(Please note: Listings documenting the survival status of silent films, compiled by various film institutes, are by no means complete and are constantly in flux as more films are recovered. The survival status of Barbara’s films presently unaccounted for is therefore subject to change.)
SCREENWRITER
1920
The Mother of His Children (Fox Film Corporation) Distributed by: Fox Film Corporation. Length: 5 reels, 4,503 feet. General Release: April 1920. Director: Edward J. Le Saint. Writers: Barbara La Marr Deely (story) and Charles Wilson (scenario). Cinematography: Harry Harris. Cast: Gladys Brockwell, William Scott, Frank Leigh, Nigel De Brulier, Golda Madden, Nancy Caswell, and Jean Eaton. No surviving prints of this film are known to exist.
Synopsis: Amid the backdrop of the Parisian elite in France, Princess Yve (Gladys Brockwell), a foreign-born seductress, falls in love with Richard Arnold (William Scott), an American sculptor, unaware that he is a husband and father. Richard, to restrain his immoral feelings for the captivating princess, arranges for his wife (Golda Madden) and children (Nancy Caswell and Jean Eaton)—the inspiration behind his award-winning group sculpture, “The Mother of His Children”—to come to him in Paris. Further complicating matters, Richard is accused of murder after Count Tolstoff (Frank Leigh), Yve’s vengeful suitor, shatters his sculpture and is secretly killed by Yve’s servant (Nigel De Brulier). Richard’s wife, meanwhile, becomes ill and passes away while sailing from the United States to France. Yve’s servant soon confesses to murdering the count. Yve weds Richard, assuming the role of mother to his children.
The Rose of Nome (Fox Film Corporation) Distributed by: Fox Film Corporation. Length: 5 reels. General Release: August 1920. Director: Edward J. Le Saint. Writers: Barbara La Marr Deely (story) and Paul Schofield (scenario). Cinematography: Harry Harris. Cast: Gladys Brockwell, William Scott, Herbert Prior, Gertrude Ryan, Edward Peil, Stanton Heck, Frank Thorne, Lule Warrenton, and Georgie Woodthorpe. No surviving prints of this film are known to exist.
Synopsis: During the height of the gold rush in Northwestern Canada, Rose Donnay (Gladys Brockwell) deserts her drunken, brutal woodcutter husband (Edward Peil) with Jack Hilton (Herbert Prior). Unknown to Rose, Jack robs and murders her husband, then takes her to the mining town of Nome, Alaska, forcing her to work as a dancer in his dance hall and abusing her. After a woman Jack impregnated dies, Rose adopts the child he fathered. Anatole Norss (William Scott), a gentlemanly French-Canadian miner, defends Rose against one of Jack’s assaults and earns her affections. Their love is jeopardized when an officer of the law (Stanton Heck), suspecting Rose of killing her husband, stakes out the dance hall; Jack, detecting the officer’s presence, coerces Rose into bolting with him by taking her adopted child. Anatole pursues them, his sled dog attacks and kills Jack, and the officer determines that Jack killed Rose’s husband. Rose and Anatole marry.
The Little Grey Mouse (Fox Film Corporation) Distributed by: Fox Film Corporation. Length: 5 reels. General Release: October 31, 1920. Director: James P. Hogan. Writers: Barbara La Marr Deely (story) and James P. Hogan (scenario). Cinematography: William O’Connell. Cast: Louise Lovely, Sam De Grasse, Rosemary Theby, Philo McCullough, Wilson Hummel, Miss Gerard Alexander, Willis Marks, and Thomas Jefferson. No surviving prints of this film are known to exist.
Synopsis: The film opens with Beverly Arnold (Louise Lovely), nicknamed “little grey mouse” for her hushed, simple demeanor, working as a secretary in a law office. Two young attorneys, Stephen Gray (Philo McCullough) and John Cumberland (Sam De Grasse), vie for her love but only one of them wins it—at least at first. Beverly weds Stephen, ultimately realizing she has made a mistake. Stephen abuses Beverly emotionally and exploits her dutifulness; he pursues a writing career, achieves success with manuscripts she both typed and wrote for him, and discards her for one of his racy admirers, sculptress Hedda Kossiter (Rosemary Theby). Summoning her inner strength, Beverly goes forward with her life, attaining fame and fortune with her writing talent. Stephen, left with nothing and discarded by Hedda, returns to Beverly and pleads for a reconciliation, but Beverly declines, instead marrying his former law partner, John Cumberland.
Flame of Youth (Fox Film Corporation) Distributed by: Fox Film Corporation. Length: 5 reels. General Release: December 5, 1920. Director: Howard M. Mitchell. Writers: Ouida (aka Maria Louise Ramé) (story [Two Little Wooden Shoes, an 1874 novel]), Barbara La Marr Deely (adaptation) and Frank Howard Clark (scenario). Cinematography: Friend F. Baker and George Schneiderman. Cast: Shirley Mason, Raymond McKee, Philo McCullough, Cecil Van Auker, Adelbert Knott, Betty Schade, Karl Formes, and Barbara La Marr Deely (uncredited). No surviving prints of this film are known to exist.
Synopsis: Beebe (Shirley Mason), a virtuous seventeen-year-old Belgian peasant who sells flowers in her tiny village near Brussels, visits her foster father’s grave, kneels to pray, and captures the attention of a worldly Parisian painter, Victor Fleming (Philo McCullough). Taken with Beebe’s innocence, Victor induces her to fall in love with him, despite his French lover who soon pursues him to Belgium. After Victor abandons both girls and returns to France, Beebe, grief-stricken by his departure, learns he is ill. Lacking money for a train ticket, she walks to Paris in her wooden shoes. Finding Victor carousing in his studio with adoring women in a debauched toasting of his latest masterpiece—a portrait of herself praying at her father’s grave—Beebe is devastated. A kindly, adoring woodchopper (Raymond McKee) has followed Beebe to Paris; they return together to their Belgian village where, as an intertitle suggests, “some day, she may learn to love him.”
The Land of Jazz (Fox Film Corporation) Distributed by: Fox Film Corporation. Length: 5 reels. General Release: December 1920. Director: Jules Furthman. Writers: Jules Furthman (story and scenario) and Barbara La Marr Deely (story). Cinematography: Walter Williams. Cast: Eileen Percy, Ruth Stonehouse, Herbert Heyes, George Fisher, Franklyn Farnum, Hayward Mack, Rose Dione, Carry Ward, Blanche Payson, Wilson Hummel, Harry Dunkinson, and Dick La Reno. No surviving prints of this film are known to exist.
Synopsis: Nina (Eileen Percy), engaged to a French captain (George Fisher), and Nancy (Ruth Stonehouse) are best friends. Nancy is engaged to Dr. Carruthers (Herbert Heyes), head of an island asylum for the harmlessly insane, but cannot resist the captain—a man purported to plant kisses “with a heavenly kick.” Nancy decides to sample one of the captain’s kisses, is caught and rejected by the doctor, and, heartbroken over her foolishness, begs Nina to go to the island and intervene. Nina, to remain on the island and make amends for Nancy, pretends to be off her rocker, prompting the doctor to admit her to the asylum. At the asylum, swept up in the patients’ zany antics as they chase each other throughout the grounds and cut loose to jazz music piping from the asylum’s victrola, Nina lands in the doctor’s bed. Nancy arrives at the asylum, erroneously believes the doctor to be romantically involved with Nina, and leaves him. Nina and the doctor realize their love for one another and decide to marry.
