Here’s a movie that begins with a loaded question. The kind that starts arguments:
“Guilty! says the world condemning the “other man”…
…But what of the husband?”
Indeed. Few victims earn easier pity than cheated-on spouses, unless they’re abusive. But Blind Husbands, an interesting film in many ways, suggests that emotional neglect can be abusive too. Can a husband, if he puts work before wife, rightfully lose her loyalty?
Margaret Armstrong, the tempted wife in the film, is paralyzed by her profound sadness, something director and star Erich von Stroheim exploits gorgeously. Francelia Billington plays the lovely, lonely doctor’s bride; Von Stroheim is Von Steuben, a predatory Austrian lieutenant at the same Alpine lodge; while Sam De Grasse is the workaholic husband, Dr. Robert Armstrong. Dr. Robert, a noble figure when it comes to his duties, is guilty of no crime here except inattention.
