary material for this film includes audio commentary by Paul Young; and a Lois Weber featurette with contributions by Shelley Stamp and Anthony Slide (9 minutes).

This is our recommended home video edition of the film although with a caveat notation about the print condition (which likely is the only remaining print of this valuable and worthwhile film). Owners of the previous Kino edition may want to consider upgrading their collection with this restored version of the film.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region A Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region A Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
United Kingdom: Click the logomark to purchase this Region A Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.co.uk. Support Silent Era.

The films are accompanied by music scores by Renee C. Baker, The Berklee Silent Film Orchestra, Makia Matsumura, Maud Nelissen, Dana Reason, Aleksandra Vrebalov and others.

This will likely be the best DVD home video editions of many of these films. A companion volume containing three feature films and a fragment of a fourth was also released under the title The Intrigue.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 1 DVD edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 1 DVD edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
United Kingdom: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 1 DVD edition from Amazon.co.uk. Support Silent Era.

This DVD edition, originally released by Kino as an educational video offering in 2000, has been prepared from a good to very-good 35mm preservation print held by the Library of Congress that is unstable with frame jitters and has sections of active nitrate decomposition. Damage includes emulsion scrapes, speckling, schmutz, infrequent vertical scratches, moderate exposure fluctuations, timing marks, and some sprocket damage. It should be disclosed that, compared to the 2018 releases noted above, there are sequences out-of-order or missing altogether from this print. The prelude is represented by a single shot of Truth walking through the gates of Heaven, which makes no sense out of context, then we are taken straight into the modern day sermon section of the film. The bulk of the prelude appears here at the end of the allegorical section then leads into the political section. The source material may originate from the 1916 rerelease of the film, which may have been reedited from the original.

The film is accompanied by a pleasing and appropriate music score performed on digital piano by Jon C. Mirsalis.

The film’s condition can make viewing this film though going, but we suspect that the film has been presented from the sole surviving print. Not recommended after the release of Kino’s 2018 editions.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
This Region 0 NTSC DVD edition is also available directly from . . .

Other silent era films directed by WOMEN DIRECTORS.