1924
My Husband’s Wives (Fox Film Corporation) Distributed by: Fox Film Corporation. Length: 5 reels, 4,609 feet. General Release: November 16, 1924. Presented by: William Fox. Director: Maurice Elvey. Writers: Barbara La Marr (story) and Dorothy Yost (scenario). Cinematography: Joseph Valentine. Cast: Shirley Mason, Bryant Washburn, Evelyn Brent, and Paulette Duval. No surviving prints of this film are known to exist.
Synopsis: Vale Harvey (Shirley Mason), a young newlywed prone to jealousy, silences her groom, William Harvey (Bryant Washburn), when he tries to tell her of his ex-wife before their marriage, forbidding him to ever speak of her. Vale invites her old school pal, Marie Wynn (Evelyn Brent), for a visit after the honeymoon, unaware that Marie is her husband’s former wife. A slew of trouble erupts when Marie attempts to recapture her ex-husband’s love. Vale, blinded by her escalating anxieties, nearly ruins her own marriage when she vainly imagines a romance between William and yet another woman, an Italian actress, Madame Corregio (Paulette Duval). Disaster is finally averted when William discovers Marie’s intentions, orders Marie from the house, and convinces Vale of his faithfulness.
ACTRESS
1920
Harriet and the Piper (Louis B. Mayer Productions and Anita Stewart Productions) Distributed by: Associated First National Pictures. Length: 6 reels, 5,954 feet. General Release: September 13, 1920. Director: Bertram Bracken. Writers: Kathleen Norris (story) and Monte M. Katterjohn (scenario). Cinematography: Rene Guissart. Cast: Anita Stewart, Ward Crane, Charles Richman, Myrtle Stedman, Margaret Landis, Byron Munson, Loyola O’Connor, Irving Cummings, and Barbara La Marr Deely. A print of this film is on file at the Archives Franҫaises Du Film-CNC (Bois-d’Arcy, France).
Synopsis: Free-spirited Harriet Field (Anita Stewart) has fallen for scoundrelly Royal Blondin (Ward Crane) and the pair solidify their whirlwind attraction in a counterfeit wedding ceremony in a Greenwich Village cafe. Recognizing Royal’s licentious character and regretting her indiscretions, Harriet runs away from him and mends her ways—taking a job as a live-in secretary to wealthy Isabelle Carter (Myrtle Steadman) and companion to Isabelle’s daughter, Nina (Margaret Landis)—but is nonetheless obliged to answer to the piper for her disreputable past. Royal resurfaces at a ball in the Carters’ home, threatening to scandalize Harriet by revealing their past relationship unless she allows him to romance Nina. To prevent a marriage between Nina and Royal, Harriet, by now married to Nina’s widowed father, Richard (Charles Richman), confesses her past, impresses Richard with her allegiance, and is forgiven. (Barbara La Marr [Deely], billed as the Tam O’ Shanter girl, portrays Royal’s tempestuous former flame, who causes his austere, rich aunt to disinherit him after he takes up with Harriet.)
Flame of Youth (See the Flame of Youth entry in the “Screenwriter” section above. Barbara has an uncredited role in the film.)
1921
The Nut (Douglas Fairbanks Pictures) Distributed by: United Artists (1921). Length: 6 reels. General Release: March 6, 1921. Director: Theodore Reed. Writers: Kenneth Davenport (story) and William Parker (scenario). Cinematography: William McGann, Harry Thorpe and Charles Warrington. Art director: Edward Langley. Make-up Artist: George Westmore. Cast: Douglas Fairbanks, Marguerite De La Motte, William Lowery, Gerald Pring, Morris Hughes, and Barbara La Marr. This film may be viewed for free online here. It is also distributed by Kino Lorber (USA).
Synopsis: Charlie Jackson (Douglas Fairbanks), an idiosyncratic Greenwich Village inventor with a knack for botching everything he puts his hands on, goes to outlandish lengths to impress Estrell Wynn (Marguerite De La Motte) and promote her work with underprivileged children. Imperiling Charlie’s attempts to woo Estrell is Philip Feeney (William Lowery), a hardened gangster and operator of a high-end gambling establishment. Philip’s volatile moll, Claudine Dupree (Barbara La Marr), notwithstanding, Philip is determined to possess Estrell himself. He conceals his identity and, promising Estrell supporters for her charity, traps her in his gambling house. Charlie comes to the rescue; posing as a policeman, he defeats Philip’s gang of hooligans, worms his way up through the house’s furnace pipes, and saves his sweetheart. Charlie and Estrell are soon pronounced man and wife.
Desperate Trails (Universal Film Manufacturing Company) Distributed by: Universal Film Manufacturing Company. Length: 5 reels, 4,577 feet. General Release: June 1921. Presented by: Carl Laemmle. Director: Jack Ford. Writers: Courtney Ryley Cooper (story [“Christmas Eve at Pilot Butte” in Redbook, 1921]) and Elliott J. Clawson (scenario). Cinematography: Harry Fowler and Robert De Grasse. Cast: Harry Carey, Irene Rich, Georgie Stone, Helen Field, Edward Coxen, Barbara La Marr, George Siegmann, and Charles E. Insley. No surviving prints of this film are known to exist.
Synopsis: Rugged, virile cowhand Bart Carson (Harry Carey) has just one weakness—Lady Lou (Barbara La Marr), the town’s beauty. Lou persuades Bart to take the blame for a train robbery committed by her secret lover, Walter Walker (Edward Coxen); she tells him Walter is her brother, thereby eliciting his sympathies. A few months into the sixteen-year jail sentence his false confession brought him, Bart receives word of Lou’s infidelity and Walter’s true identity: he is the no-good husband of Mrs. Walker (Irene Rich), an honorable woman whom Bart respects. Bart breaks out of prison in time to confront Lou and Walter as they attempt a getaway onboard a train. In the ensuing scuffle, Walter leaps from the train to his death and Lou, unknowingly within earshot of a traveling sheriff, admits her deceitfulness to Bart. Before the sheriff reveals himself, Bart runs off, hiding in the cabin of Mrs. Walker and her son and daughter on Christmas Eve. He volunteers to give the struggling family a Christmas gift by allowing the young boy to turn him over to police and claim the reward on his head, but the family receives something greater; Bart is exonerated and weds Mrs. Walker.
The Three Musketeers (Douglas Fairbanks Pictures) Distributed by: United Artists (1921). Length: 12 reels, 11,700 feet. New York Premiere: August 28, 1921. Director: Fred Niblo. Writers: Alexandre Dumas (story [Les Trois Mousquetaires, an 1844 novel]), Lotta Woods (scenario editor), and Edward Knoblock (scenario). Cinematography: Arthur Edeson. Film Editor: Nellie Mason. Assistant Director: Doran Cox. Art director: Edward Langley. Musical Score: Louis F. Gottschalk. Costume Design: Paul Burns. Make-up Artist: George Westmore. Cast: Douglas Fairbanks, Leon Barry, George Siegmann, Eugene Pallette, Boyd Irwin, Thomas Holding, Sydney Franklin, Charles Stevens, Nigel De Brulier, Willis Robards, Lon Poff, Mary MacLaren, Marguerite De La Motte, Barbara La Marr, Walt Whitman, Adolphe Menjou, and Charles Belcher. This film is distributed on DVD by Kino Lorber (USA) and may also be viewed for free online here.
