Image: Exhibitors Herald, August 16, 1919
The Afterlife on the Screen
Life after death was a common subject in the late 19teens as people tried to cope with the massive death toll from World War I and the Spanish Flu. Most of the silent movies made in Montecito, CA have happy or happily-ever-after endings. Our Better Selves released on July 27, 1919, is one of the exceptions.
A husband and wife from the upper class in France, cast their frivolous pastimes aside and try to help the war effort when Germany invades France.
They are both killed, and the movie ends with their souls crossing the river Styx together. Montecito's Gillespie estate "El Fureidîs" represented heaven.
There are no known existing copies of this film.