Richard Thorpe wrote and directed this silent film in order to learn the visual language of subjective camera. He paints a portrait like an artist in this film, applying careful brush strokes to narrate the story. His silent films do not belong in his canon of films except to note that he did make some silent projects where he learned his trade. He did bring a sense of adventure to this offering which was his unique selling proposition. I'm not too sure how much of a good writer he was as he only co-wrote this film. My personal opinion is that he was a better director than writer in the long run as he has an eye for period pieces..