Synopsis: A malicious plot contrived by the treacherous Cardinal Richelieu (Nigel De Brulier) is afoot in the court of King Louis XIII (Adolphe Menjou). The queen, Anne of Austria (Mary MacLaren), has ended her secret romance with the Duke of Buckingham (Thomas Holding), leaving him with a token of their love: a diamond brooch given to her by the king. The cardinal witnesses their encounter and, conspiring to besmirch the queen, suggests to the king that she wear the brooch to the court ball. The frantic queen’s only hope for salvation lies with three of the king’s musketeers—Athos (Leon Barry), Porthos (George Siegmann), and Aramis (Eugene Pallette)—and D’Artagnan (Douglas Fairbanks), a lowly young man from Gascony who has ventured to Paris to join the ranks of the king’s musketeers. When the three musketeers are captured by the cardinal’s men, D’Artagnan single-handedly retrieves the brooch—after a valiant struggle with the cardinal’s dagger-wielding spy, Milady de Winter (Barbara La Marr)—and preserves the queen’s dignity, gaining admittance into the king’s cadre of musketeers.
Cinderella of the Hills (Fox Film Corporation) Distributed by: Fox Film Corporation. Length: 5 reels, 4,800 feet (later cut to 3,865 feet). General Release: October 23, 1921. Director: Howard M. Mitchell. Writers: John Breckenridge Ellis (story [Little Fiddler of the Ozarks, a 1913 novel]) and Dorothy Yost (scenario). Cinematography: George Webber. Cast: Barbara Bedford, Carl Miller, Cecil Van Auker, Tom McGuire, Wilson Hummel, and Barbara La Marr Deely. No surviving prints of this film are known to exist.
Synopsis: Norris Gradley (Barbara Bedford) lives happily with her father, Giles (Tom McGuire), and mother until Kate (Barbara La Marr Deely) breaks up Giles’s marriage and entices him to marry her. Norris, hoping to reunite her parents, follows her father and his heartless young bride west to their new ranch and moves in with them, enduring Kate’s taunts and maltreatment. While living at the ranch, Norris—when not earning money disguised as a boy and playing her violin at barn dances—meets Claude Wolcott (Carl Miller), one of her father’s hired hands, who falls in love with her. Norris eventually gains relief from Kate when Giles catches Kate in the arms of her former lover, Rodney Bates (Cecil Van Auker), another hired hand, and threatens to divorce her. Driven by fury, Kate runs from the house and falls over a cliff. Norris reconciles her parents and weds Claude.
1922
Arabian Love (Fox Film Corporation) Distributed by: Fox Film Corporation. Length: 5 reels, 4,440 feet. General Release: April 9, 1922. Presented by: William Fox. Director: Jerome Storm. Writer: Jules Furthman (scenario and story). Cinematography: Joe August. Cast: John Gilbert, Barbara Bedford, Barbara La Marr, Herschel Mayall, Robert Kortman, and William H. Orlamond. No surviving prints of this film are known to exist.
Synopsis: The story begins with Nadine Fortier (Barbara Bedford), newly wedded wife of a French officer, traveling to her husband’s desert encampment and being kidnapped by a group of Arabs. Norman Stone (John Gilbert), an American who joined the Arabs to hide out after killing a man, helps her escape and, following her return to her husband’s post, she finds that her husband has been killed. Norman and Nadine fall in love, both unaware that Nadine’s husband is the man Norman killed. Themar (Barbara La Marr), the sheik’s daughter, jealously attempts to come between them by revealing Norman’s identity to Nadine. By the film’s finish, Nadine realizes that her husband had been unfaithful to her and had romanced Norman’s sister. The man died after his gun inadvertently misfired during a resultant confrontation initiated by Norman. Nadine forgives Norman and the two lovers depart for the United States.
Domestic Relations (Preferred Pictures) Distributed by: Associated First National Pictures. Length: 6 reels, 5,192 feet. General Release: June 1922. Presented by: B. P. Schulberg. Director: Chester (Chet) Withey. Writer: Violet Clark (scenario and story). Cinematography: Joseph Brotherton. Cast: Katherine MacDonald, William P. Carleton, Frank Leigh, Barbara La Marr, Gordon Mullen, George Fisher, and Lloyd Whitlock. No surviving prints of this film are known to exist.
Synopsis: In a separate but parallel storyline, Mrs. Martin (Barbara La Marr), wife of a poor laborer (Frank Leigh), and Mrs. Benton (Katherine MacDonald), wife of a wealthy judge (William P. Carleton), are both wrongfully accused by their husbands of infidelity. Mr. Martin gives Mrs. Martin a beating. Judge Benton gives Mr. Martin a prison term, but throws Mrs. Benton out of their home and demands a divorce. Mrs. Martin and Mrs. Benton form a friendship after Mrs. Benton winds up in Mrs. Martin’s rundown neighborhood. Following Mr. Martin’s release from prison, Mrs. Martin apprises Mrs. Benton of her husband’s plan for revenge against Judge Benton. Mrs. Benton saves her husband and likens his actions toward her to Mr. Martin’s treatment of Mrs. Martin. The men realize their transgressions against their wives and happy endings ensue for both couples.
The Prisoner of Zenda (Metro Pictures Corporation) Distributed by: Metro Pictures Corporation (1922); Jury-Metro-Goldwyn Ltd. (1922). Length: 10 reels, 10,467 feet. New York Premiere: July 31, 1922. General Release: September 11, 1922. Jury and Goldwyn Ltd. Director: Rex Ingram. Writers: Anthony Hope (story [The Prisoner of Zenda, an 1894 novel]), Edward Rose (story [The Prisoner of Zenda: A Romantic Play and a Prologue in Four Acts, 1896]), and Mary O’Hara (scenario). Cinematography: John F. Seitz. Film Editor: Grant Whytock. Art director: Amos Myers. Cast: Lewis Stone, Alice Terry, Robert Edeson, Stuart Holmes, Ramon Novarro (billed as Ramon Samaniegos [sic]), Barbara La Marr, Malcolm McGregor, Edward Connelly, and Lois Lee. The film may be viewed for free online here. This film is distributed on DVD by Grapevine Video (USA), Warner Home Video (USA), and Lobster Films (France). Surviving prints may be viewed onsite by appointment at the Academy Film Archive (Pickford Center for Motion Picture Study) in Beverly Hills, California and at the University of California, Los Angeles, Film & Television Archive. Surviving prints are also on file at Gosfilmofond (Moscow, Russia) and George Eastman House (Rochester, New York).
Synopsis: Rudolf Rassendyll (Lewis Stone) travels from England to Ruritania for his lookalike cousin’s coronation. Covetous of the throne, Black Michael (Stuart Holmes), half-brother of the king (also played by Stone), drugs the king before the coronation and later kidnaps him, imprisoning him in the castle of Zenda. The king’s cohorts, capitalizing upon Rudolf’s strong resemblance to the king, recruit him to impersonate the king at his coronation and until he is rescued. While acting as king, Rudolf and the king’s fiancée, Princess Flavia (Alice Terry), fall in love. All the while, Michael’s officer, Rupert of Hentzau (Ramon Novarro), vainly attempts to seduce Black Michael’s lover, Antoinette De Mauban (Barbara La Marr). Rupert tells Antoinette of Michael’s agenda to marry Princess Flavia once he seizes the throne, ultimately causing Antoinette to betray Michael and facilitate the king’s rescue. Rudolf and Princess Flavia are obliged to surrender one other.
