THE UNTAMEABLE (1923)
Article 3693 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 9-9-2011
Posting Date: 9-24-2011
Directed by Herbert Blache
Featuring Gladys Walton, Malcolm McGregor, John St. Polis
Country: USA
What it is: Drama with horror overtones

When an architect is injured in an auto accident, he is taken to the house of a beautiful young heiress to recuperate. He falls in love with her, but one day she undergoes a strange personality transformation and throws him out of the house. He begins to suspect she has a dual personality, and begins to wonder if her doctor is actually helping her or if he has a more sinister purpose in mind.

With hypnotism and dual personalities on hand, this has a fair amount of fantastic content, though I wouldn’t call it a horror movie. It’s quite entertaining, with much of the credit going to Gladys Walton’s performance; the first time we meet her second personality, the shift is quite alarming, and Walton plays it to the hilt. I’ve don’t think I’ve seen the split personality theme handled in quite this way before, so the story has a bit of novelty value as well. And at only 65 minutes, it moves along at a brisk pace.