A Daughter of the Gods | |
---|---|
Directed by | Herbert Brenon |
Written by | Herbert Brenon |
Produced by | William Fox |
Starring | Annette Kellerman William E. Shay Hal De Forrest |
Cinematography | André Barlatier A. Culp J. Roy Hunt William Marshall C. Richards Marcel Le Picard Edward Warren |
Edited by | Hettie Gray Baker |
Music by | Robert Hood Bowers |
Distributed by | Fox Film Corporation |
Release date |
|
Running time | 180 mins. |
Country | United States |
Language | Silent (English intertitles) |
Budget | US$1,100,000 [1] or $850,000 [2] |
Box office | US$1,390,000 [3] |
A Daughter of the Gods is a 1916 American silent fantasy drama film written and directed by Herbert Brenon. The film was controversial because of the sequences of what was regarded as superfluous nudity by the character Anitia, played by Australian swimming star Annette Kellermann. The scene is regarded as the first complete nude scene by a major star, which occurred during a waterfall sequence, though most of Kellerman's body is covered by her long hair. [4] It was filmed by Fox Film Corporation in Kingston, Jamaica, where huge sets were constructed. [5]
Brenon served as writer of this original scenario/screenplay for the film. However, he more than likely saw and was influenced by David Belasco and John Luther Long's 1902 Broadway play The Darling of the Gods starring Blanche Bates, Robert T. Haines, and young George Arliss, which has a similar theme of reward for rescuing a child and a large ensemble cast. The play differs in that it is set in feudal Japan while the movie is backdropped in an undersea kingdom, not unlike Atlantis.
Brenon made aspects of the play cinematic (underwater sequences, Kellerman's nudity, etc.) in an obvious effort to avoid charges of plagiarism of Belasco's play and hence a lawsuit. [6] [7] [8]
A sultan agrees to help an evil witch destroy a mysterious beauty if the witch will bring his young son back to life.
After receiving the film assignment with its budget limit of $1 million, director Brenon visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City where he was inspired by paintings such as A Dream of the Arabian Nights by Villegas. The opening scene of the film was claimed to be a composite of Cabanel's The Birth of Venus and Coypel's Venus Frolicking in the Sea with Nymphs. [9]
The film is credited as the first US production to cost at least $1 million ($19.3 million in 2023) to produce, [10] with actual costs just exceeding $1.1 million ($21.3 million in 2023). [1] Studio head William Fox was so incensed with the cost of production he removed Herbert Brenon's name from the film. However, Brenon sued to have his name restored to the film's credits, and won. [11] Advertising for the film would often note its million dollar cost.
Great cost was afforded to make a sanitary of mosquito-proofing over a section of Kingston, Jamaica. Sets consumed 2,500 barrels (400 m3) of plaster, 500 barrels (79 m3) of cement, 2,000,000 board feet (5,000 m3) of lumber, and ten tons of paper. Director Herbert Brenon employed 20,000 people during the eight months of production and used 220,000 feet (67,000 m) of film to shoot the picture. [12] The Moorish city cost $350,000 ($6.77 million in 2023) to build, and was destroyed in one climactic scene. [1] The total number of persons appearing in it was 21,218, which included 200 mermaids, and 300 dancing girls and women of the Sultan's harem. [1] The 100 women recruited from the US and Europe to portray nymphs underwent weeks of training by Kellerman to swim using a single stroke in unison and to avoid unnecessary splashing. [13]
An original score was composed for the film by Robert Hood Bowers, which was played by an orchestra during each screening. It was considered the most memorable film score up to that time. [14]
The existing film censorship boards in the United States and Canada and the National Board of Review passed the film in spite of its brief nudity scene, calling it artistic. [15] [16] Fox made general distribution of the film for the 1916 December holiday season. President Wilson and his wife, to celebrate their first wedding anniversary, attended the film's December 18, 1916 showing at the Belasco Theater, where it opened in Washington, D.C. Prior to this, the Wilsons had only seen films shown at the White House. [17]
it reportedly made a net profit of $1.35 million. [2]
With no prints of A Daughter of the Gods located in any film archives, it is considered a lost film. [18] [19] [20]
The year 1916 in film involved some significant events.
Annette Marie Sarah Kellermann was an Australian professional swimmer, vaudeville star, film actress, and writer, usually spelt with a single final n as Annette Kellerman.
Herbert Brenon was an Irish-born U.S. film director, actor and screenwriter during the era of silent films through 1940.
Bessie Barriscale was an American actress who gained fame on the stage and in silent films.
Bobby Vernon was an American comedic actor in silent films. He later became a writer and comedy supervisor at Paramount for W. C. Fields and Bing Crosby, when the sound era arrived. Blue-eyed with medium brown hair, he stood five feet and two-and-a-half inches, making him perfect for juvenile comedy roles. His comedies were popular with children.