Trifling Women (Metro Pictures Corporation) Distributed by: Metro Pictures Corporation. Length: 9 reels, 8,800 feet. New York Premiere: October 1, 1922. General Release: November 6, 1922. Director: Rex Ingram. Writer: Rex Ingram (his original work was titled Black Orchids). Cinematography: John. F. Seitz. Film Editor: Grant Whytock. Assistant Director: C. Rehfeld. Production Manager: Starret Ford. Art director: Leo E. Kuter. Cast: Barbara La Marr, Ramon Novarro, Pomeroy Cannon, Edward Connelly, Lewis Stone, Hughie Mack, Eugene (Gene) Pouyet, John George, Jess Weldon, B. Hyman, and Joe Martin (an orangutan). No surviving prints of this film are known to exist. (A brief clip from the film, however, appears in an unidentified reel titled “Hollywood Snapshots” (1922). The reel, thirteen minutes and thirty seconds long, follows a country visitor as he wanders Hollywood seeking scandal and instead encounters amiable celebrities working and playing. The reel may be viewed here [the Trifling Women clip, featuring Ramon Novarro and Lewis Stone, appears at the 10:38 mark]. The reel is also on file at the New Zealand Film Archive [Ngā Taonga, NZ].)
Synopsis: French novelist Léon de Séverac (Pomeroy Cannon), worried that his flirtatious daughter, fifteen-year-old Jacqueline de Séverac (Barbara La Marr), is hurting her loyal sweetheart, Henri (Ramon Novarro), reads to her from his manuscript, Black Orchids, the macabre tale of Zareda (likewise played by Barbara La Marr), who also trifled with men’s hearts. A famed fortune-teller and the most desired woman in Paris, Zareda cruelly manipulates her suitors for her own selfish ends. Her first conquest is the Baron de Maupin (Edward Connelly), a wealthy, middle-aged womanizer. Rivaling the amorous baron is his son, champion swordsman Ivan de Maupin (also played by Ramon Novarro), Zareda’s lover. To end Ivan’s affair with Zareda, the baron sends him off to fight in The Great War but faces another rival when Zareda shifts her attention to a wealthier prospect, the widowed Marquis Ferroni (Lewis Stone). At a dinner given in her honor, Zareda, learning that the baron has poisoned the marquis’s wine goblet, instructs her pet orangutan (portrayed by Joe Martin) to switch the marquis’s goblet with that of the baron. The dinner concludes with the baron slumped alone at the table and Zareda’s orangutan raising a goblet in a sardonic toast to the dead man. To rid herself of the marquis after Ivan returns from war, Zareda claims Ivan insulted her, thereby inciting a duel that mortally wounds the marquis. Believing the marquis already dead, Zareda goes to an isolated tower on his estate to collect her inheritance. There, confronted by the ashen marquis—whom she thinks is a ghost—and horror-stricken, she is locked in the tower’s snake-infested dungeon. When Ivan arrives to rendezvous with her, the marquis kills him, throws his body down to her, bolts the dungeon door, attaches a wreath of black orchids, and dies. The film ends with Léon de Séverac’s Black Orchids story fulfilling its purpose: Jacqueline gives up flirting. Her wedding to Henri follows, complete with a flower girl bearing a bouquet of white orchids.
Quincy Adams Sawyer (Sawyer-Lubin Productions) Distributed by: Metro Pictures. Length: 8 reels, 7,895 feet. General Release: December 4, 1922. Director: Clarence Badger. Writers: Charles Felton Pidgin (story [Quincy Adams Sawyer, a 1900 novel]), Bernard McConville (adaptation and scenario), and Winifred Dunn (titles). Cinematography: Rudolph Bergquist. Art titles: Jack W. Robson. Cast: John Bowers, Blanche Sweet, Lon Chaney, Barbara La Marr, Elmo Lincoln, Louise Fazenda, Joseph Dowling, Claire McDowell, Edward Connelly, June Elvidge, Victor Potel, Gale Henry, Hank Mann, Kate Lester, Billy Franey, Taylor Graves, Harry Depp, Andrew Arbuckle, and Ray Thompson (stunt double for John Bowers). No surviving prints of this film are known to exist.
Synopsis: Quincy Adams Sawyer (John Bowers), a Boston lawyer sent to safeguard the inheritance of elderly widow Mrs. Putnam (Claire McDowell) from her wily lawyer, Obadiah Strout (Lon Chaney), encounters the widow’s adopted daughter, Lindy (Barbara La Marr). A mutual infatuation develops between Quincy and Lindy until Quincy falls in love with Alice Pettengil (Blanche Sweet), the town deacon’s blind niece. Obadiah, plotting Quincy’s demise, recruits Lindy—whom he has duped into believing she is ridding herself of Alice—and a drunken blacksmith. Lindy tricks Alice aboard a ferryboat and the blacksmith cuts the cables before Obadiah executes his scheme to get Quincy aboard. Lindy and the ferryman leap to safety and, as the boat ferries Alice toward plunging falls, Lindy, overwhelmed with regret, warns Quincy in time for him to execute a thrilling rescue. With her sight miraculously restored by the tumult, Alice accepts Quincy’s marriage proposal.
1923
The Hero (Preferred Pictures) Distributed by: Al Lichtman Corporation. Length: 7 reels, 6,800 feet. General Release: January 1, 1923. Presented by: B. P. Schulberg. Director: Louis J. Gasnier. Writers: Gilbert Emery (story [The Hero: a Play in Three Acts, 1921]) and Eve Unsell (scenario). (In a 1924 interview with Pictures and the Picturegoer [a British publication], Barbara credited herself with having written the scenario [the film was released in Great Britain as His Brother’s Wife]. Curiously, period trade magazines make no mention of this; a couple of them, however, credit Unsell with the adaptation rather than the scenario, and Barbara was known to have had an uncredited hand in other scenarios in which she appeared.) Cinematography: Karl Struss. Cast: Gaston Glass, Barbara La Marr, John Sainpolis, Martha Mattox, Frankie Lee, David Butler, Doris Pawn, Ethel Shannon, and Cameo (a dog). No surviving prints of this film are known to exist.
Synopsis: Oswald Lane (Gaston Glass) returns from the war to a hero’s welcome in his hometown and moves in with his brother, Andrew (John Sainpolis), Andrew’s wife, Hester (Barbara La Marr), and Andrew and Hester’s son (Frankie Lee). Exploiting his brother’s generosity, Oswald makes no effort to earn a living and begins seducing Hester and the household maid, Martha (Doris Pawn). He eventually steals money entrusted to Andrew by the neighborhood church and heads out of town. Passing the schoolhouse and seeing it ablaze, he nearly dies rescuing his nephew and another child. The film concludes with Oswald returning the money, Hester—with renewed appreciation for her husband—renouncing her attraction to Oswald, and Oswald and Martha marrying.
Poor Men’s Wives (Preferred Pictures) Distributed by: Al Lichtman Corporation. Length: 7 reels, 6,900 feet. General Release: February 15, 1923. Presented by: B. P. Schulberg. Director: Louis J. Gasnier. Writers: Agnes Christine Johnston (story and scenario), Frank Dazey (story and scenario), and Eve Unsell (titles). Cinematography: Karl Struss. Cast: Barbara La Marr, David Butler, Betty Francisco, Richard Tucker, ZaSu Pitts, Muriel McCormac, and Mickey McBan. No surviving prints of this film are known to exist. Four of the film’s seven reels, however, are on file at Gosfilmofond (Moscow, Russia).
