bsmith5552 "The Light of the Dark" is a bit of a mystery to me. The IMDb description has a story line that starts with a traffic accident and runs 33 minutes. The heroine is called Bessie MacGregor. The version that I watched runs 37 minutes and has no character named Bessie MacGregor, but rather has a heroine named Elaine and starts with an entirely different beginning. It is this version upon which I base my comments.A distraught wandering young waif (Hope Hampton) arrives at a seedy boarding house and seeks lodging. She is evidently fleeing a broken romance. The land lady takes her last dollar for rent. The young lady, whom we learn later, is named Elaine is admired by another boarder, small time crook Tony Pantelli (Lon Chaney). After several days of looking for a job Elaine collapses from hunger. Tony carries her back to her room and cares for her.Shift the scene to England where J. Warburton Ashe (E.K. Lincoln) is equally distraught over an apparent broken romance. As luck would have it, his dog discovers what is believed to be The Holy Grail in the ruins of an old cathedral. Turns out it IS The Holy Grail.Meanwhile back at the boarding house, Elaine has become delirious. One day Tony brings her a newspaper where she learns that Ashe has returned and has The Holy Grail in his possession. Tony is curious about the goblet and Elaine recounts to him the story of The Holy Grail.In a flashback sequence in the time of King Arthur, we are introduced to Sir Galahad and his young unnamed maiden, also played by Lincoln and Hampton. The young maiden has seen a vision of the Holy Grail and its healing powers and has Galahad set out on a quest to find it. Find it he does and the cup is used to heal the maladies of the people of the area.Fast forward to the "present" where Tony decides to acquire the cup in order to heal Elaine of her sickness. He goes to Ashe's mansion and takes the cup while assaulting Ashe in the process. He brings the cup to Elaine and convinces her to touch it and be cured. Later, Tony is arrested and brought to court and....................................Lon Chaney as always, is outstanding as Tony. He once again evokes the sympathy of the audience with his hopeless quest for the love for the heroine, a recurring theme in many of his films. Again his facial expressions showing pity, anger, compassion, fear and relief dominate the film.There is apparently a full length version of this film running about an hour but is not readily available. And there's the alternate 33 minute version described in IMDb. In the 37 minute version, there are some gaps in the presentation but it is more or less the full story as I see it.I sincerely hope that the full version becomes available so that Chaney's fans are treated to yet another masterpiece from "the man of a thousand faces".

MartinHafer I just saw the unrestored shortened version of "The Light in the Dark" so keep this in mind when reading my review. This shorter version clocks in at 32 minutes and is, despite being greatly condensed, a very good silent short.The film begins with a woman moving in at a boarding house. One of her neighbors (Lon Chaney) is clearly infatuated with her and the theme of his unrequited love is a very common theme in Chaney's films.Suddenly, the film abruptly switches venues--now it's in Britain. A rich guy finds a golden cup half-buried in the ground. It's a fancy cup that glows and he announces to the world that it might just be the famed 'Holy Grail'.Just after this, the lady becomes sick (heart-sick--a common movie malady) and things don't look good. But when he tells Chaney about the story of the Holy Grail (much of which I have never heard before and think they made up for the movie), he is determined to steal it and use it to cure her. Yes, in this film this legendary cup has the power to heal (thank goodness it didn't have the face-melting power like the Ark of the Covenant in "Raiders of the Lost Ark"!). The cup works its magic though the lovely lady is still sad--apparently she and the owner of the cup have some sort of romantic history together.When the owner discovers the pair and the cup, he contacts the police. In the next scene, Chaney is being prosecuted for assault and theft, but the owner is touched by Chaney's friendship with the lady and decides the best course is to lie his head off. As a result, Chaney is found not guilty and everyone lives happily ever after...except for Chaney, who is once more left to lament his lost love as she leaves with the old boyfriend.While the story is a bit antiquated, what impressed me about this one were the restrained acting and the nice cinematography. The film is very artistic looking and I liked seeing the glowy cup--a nice special effect for the time. It's worth seeing, but you might just want to look for the extended version instead--it probably is a better film but this is only conjecture based on my feeling that the original film length is almost always better than a truncated one (though there are definite exceptions).

jennyp-2 The Light of Faith, a three-reel condensed version of this film, is available on Kino video. The George Eastman House recently restored the original full 6-reel feature, which we were treated to at Cinefest in Syracuse, NY in March 2003. Lon Chaney plays a kind-hearted thief who falls for Bessie MacGregor (Hope Hampton, star and producer) who has been taken in by a wealthy society matron after being struck by the matron's automobile. He steals a goblet (the Holy Grail?) reputed to have healing powers in hopes of restoring Bessie's health. The film was praised for its art direction and cinematography at the time of its release.

David Atfield With a title like this you'd have to expect some lighting effects, but the sheer beauty of the lighting and cinematography in this film will amaze you. Sunlight in the heroine's hair, the glow of the holy grail and its reflection on faces, even the light of God - all are realized with great care. It certainly anticipates Clarence Brown's later work, especially with Garbo.The version of the film that I saw was a 30 minute edit re-titled "The Light of Faith" (and beautifully restored by KINO video). I don't know if a longer version exists, but I'd love to see it. As it is the film works beautifully. It is a simple tale of a rough petty criminal, played with great delicacy by the genius actor Lon Chaney, who is trying to help a young woman who has run away from her wealthy family. She tells him the story of the holy grail - and Brown recreates it for us with great beauty. Chaney then attempts to steal the newly discovered grail to restore the girl's health. It builds to a moving and visually stunning climax.Don't miss this exquisite film.