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Cult Review
Archivist John
Senior Editor
If you have about an hour and you don't mind a movie that looks like it was filmed through a layer of civil war dust, you might actually like this. It is definitely for people who enjoy old-school melodrama and don't mind a bit of historical fluff. 🎬
If you are looking for big explosions or a gritty war movie, you will probably hate it. This is more of a feelings movie than a fighting movie.
I wasn't expecting much when I hit play. Usually, these old silent films about historical figures feel like reading a very dry textbook in a dark room.
But The Heart of General Robert E. Lee is different because it spends so much time on this one girl and her boyfriend. It’s almost like a soap opera that accidentally happened during a war.
The girl, played by Marjorie Daw, has these massive eyes. They take up half her face and she uses them to look very, very sad whenever she is on screen.
She is from the South, but she loves a guy from the North. It is the classic "Romeo and Juliet" thing but with more blue and grey uniforms. 🏛️
There is a scene where she goes to see General Lee to beg for her sweetheart's life. The way she grabs his arm feels a bit much, but that was just how they acted back then, I guess.
J. Barney Sherry plays Lee, and he has this very magnificent beard. Honestly, the beard deserves its own credit in the opening titles.
He spends a lot of time looking out of windows and looking very thoughtful. You can tell he is thinking about the war, or maybe what he wants for dinner, it is hard to say with the silent acting style.
One thing that felt really weird was how fast the movie decides the war is over. It’s like Lee talks to this girl and goes, "Well, if these two kids can't be together, maybe I should just quit."
I know that is not how history actually worked, but for a movie, it’s kind of a sweet idea. It makes the whole big conflict feel very small and personal.
The sets are okay, but you can tell they were probably just some hills in California. At one point, I saw a bush that looked way too much like a tumbleweed for Virginia.
There are some soldiers in the background who look like they are just waiting for the director to yell cut so they can go get a sandwich. One guy is just leaning against a tree for like three minutes.
It reminded me a little bit of The Legion of Death in terms of how it tries to make a big war feel like a story about individuals. Though that one is way more intense than this.
The film doesn't have the same punch as something like Lest We Forget, which really goes for the throat with the emotional stuff. This one is more of a gentle nudge.
I noticed the makeup on George Berliner was a bit heavy. In the close-ups, his face looks like it’s covered in white flour, which makes him look a bit like a ghost.
The surrender to Grant happens toward the end, and it is very polite. They just kind of shake hands and look at a piece of paper for a long time.
I wish there was more tension in that scene. It felt a bit like two neighbors deciding who should pay for a broken fence.
Still, there is something really charming about the way it's edited. The transitions are these circular fades that make everything feel like a fading memory.
I wonder if the people who made this thought we would still be watching it a hundred years later. Probably not, since some of the titles are spelled a bit funny.
It’s not as funny as All Wrong, which is a totally different vibe, but there are moments where the over-acting made me chuckle a little. Especially when the boyfriend gets captured and he looks more annoyed than scared.
If you’re a fan of silent cinema, the lighting in the tent scenes is actually pretty good. They used these harsh shadows that make Lee look very tired and old, which fits the story.
The music on the version I watched was this repetitive piano track. After twenty minutes, I had to turn it down a little because it was the same three chords over and over.
Is it a masterpiece? No way. But it’s a nice movie, if that makes sense.
It tries to find a bit of heart in a really messy part of history. Even if it’s a bit cheesy, I think the world needs a few more movies where people just decide to be kind to each other.
I’m glad I watched it, even if I probably won't watch it again for a long time. It’s a good one to put on when you want to feel a bit melancholy but not totally depressed.
Anyway, keep an eye out for the scene with the letter. The handwriting is so fancy I couldn't read a single word of it, but the characters acted like it was the most important thing ever written. ✍️
IMDb —
1927
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