FILM FILM - University of Macau Library
FILM FILM - University of Macau Library
FILM FILM - University of Macau Library
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106 Transition and Transformation<br />
Fig. 18: Production still from The Tower <strong>of</strong> Lies; Norma Shearer in front.<br />
[It is] an excellent reason for going to see The Tower <strong>of</strong> Lies. Provided, <strong>of</strong> course, that<br />
you are sincerely interested in the progress <strong>of</strong> picture making and experimentation.<br />
For this picture is different. It is an attempt to tell a story largely through the powers<br />
<strong>of</strong> suggestion and calls upon the audience to use its imagination instead <strong>of</strong> anticipating<br />
the obvious. 26<br />
It may thus seem even more strange that the film apparently didn’t leave any<br />
real imprint in film history. Forslund quotes an essay from 1928 on The Tower<br />
<strong>of</strong> Lies, in a volume on American silents: “One <strong>of</strong> the finest <strong>of</strong> the past decade...<br />
seems doomed to fade silently into motion picture oblivion, unheralded and<br />
unsung.” 27 However, before the premiere Sjöström had been granted a trip to<br />
Sweden by Mayer, to “study European production methods, gathering ideas for<br />
pictures a s o [and so on]”. 28 This should also be considered in relation to having<br />
received an <strong>of</strong>fer from SF and the German company Universum Film AG<br />
(UFA) to take part in a new consortium formed to provide a counterbalance to<br />
Hollywood. 29 The <strong>of</strong>fer from Mayer in its turn is interesting as a contrast to the<br />
general view <strong>of</strong> American cinema as the norm; obviously, Hollywood still