"Erich von Stroheim's first appearance in a talkie had him playing opposite a puppet. As the Great Gabbo-famous ventriloquist, egomaniac, and spurned lover-Stroheim ushered in the long line of crabby ventriloquists who live and can only express affection through their wooden alter-egos. This is considered one of Stroheim's great performances, but Gabbo has other pleasures of a campier kind. Produced for a poverty-row independent, the film's technical crudities were abetted by lunatic dance numbers, notably 'Web of Love' with Don Douglas and Betty Compson as a spider and fly surrounded by a swarm of writhing chorus girls impersonating terrorized insects....Director James Cruze, like Stroheim, saw his career crash in the talkies. Writer Ben Hecht, on the other hand, was just warming up." (Russell Merritt) "Stroheim's performance signifies his inner turmoil of that time-a fascinating study in self-loathing and self-destructive behavior." (Patrick Loughney). Preserved from the original negative, this is the road show version and longer than other prints currently available.