DVD/Blu Ray Review: Priscilla Dean in DRIFTING and THE WHITE TIGER, directed by Tod Browning

Kino Lorber has released a great double feature of Universal dramas starring actress Priscilla Dean.

Priscilla Dean stopped appearing in movies in 1932 but amassed almost 100 credits by then. Starting out as an actress in comedies with the likes of Paddy McGuire, and the team of Eddie Lyons and Lee Moran, Dean achieved stardom after her successful 1917 feature “The Grey Ghost,” and she continued to grow in popularity throughout the 1920s. Her career didn’t survive the talkies however, but she lived past 90, dying in 1987 after suffering a fall in her home.

Kino Lorber’s latest release of two 1923 features starring Dean and directed by Tod Browning are a nice companion to the same company’s recent blu ray “Outside The Law,” reviewed here.

On the latest blu ray, Dean first stars in “Drifting,” a dark drama of opium smuggling by Americans in China. Dean’s character works with a former drug rival played by Wallace Beery. Beery cut his teeth on the old Sweedie comedies for Essanay, so by 1923 he was quite aware of the subtle nuance of motion picture acting, always aware of how to play to the camera. Director Tod Browning opens the film with an amazing tracking shot of the Chinese surroundings, and continues to use his keen visual sense to stage his scenes most effectively. The supporting cast is dotted with strong actors like Matt Moore, as a lawman going undercover to smash the dope ring, and becoming romantic involved with Dean’s character. Also J. Farrell MacDonald, Anna May Wong, and William V. Mong appear. Anna May Wong offers a particularly striking performance early in her career.

Kino Lorber’s release is a nice 4K restoration with the original tinting. It features music by Phillip Carli that nicely enhances the movie’s scenes, and an optional audio commentary by film historian Anthony Slide.

The additional film on this blu ray is “White Tiger” (1923), also directed by Tod Browning and again featuring Wallace Beery. This is a particularly significant film in that it is not only a crime drama, but it explores some areas of horror and suspense that would later define Browning’s career. A group of jewel thieves hides out together, and as their psychological makeup starts to evolve into mistrust and paranoia, the movie becomes a pioneering example of what we now define as film noir.

Along with the aforementioned Beery and Dean, “White Tiger” also features a fine performance by Raymond Griffith, who was adept at playing both comedy and drama. Griffith is best known for his more comical films, like the minor classic “Hands Up” (1926), but his work in “White Tiger” is exceptional.

“White Tiger” features an audio commentary by Bret Wood, and music by Andrew Earle Simpson.

The blu ray is rounded out with an amazingly well-restored reel of footage from the lost film “The Exquisite Thief” (1919), featuring Priscilla Dean and directed by Tod Browning. It is all the footage that currently exists. The restoration is by the Library of Congress.

Along with igniting our appreciation of Priscilla Dean as an actress of the silent era, this disc also expands our appreciation of director Tod Browning, best known for “Dracula” (1931) and “Freaks” (1932), along with his collaborations with Lon Chaney jr. His choice of shots and sharp eye for detail and nuance is impressive in both films here.

This Kino Lorber release is one of the best the company has to offer silent film buffs.

It can be ordered from this link: Priscilla Dean Films