The Mechanical Man (1921)

This DVD was a bit of surprise from Alpha Video. They release many old, public domain films, but I had never heard of this one. For 6 dollars you get this and the 1922 Headless Horseman film. All I can say is "No Brainer" for fans of silent horror/SF.

It was to supposedly originally run a little over an hour, but only 26 minutes of this previously lost Italian film are here. A narrative overview is given at the beginning to let viewers understand the overall plot to make up for the missing. It's a big help as a lot of the gaps are scattered throughout, and this pulp story wouldn't make much sense otherwise. The Mechanical Man is a lot of fun, though and the film feels pretty complete, which is a minor miracle.

The plot involves an evil woman who steals a robot from a scientist. She programs it to destroy to serve her wishes. A young man tries to save his girlfriend with help from the scientist who invented the mechanical man. In the end he sends out a second mechanical man to dispose of the original. It has a Feuillade-like pace to it.

One interesting thing about Alpha is they seem to afford opportunities to up and coming composers. The score is very satisfying and brings some modern ideas to the antique film. Their work on last year's "Student of Prague" (1913) is equally good. In my opinion, Alpha does not have to do this at the low prices they ask for their films. No, their films are not re-mastered or restored, but they show that they care about fans by going the extra mile. The new English inter-titles are designed in an appropriate style. A fun surprise for silent film fans.