Queen Kelly is one of the few films that deserves the word "legendary." Film students know it as the "lost" silent masterpiece of Erich Von Stroheim, the film that he was not allowed to complete and that ruined him as a director. Von Stroheim intended for Kelly to be a five hour exploration of the title character and her ill-fated romance with a prince, but only about a third of the film was actually shot, and so what is left is very incomplete, but fascinating. Clearly on view is Von Stroheim's visual flair; there are numerous shots of sublime beauty or stunning drama. Von Stroheim, with a reputation of being intense, also indulges in some lighter moments, as in the "meet cute" scene in which Kelly loses her bloomers when meeting the Prince. But that intensity, combined with perversity, also is in evidence, most notably in the breathtaking sequence in which the reigning Queen chases Kelly away while lashing her mercilessly with a whip. It's impossible to know what the final product might have been like, but what exists is tantalizing. It's also not without flaws, among them the fact that star Gloria Swanson is too old (and too worldly) to be acceptable as the teen-aged orphan she plays in the portion of the film that has survived. Still, Swanson demonstrates again that she was a unique and priceless talent of the silent era, and she is well supported by Seena Owen's lasciviously vicious Queen and Walter Byron's intriguing Prince. A lost masterpiece? One can't say, but it's a captivating fragment.