Synopsis: Friends Laura (Barbara La Marr) and Claribel (Betty Francisco) marry vastly different men. Claribel weds an unfaithful millionaire for his money. Laura marries Jim Maberne (David Butler), a loving, albeit poor, cabdriver Claribel spurned. In the ghetto with Jim, Laura soon gives birth to twins (Muriel McCormac and Mickey McBan). Envious of Claribel’s luxuries and pampered lifestyle, Laura, swayed by Claribel into attending a lavish ball, borrows an expensive gown from a dressmaker. At the ball, Claribel’s husband, Richard Smith-Blanton (Richard Tucker), makes advances toward Laura and she flees from him, though not before he takes possession of and drinks from her slipper. When Jim taxis Richard home later that evening, Richard flings the slipper at him as a tip. Laura awakens the next morning to discover that her children have destroyed the dressmaker’s gown; in a panic when the dressmaker orders her arrest, she depletes the family’s savings—money Jim set aside to purchase his own cab—to pay for it. Jim, finding the money gone and suspecting Laura of having an affair with Richard, throws her out of their home. Jim ultimately learns of his wife’s fidelity from Claribel and forgives Laura for taking the money. Laura and Jim reconcile.
Souls for Sale (Goldwyn Pictures) Distributed by: Goldwyn Pictures Corporation (1923). Length: 8 reels, 7,864 feet. New York Premiere: March 27, 1923. General Release: April 12, 1923. Produced, directed and written by: Rupert Hughes. Cinematography: John Mescall and Rush Hughes (second cameraman). Set Design: Cedric Gibbons. Cast: Eleanor Boardman, Richard Dix, Frank Mayo, Barbara La Marr, Lew Cody, Mae Busch, Arthur Hoyt, David Imboden, Roy Atwell, William Orlamond, Forrest Robinson, Edith Yorke, Dale Fuller, Snitz Edwards, Jack Richardson, Aileen Pringle, Eve Southern, May Milloy, Sylvia Ashton, Margaret Bourne, Fred Kelsey, Jed Prouty, Yale Boss, William Haines, George Morgan, Auld Thomas, Leo Willis, Walter Perry, Sam Damen, R. H. Johnson, Rush Hughes, L. J. O’Connor, and Charles Murphy. Celebrity Appearances: Hugo Ballin, Mabel Ballin, T. Roy Barnes, Barbara Bedford, Hobart Bosworth, Charles Chaplin, Chester Conklin, William H. Crane, Elliott Dexter, Robert Edeson, Claude Gillingwater, Dagmar Godowsky, Raymond Griffith, Elaine Hammerstein, Jean Haskell, K. C. B., Alice Lake, Bessie Love, June Mathis, Patsy Ruth Miller, Marshall Neilan, Fred Niblo, Anna Q. Nilsson, ZaSu Pitts, John Sainpolis, Milton Sills, Anita Stewart, Erich von Stroheim, Blanche Sweet, Florence Vidor, King Vidor, Johnny Walker, George Walsh, Kathlyn Williams, and Claire Windsor. This film may be viewed for free online here. The film is distributed on DVD by the Warner Archive. A surviving print is also on file at the Museum of Modern Art (New York City) and may be viewed on-site by appointment.
Synopsis: Remember “Mem” Steddon (Eleanor Boardman), is a newlywed on the run from her no-good husband, Owen Scudder (Lew Cody)—a man who marries, insures, and murders women. While traveling with Owen through Southern California, Mem senses his true nature and jumps from the train. She staggers through the barren desert, is saved by a film company making a sheik picture, and joins the company’s production as an extra. She soon goes to Hollywood, determined to become an actress. She receives a break from Frank Claymore (Richard Dix), director of the company that rescued her, and wins the adoration of filmgoers. Frank and the company’s leading man, Tom Holby (Frank Mayo), both woo her but Mem, bitterly aware that she is already married, evades their affections to avoid scandal. Owen recognizes Mem on the big screen and tracks her down in Hollywood. In the film’s climactic conclusion, lightning sets the company’s circus tent ablaze and chaos erupts; Owen, attempting to shove Frank into the oscillating blades of a wind machine, kills himself when he jumps in front of it to protect Mem. Released from her marriage to Owen, Mem takes up with Frank. (Barbara La Marr appears in the role of the company’s vamp, Leva Lemaire. Although hailed as the screen’s leading homewrecker, Leva, a kindhearted girl, remains true to the love of her life, a stuntman killed in a plane crash. When Leva is struck by the lightning bolt that sets fire to her company’s tent, she dies knowing she’ll reunite with her deceased beau.)
Mary of the Movies (Columbia Productions with Robertson-Cole Pictures Corporation) Distributed by: Film Booking Offices of America. Length: 7 reels, 6,500 feet. General Release: May 27, 1923. Supervised by: Louis Lewyn and Jack Cohn. Director: John McDermott. Writers: Louis Lewyn (story conception and scenario) and Joseph W. Farnham (titles). Cinematography: George Meehan and Vernon Walker. Cast: Marion Mack, Florence Lee, Mary Kane, Harry Cornelli, John Geough, Raymond Cannon, Rosemary Cooper, Creighton Hale, Francis McDonald, Henry Burrows, John McDermott, Jack Perrin, and Ray Harford. Celebrity Appearances: David Butler, Marjorie Daw, Elliott Dexter, Louise Fazenda, Alec Francis, Wanda Hawley, Rex Ingram, J. Warren Kerrigan, Barbara La Marr, Edward J. Le Saint, Bessie Love, Douglas MacLean, Tom Moore, Carmel Myers, Eva Novak, ZaSu Pitts, Herbert Rawlinson, Anita Stewart, Estelle Taylor, Rosemary Theby, Maurice Tourneur, Richard Travers, Johnnie Walker, and Bryant Washburn. A partial print of this film is on file at the University of California, Los Angeles, Film & Television Archive. It is anticipated that the print will one day be available for onsite viewing.
Synopsis: To help support her struggling family, Mary (Marion Mack) ventures from her hometown to Hollywood, dreaming of becoming a film star. After unsuccessfully making the rounds of the casting agents’ offices, she takes a waitressing job in a studio cafeteria. Later, owing to her resemblance to a star who has become ill, she gets her big break, lands a starring role in a picture, and saves her parents from poverty as they put the family home up for auction. (Barbara La Marr, several other stars, and various directors, make cameo appearances [many of them portraying cafeteria guests and signing autographs for Mary].)
The Brass Bottle (Maurice Tourneur Productions) Distributed by: Associated First National Pictures. Length: 6 reels, 5,290 feet. General Release: July 3, 1923. Presented by: M. C. Levee. Director: Maurice Tourneur. Writers: F. Anstey (story [The Brass Bottle, a 1900 novel]) and Fred Myton (scenario). Cinematography: Arthur Todd. Art director: Milton Menasco. Film Editor: Frank Lawrence. Production Manager: Scott R. Beal. Cast: Harry Myers, Ernest Torrence, Tully Marshall, Clarissa Selwyn, Ford Sterling, Aggie Herring, Charlotte Merriam, Edward Jobson, Sam De Grasse, Barbara La Marr, Otis Harlan, Hazel Keener, and Julanne Johnston. No surviving prints of this film are known to exist.
Synopsis: During the reign of King Suleyman (Sam De Grasse), Suleyman’s genie, Fakresh-el-Aamash (Ernest Torrence), plots to murder him and run away with his illicit lover, The Queen (Barbara La Marr). Discovering his treachery, Suleyman imprisons him in a brass bottle and the bottle is thrown into the ocean. Over six thousand years later, Horace Ventimore (Harry Myers), a careworn London architect, purchases the bottle from an antique shop, hoping to impress his sweetheart’s disagreeable father, archaeologist Professor Hamilton (Tully Marshall). The man dismisses the gift and Horace, alone in his apartment, angrily throws the bottle to the floor, inadvertently freeing the genie. Events take an outrageous turn for the worse as the thankful genie attempts to fulfill Horace’s desires. Horace wishes, for example, to marry his girlfriend, Marjorie Hamilton (Charlotte Merriam), and her disapproving father is turned into a donkey. When Horace’s life is nearly ruined after the genie surprises him with a lavish banquet—complete with, to Marjorie’s dismay, doting harem girls—Horace demands that normalcy be restored. The genie is returned to his bottle and the ocean, and Horace, by now successful in business, receives the archaeologist’s blessing to marry his daughter.
