November 9, 2014, 6:00 p.m. — Ramona (1928)
Ramona
1928. USA. Directed by Edwin Carewe. Screenplay by Finis Fox. With Dolores del Rio, Warner Baxter, Roland Drew. Helen Hunt Jackson’s 1884 novel Ramona, about the mixed-race ward of a California sheep rancher and her tragic love affair with a full-blooded Indian, had long haunted the American imagination, inspiring a stage adaptation and at least two previous films (two more would follow) before this visually stunning 1928 interpretation directed by Edwin Carewe, a rare Hollywood filmmaker of Native American descent. The Mexican actress Dolores del Rio stars as the title character; her tortured lover is the somewhat less convincing Warner Baxter. The November 9 screening is introduced by Library of Congress preservationists George Willeman and Valerie Cervantes, who will also present clips from the previous two versions, directed by D. W. Griffith and Donald Crisp. Preserved by The Library of Congress. Silent. 100 min.
