STARK LOVE
Starring Helen Mundy and Forrest James
PHOTOPLAY
May 1927
A mighty fine picture, in some ways as noteworthy as Robert Flaherty's "Nanook" and "Moana." Karl Brown, who had been Jimmie Cruze's cameraman, obtained Jesse Lasky's backing and took a studio staff into the Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina. There he rounded up a mountaineer cast and shot a graphic and absorbing tale of the hills.
"Stark Love," despite its garish boxoffice title, is a picture of genuine merit. It is astonishing how well the mountaineers act. Helen Mundy, a school girl hired in Knoxville, Tenn., is excellent as the heroine, while a hill boy, Forrest James, gives an amazingly good performance. An old timer, Silas Miracle, plays the boy's father in a way to outshine Wally Beery's best work. Don't miss this film.