St. Elmo (Fox Film Corporation) Distributed by: Fox Film Corporation. Length: 6 reels, 5,778 feet. General Release: August 15, 1923. Presented by: William Fox. Director: Jerome Storm. Writers: Augusta Jane Evans (story [St. Elmo, an 1866 bestselling novel]) and Jules G. Furthman (scenario). Cinematography: Joe August. Cast: John Gilbert, Barbara La Marr, Bessie Love, Warner Baxter, Nigel De Brulier, and Lydia Knott. No surviving prints of this film are known to exist.
Synopsis: Plantation owner St. Elmo Thornton (John Gilbert), betrayed by his best friend, Murray Hammond (Warner Baxter), and fiancée, Agnes Hunt (Barbara La Marr)—a woman who sought his money so she could make off with Murray—kills Murray in an altercation and wanders the world an angry, disillusioned man. Returning to his plantation, he encounters his mother’s houseguest, Edna Earle (Bessie Love). Edna’s faithfulness and decency rekindle St. Elmo’s faith in mankind and the two fall in love. St. Elmo becomes a minister and marries Edna.
Strangers of the Night (Louis B. Mayer Productions) Distributed by: Metro Pictures. Length: 8 reels, 7,792 feet. General Release: September 5, 1923. Presented by: Louis B. Mayer. Produced by: Fred Niblo. Director: Fred Niblo. Writers: Walter Hackett (story [Captain Applejack, a 1921 play]), C. Gardner Sullivan (adaptation), Bess Meredyth (scenario), and Renaud (titles). Cinematography: Alvin Wyckoff. Set Design: Robert Ellis. Film Editor: Lloyd Nosler. Cast: Matt Moore, Enid Bennett, Barbara La Marr, Robert McKim, Mathilde Brundage, Emily Fitzroy, Otto Hoffman, and Thomas Ricketts. No surviving prints of this film are known to exist.
Synopsis: In a remote mansion along the English coastline, timorous aristocrat Ambrose Applejohn (Matt Moore), fed up with his humdrum existence, yearns for adventure. It comes in the form of Anna Valeska (Barbara La Marr), a dazzling Russian dancer, who, claiming she is on the run from Borolsky (Robert McKim), a dangerous Russian spy, begs Ambrose for shelter and protection. In actuality, Anna and Borolsky are thieves seeking the hidden treasure of Captain Applejack, Ambrose’s pirate ancestor and one-time occupant of the mansion. Briefly averting them, Ambrose drifts off to sleep, where an even greater adventure unfurls. He dreams he is the fearless Captain Applejack (also played by Matt Moore) out to sea aboard a pirate ship, crushing a mutiny and earning the adoration of his formerly unwilling captive (also portrayed by Barbara). Back in his waking reality, Ambrose realizes that Captain Applejack has hidden a map in the house, indicating the treasure’s location. Spurred by his dream, Ambrose outmaneuvers the thieves and claims the treasure. He also gets the girl; after nearly losing the treasure to Anna’s vamping, he realizes his love for his dependable young ward, Poppy (Enid Bennett).
The Eternal Struggle (Louis B. Mayer Productions) Distributed by: Metro Pictures. Length: 8 reels, 7,374 feet. General Release: October 8, 1923. Presented and produced by: Louis B. Mayer. Director: Reginald Barker. Writers: G. B. Lancaster (aka Edith Joan Lyttleton) (story [The Law Bringers, a 1913 novel]), J. G. Hawks (adaptation), and Monte M. Katterjohn (scenario). Cinematography: Percy Hilburn. Film Editor: Robert J. Kern. Cast: Renee Adorée, Earle Williams, Barbara La Marr, Pat O’Malley, Wallace Beery, Josef Swickard, Pat Harmon, Anders Randolf, Edward J. Brady, Robert Anderson, and George Kuwa. Surviving prints of this film are on file at the Library of Congress (Washington, D.C.), the Warner Archive (Burbank, California), and Gosfilmofond (Moscow, Russia). The copies owned by the Library of Congress may be viewed at their Moving Image Research Center by appointment. (Since one of the Library of Congress copies was gifted to them by Russia in 2010, the intertitles are in Russian. At some point, they plan to translate them. This copy is incomplete.)
Synopsis: Feisty French-Canadian Andrée Grange (Renée Adorée), described by an intertitle as “the very spirit of the untamed land,” is engaged to a mannerly Northwest Mounted Policeman, Neil Tempest (Earle Williams), but falls for Neil’s subordinate, Bucky O’Hara (Pat O’Malley), “who never told a lie to any man, nor the truth to any woman.” Secretly assaulted one evening by fur trader and lustful drunkard Barode Dukane (Wallace Beery)—who “had known women from Montreal to Dawson (most of them regretted it)”—Andrée, believing she has killed him, flees north. Neil and Bucky pursue her through the wilderness—Neil to capture her, Bucky to help her escape—and she is brought back to account for the crime. Awaiting them upon their return is a signed confession from Barode’s fiancée, Camille Lenoir (Barbara La Marr)—a woman “who had heard men flatter and lie the world over”—and the truth is revealed. Andrée had merely knocked Barode unconscious; Camille revived him, flew into a rage when he blamed her for Andrée’s escape, and plunged his hunting knife into his chest. With Andrée freed from blame, Neil, thinking only of her happiness, allows Bucky to marry her.
The Eternal City (Madison Productions) Distributed by: Associated First National Pictures. Length: 8 reels, 7,800 feet. General Release: January 1924 (New York premiere on December 17, 1923). Presented by: Samuel Goldwyn. Director: George Fitzmaurice. Writers: Hall Caine (story [The Eternal City, a 1901 novel]), Ouida Bergere (scenario), Anita Loos (titles) and John Emerson (titles). Cinematography: Arthur Miller. Cast: Barbara La Marr, Bert Lytell, Lionel Barrymore, Richard Bennett and Montagu Love. Special appearances: Benito Mussolini and Victor Emmanuel III, King of Italy. No surviving prints of this film are known to exist. Two of the film’s eight reels, however, have been preserved and may be viewed by appointment at the Museum of Modern Art (New York City).
Synopsis: Donna Roma (Barbara La Marr) grew up with her sweetheart, her adopted brother, David Rossi (Bert Lytell). Believing David has been killed in The Great War, Donna, alone in the world, moves to Rome at the behest of the wealthy Baron Bonelli (Lionel Barrymore), who, in love with her, supports her financially and vows to make her a famous sculptress. Unknown to Donna as she ascends the social ladder—under the name Roma Valonna and amid gossip that she is Bonelli’s lover—David is alive and searching for her. After finding their village in ruins, David journeys to Rome, joining Mussolini as a leader of the Fascisti movement against the Bolsheviks. Roma is devastated when David finds her, believes the rumors surrounding her and Bonelli, and rejects her. Meanwhile, Bonelli, secretly aiding the Bolsheviks, plots David’s death. David kills Bonelli in the ensuing confrontation, then helps lead the fascists to victory. To prove her devotion to David, Roma confesses to Bonelli’s murder and is arrested by the king’s men. After David vindicates Roma with his own confession, Mussolini pardons him for his service to the fascists. Roma and David are reunited.
