Made a few years after the death of prima ballerina Anna Pavlova, "The Immortal Swan" is a hagiographic documentary celebration of her life and art. She's literally treated as divine, worshiped as a deity. It's not my preferred way to appreciate art or celebrity, but at least there's a good amount of footage here of Pavlova dancing. There's also some home-video (or film rather) type footage, the reportedly only recording of her voice and acknowledgement of her globetrotting, which made her the world' ambassador of ballet and one of the most famous people in the world during her time.
Memories are short, though. Probably most people today wouldn't know Pavlova from a meringue dessert. And, that's not a commentary on today. This 1935 film fails to mention the 1916 epic directed by Lois Weber and starring Pavlova, "The Dumb Girl of Portici." I assume because like most silent films in the age of talkies, it'd been forgotten already. Ironically, this documentary today at best makes for a good DVD extra to Milestone's home-video release of the 1916 feature.
Memories are short, though. Probably most people today wouldn't know Pavlova from a meringue dessert. And, that's not a commentary on today. This 1935 film fails to mention the 1916 epic directed by Lois Weber and starring Pavlova, "The Dumb Girl of Portici." I assume because like most silent films in the age of talkies, it'd been forgotten already. Ironically, this documentary today at best makes for a good DVD extra to Milestone's home-video release of the 1916 feature.