1924
Thy Name Is Woman (Louis B. Mayer Productions) Distributed by: Metro Pictures. Length: 9 reels, 9,087 feet. General Release: February 4, 1924. Presented by: Louis B. Mayer. Director: Fred Niblo. Writers: Karl Schoenherr (story [Der Weibsteufel (The She Devil), a 1914 play]), Benjamin Floyd Glazer (story [Thy Name is Woman, a 1920 play translated from Schoenherr’s work]) and Bess Meredyth (adaptation and scenario). Cinematography: Victor Milner. Art Director: Ben Carre. Film Editor: Lloyd Nosler. Cast: Ramon Novarro, Barbara La Marr, William V. Mong, Wallace MacDonald, Robert Edeson, Edith Roberts, and Claire McDowell. Surviving prints of this film are on file at George Eastman House (Rochester, New York) and the Warner Archive (Burbank, California).
Synopsis: In a frontier town in the Spanish Pyrenees, Juan Ricardo (Ramon Novarro), a Spanish soldier, seduces Guerita (Barbara La Marr) to locate the hidden plunder of her much-older husband, Pedro (William V. Mong), head of a smuggling ring, thereby earning his sergeant’s stripes. Wise to the Spanish Army’s scheme, Pedro instructs Guerita to use her feminine wiles to outsmart Juan. But Guerita, trapped in a loveless, childless marriage to an impotent husband, and Juan fall in love. Guerita begs Juan to run away with her, precipitating the film’s climax. Juan’s commandant (Robert Edeson) discovers Juan’s love for Guerita, charges him with treason, and orders his arrest. Pedro, unwilling to lose Guerita to another man, stabs her and, as she dies, falls dead over her from heart disease. The film closes with Juan averting court-martialing through the pleas of the commandant’s daughter (Edith Roberts), who proclaims him a gallant man for refusing to betray a woman.
The Shooting of Dan McGrew (Sawyer-Lubin Productions) Distributed by: Metro Pictures Corporation. Length: 7 reels, 6,318 feet. Premiere Date: March 31, 1924. Supervised by: Arthur Sawyer. Director: Clarence Badger. Writers: Robert William Service (story [The Spell of the Yukon and Other Verses, 1907]), Winifred Dunn (scenario), and Barbara La Marr (scenario; uncredited). Cinematography: Rudolph Bergquist. Cast: Barbara La Marr, Lew Cody, Mae Busch, Percy Marmont, Max Ascher, Fred Warren, George Siegmann, Nelson McDowell, Bert Sprotte, Ina Anson, Philippe De Lacy, Harry Lorraine, Eagle Eye, Milla Davenport, and William Eugene. Surviving prints of this film are on file at Gosfilmofond (Moscow, Russia) and the Warner Archive (Burbank, California).
Synopsis: Lou (Barbara La Marr), a dancer and the main attraction of a musical company on tour in South America, begs her husband, Jim (Percy Marmont), the company’s pianist, for better living conditions in which to raise their son, Little Jim (Philippe De Lacy). Jim dismisses her pleas and Lou, determined to provide for her family herself, falls victim to gambler Dan McGrew (Lew Cody), who promises her stardom in New York. A hit on Broadway, Lou sends her earnings to Jim and Little Jim until Jim arrives in New York. Dan, desiring Lou for himself, fools her into believing that Little Jim is dead and that Jim plans to kill her for leaving. Lou flees with Dan to Alaska, working for years in a saloon as his gambling decoy. Jim, certain of Lou’s constancy and by now a gold miner, eventually finds her and, narrowly escaping with his life, kills Dan in a shootout. Lou rejoins her husband and son.
The White Moth (Maurice Tourneur Productions) Distributed by: Associated First National Pictures. Length: 7 reels, 6,571 feet. General Release: May 12, 1924. Presented by: M. C. Levee. Director: Maurice Tourneur. Writers: Izola Forrester (story [“The White Moth,” originally featured in Ainslee’s Magazine]) and Albert Shelby LeVino (adaptation). Cinematography: Arthur L. Todd. Art Director: Jack Okey. Film Editor: Frank Lawrence. Assistant Director: Scott R. Beal. Cast: Barbara La Marr, Conway Tearle, Charles De Roche, Ben Lyon, Edna Murphy, Josie Sedgwick, Kathleen Kirkham, and William Orlamond. This film may be viewed for free online here. Surviving prints of this film are available for onsite viewing by appointment at the Library of Congress Moving Image Research Center (Washington, D.C.) and Museum of Modern Art (New York City). A surviving print is also on file at Gosfilmofond (Moscow, Russia).
Synopsis: After abandoning everything to study music in Paris and losing her funding, Mona Reid (Barbara La Marr), an unknown choir girl from Kansas, decides to drown herself in the Seine. Gonzalo Montrez (Charles De Roche), recognized on the French stage as dancing impresario El Volcano, intervenes, persuades her to join his act, and catapults her to fame as The White Moth. When young millionaire Douglas Morley (Ben Lyon), enamored with The White Moth, discards his socialite fiancée, Gwen (Edna Murphy), his concerned older brother, Vantine (Conway Tearle), romances The White Moth himself, takes her to New York, and marries her. His purpose accomplished, Vantine leaves her—albeit temporarily. Ultimately realizing his love for her, he returns.
Hello, ‘Frisco (Universal) Distributed by: Universal. Length: 1 reel. Release date: September 29, 1924. Director: Slim Summerville. Cast: Slim Summerville and Bobby Dunn. Celebrity Appearances: Enid Bennett, Hobart Bosworth, Syd Chaplin, Lew Cody, Jackie Coogan, Bebe Daniels, William Desmond, Elliott Dexter, William Duncan, Hoot Gibson, Lloyd “Ham” Hamilton, William S. Hart, Jack Hoxie, Edith Johnson, J. Warren Kerrigan, Norman Kerry, Barbara La Marr, Ralph Lewis, Bull Montana, Antonio Moreno, Fred Niblo, Anna Q. Nilsson, Rin Tin Tin, James Rolph Jr. (San Francisco mayor), Bryant Washburn, and Wanda Wiley. According to the Library of Congress, there are no surviving prints of this short.
Synopsis: Slim Summerville and Bobby Dunn star in this one-reel comedy as inexperienced cameramen hired by Universal to collect footage of the stars attending the 1924 WAMPAS Ball in San Francisco. After failing miserably—and hilariously—in their assignment, the bumbling men return to Los Angeles with nothing but a busted camera. Offering glimpses of around two dozen celebrities arriving at the train station and otherwise going about their business, this short is essentially a publicity reel.
Sandra (Associated Pictures) Distributed by: First National Pictures. Length: 8 reels, 7,794 feet. General Release: November 16, 1924. Director: Arthur Sawyer. Writer: Pearl Doles Bell (story [Sandra, a 1924 novel]); (no adaptation credits were given but period film magazines reported that Barbara La Marr had at least a partial hand in the scenario.) Cinematography: George Clarke. Art Director: Clarke Robinson. Assistant Art Director: Tom Smith. Cast: Barbara La Marr, Bert Lytell, Leila Hyams, Augustin Sweeney, Maude Hill, Edgar Nelson, Leon Gordon, Leslie Austin, Lillian Ten Eyck, Morgan Wallace, Arthur Edmund Carewe, Helen Gardner, and Alice Weaver. No surviving prints of this film are known to exist.
Synopsis: Sandra Waring (Barbara La Marr), stricken with a psychological impairment, possesses two personalities: that of a contented, compliant wife, and that of a depraved, adventure-seeking temptress. Stephen Winslow (Leon Gordon), a rich philanderer, enters Sandra’s world, promising her a life of romance and excitement. When Sandra’s husband, David Waring (Bert Lytell), a loving New York architect, faces bankruptcy after a contractor’s substandard materials cause one of his buildings to collapse, Sandra’s shadow side emerges. She bargains with Stephen; in exchange for his procurement of business contracts for her husband, she agrees to leave her husband and venture abroad with him. Exhilarated by the glamour, admiration, and displays of wealth she encounters in Europe, Sandra abandons Stephen for other lovers of dubious reputation, becoming disheartened when they deceive and shame her. Dejected, she eventually returns to New York, her shadow self eradicated by remorse. Intent on committing suicide, she visits the church David built to convey an apology to David via the Reverend Hapgood (Leslie Austin). David happens by, hears her confession, and forgives her.
1925
The Heart of a Siren (Associated Pictures) Distributed by: First National Pictures. Length: 7 reels, 6,700 feet. Premiere: March 15, 1925. General Release: April 26, 1925. Supervised by: Arthur Sawyer. Director: Phil Rosen. Writers: William Hurlbut (story [Hail and Farewell, a 1923 play]), Frederic Hatton (scenario), Fanny Hatton (scenario), and Arthur Hoerl (continuity). Cinematography: Rudolph Bergquist. Art Director: M. P. Staulcup. Film Editor: Elmer McGovern. Assistant Director: Al Hall. Production Manager: Barney Lubin. Costume Designer (Barbara’s gowns): Charles LeMaire. Cast: Barbara La Marr, Conway Tearle, Harry Morey, Paul Doucet, Ben Finney, Florence Auer, Ida Darling, William Ricciardi, Clifton Webb, Florence Billings, Mike Rayle, Katherine Sullivan, Arnold Daly, and Paul Ricciardi. Surviving prints of this film are available for onsite viewing by appointment at the University of California, Los Angeles, Film & Television Archive and the University of California, Berkeley, Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive. A surviving print is also on file at George Eastman House (Rochester, New York).
Synopsis: Wealthy, sirenic Isabella Echevaria (Barbara La Marr), insulted by Englishman Gerald Rexford’s (Conway Tearle) indifference to her at a French hotel, undertakes to win his love so she can cast him aside. Then, after an encounter with Gerald on the hotel terrace, Isabella’s heart betrays her lust for vengeance. She pursues Gerald to Paris, arranging with their mutual artist friend, George Drew (Ben Finney), to have Gerald find her at George’s studio whilst she poses for a portrait. Her plan succeeds and she and Gerald proclaim their joint affection. The lovers are soon torn apart, however, when Gerald’s mother (Ida Darling), disdainful of Isabella’s scandalous reputation, persuades Isabella to relinquish him. After driving Gerald away, Isabella prepares a glass of poison, changes into the gown she wore the night of her rendezvous with Gerald on the hotel terrace, and drinks. Gerald, informed of Isabella’s true feelings for him, goes to her and proposes marriage. Isabella confesses her act and her maid, Lisette (Florence Auer), appears, revealing that she switched the poison when Isabella changed her dress.
The White Monkey (Associated Pictures) Distributed by: First National. Length: 7 reels, 6,121 feet. General Release: June 7, 1925. Supervised by: Arthur Sawyer. Director: Phil Rosen. Writers: John Galsworthy (story [The White Monkey, a 1924 novel]), Arthur Hoerl (adaptation), and Louis Sherwin (titles). Cinematography: Rudolph Bergquist. Art Director: M. P. Staulcup. Film Editor: Teddy Hanscom. Assistant Director: Al Hall. Production Manager: Barney Lubin. Cast: Barbara La Marr, Thomas Holding, Henry Victor, George F. Marion, Colin Campbell, Charles Mack, Flora Le Breton, and Tammany Young. Six of the film’s seven reels are available for onsite viewing by appointment at the Library of Congress Moving Image Research Center (Washington, D.C.) and Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research (Madison).
Synopsis: Newly married to Michael Mont (Thomas Holding), a London publisher, Fleur Forsyte (Barbara La Marr), the spoiled daughter of an English noble, Soames Forsyte (George F. Marion), becomes infatuated with Michael’s best friend, artist Wilfrid Desert (Henry Victor). Wise to Fleur’s feelings for him, Wilfrid informs Michael of his intention to take her for himself. Fleur assumes ignorance when queried by Michael and continues associating with Wilfrid. Running parallel to Fleur’s tangled love life is the plight of a poor Cockney shipping clerk, Tony Bicket (Charles Mack), and his ailing wife, Victorine (Flora Le Breton). Michael fires Tony from his publishing house when he catches him stealing to support Victorine, but later helps Victorine (by now recovered) get a modeling job with Wilfrid. Victorine poses nude for Wilfrid, incurring Tony’s wrath. Questioning Victorine’s fidelity, Tony is escorted by Michael to Wilfrid’s studio where Michael encounters Fleur. Fleur verifies Victorine’s innocence, explaining that she was present whenever Victorine posed. Michael departs, believing he has lost Fleur to Wilfrid. Fleur realizes her love for Michael and leaves Wilfrid.
1926
The Girl from Montmartre (Associated Holding Corporation, 1926) Distributed by: First National Pictures. Length: 6 reels, 6,200 feet. General Release: January 31, 1926. Produced by: Arthur Sawyer. Director: Alfred E. Green. Production Manager: Barney Lubin. Assistant Director: Jack Boland. Writers: Anthony Pryde (story [Spanish Sunlight, a 1925 novel]), Paul Bern (adaptation; uncredited), June Mathis (editorial director), Eve Unsell (continuity), and George Marion, Jr. (titles). Cinematography: Rudolph Bergquist. Art Director: Edward J. Shulter. Film Editor: Al Hall. Barbara’s Makeup Artist: Perc Westmore. Cast: Barbara La Marr, Lewis Stone, Robert Ellis, William Eugene, E. H. Calvert, Mario Carillo, Mathilde Comont, Edward Piel, Nicholas De Ruiz, and Bobby Mack. Note: Due to illness that would result in her death, Barbara was unable to finish the picture; actress Lolita Lee completed Barbara’s unfinished scenes. Warner Bros. has restored a surviving print of this film. While there are no known plans to release the film on DVD at present, it will undoubtedly be shown at various festivals and archives in the future. Another surviving print is filed at George Eastman House (Rochester, New York), and a partial print (featuring a Spanish dance sequence [likely performed by Lolita Lee]) is on file at the University of California, Los Angeles, Film & Television Archive. It is anticipated that UCLA’s print will one day be available for onsite viewing.
Synopsis: Destitute and assisting two soldier brothers on the front in 1917, Emilia Faneaux (Barbara La Marr), orphaned daughter of a degenerate English colonel and deceased Castilian noblewoman, works as a masked dancer in an infamous Parisian cafe. Jerome Hautrive (Lewis Stone), a British Army officer and artist, sketches her portrait from his table during her performance one night. Emilia concludes her sordid dancing career at the war’s end, returns with her brothers to Spain, and encounters Jerome during his sojourn to the countryside. Their budding romance angers Emilia’s reprobate suitor, John Ewing (Robert Ellis), a rich actor, and, after Emilia discovers her dancing portrait in Jerome’s sketchbook, John convinces her that she and the aristocratic Jerome can never marry. Donning the same half-mask she wore during her dancing days at the French cafe, Emilia dances at the local casino to deter Jerome. Realizing her identity and motive, Jerome loves her even more. Emilia doubts his feelings until John kidnaps her; Jerome risks his life rescuing her.