Promises! Promises! is a 1963 American sex comedy film directed by King Donovan and starring Tommy Noonan and Jayne Mansfield. Released at the end of the Production Code era and before the MPAA film rating system became effective in 1968, it was the first Hollywood film of the sound era to feature nudity by a mainstream star (Mansfield).
Jane Lee (1912–1957) and Katherine Lee (1909–1968), sisters, were child stars in silent motion pictures and vaudeville theatre. They were also known as the "Baby Grands", "Lee Kids", or the "Fox Kiddies" for their appearances in Fox Film productions.
Laugh, Clown, Laugh is a 1928 American silent drama film starring Lon Chaney and Loretta Young. The movie was directed by Herbert Brenon and produced by Irving G. Thalberg for MGM Pictures. A sound version of this film was released in the second half of 1928 and featured a synchronized musical score with sound effects. The film was written by Elizabeth Meehan, based on the 1923 Broadway stage production Laugh, Clown, Laugh by David Belasco and Tom Cushing, which in turn was based on the 1919 play Ridi, Pagliaccio by Fausto Maria Martini.
Lule Warrenton was an American actress, director, and producer during the silent film era. She appeared in more than 80 films between 1913 and 1922. She was born in Flint, Michigan and died in Laguna Beach, California and was the mother of cinematographer Gilbert Warrenton.
Neptune's Daughter is a 1914 American silent fantasy film featuring the first collaboration between actress Annette Kellerman and director Herbert Brenon. It was based on Kellerman's idea of "a water fantasy movie with beautiful mermaids in King Neptune's garden together with a good love story." It was filmed by Universal in Bermuda during January and February, cost approximately $50,000, and grossed one million dollars at the box office.
Thomas Hayes Hunter was an American film director and producer of the silent era. He directed a total of 34 films between 1912 and 1934.
Powers That Prey is a 1918 silent comedy-drama film directed by Henry King and starring Mary Miles Minter, with whom King stated that he enjoyed working. The film is based on a story called Extra! Extra! by Will M. Ritchey, which was also the working title of the film. As with many of Minter's features, it is thought to be a lost film.
The Fall of the Romanoffs is a 1917 silent American historical drama film directed by Herbert Brenon. It was released only seven months after the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II in February 1917. This film is notable for starring Rasputin's rival, the monk Iliodor, as himself. Costars Nance O'Neil and Alfred Hickman were married from 1916 to Hickman's death in 1931. The film was shot in North Bergen, New Jersey, nearby Fort Lee, New Jersey, where many early film studios in America's first motion picture industry were based at the beginning of the 20th century.
Who's Your Neighbor? is a 1917 silent American propaganda and drama film directed by S. Rankin Drew. The film's plot focuses around reformers who pass a law to force prostitutes, including Hattie Fenshaw, out of the red light district. Fenshaw becomes Bryant Harding's mistress and lives in an apartment next door to a reformer, and continues to ply her trade. After Fenshaw becomes familiar with Harding, his son, daughter and the daughter's fiancé, the climax of the film occurs as the cast assembles at Fenshaw's apartment. Harding returns and a fight breaks out that results in the reformers' arrival and concludes with the presumption that Fenshaw returns to a place of "legalized vice". The drama was written by Willard Mack and was his first foray into screen dramas. The film proved controversial, but is noted as a great success. The film originally debuted on June 15, 1917, but it was rejected by the National Board of Review and was later approved after a revision, but the film continued to be labeled as an immoral production. The film is presumed to be lost.
Acquitted is a 1916 American silent mystery film produced by the Fine Arts Film Company and distributed by Triangle Film Corporation. Paul Powell directed a screenplay by Roy Somerville based on a 1907 short story by Mary Roberts Rinehart. Tod Browning served as an uncredited writer.
A Sister of Six is a 1916 American silent Western film produced by the Fine Arts Film Company and distributed by Triangle Film Corporation. The film was directed by brothers Chester M. and Sidney Franklin. This was Bessie Love's first starring role.
Hettie Gray Baker was an American film editor.
Queen of the Sea is a 1918 American silent fantasy film released by Fox Film Corporation that was directed by John G. Adolfi and starred Australian swimmer Annette Kellerman. This film is presumed to be lost.
Rosetta Dewart Brice, known professionally as Betty Brice, was an American actress in many silent films.
The Witch is a lost 1916 American silent drama film directed by Frank Powell, produced by Fox Film Corporation, and starring Nance O'Neil, Alfred Hickman, and Frank Russell. Based on the 1903 play La Sorcière by French dramatist Victorien Sardou, this adaptation portrayed the challenges facing a young woman living in a territory in Mexico wracked by military and social unrest. It was filmed at Fox's studio in Fort Lee, New Jersey, where a Mexican village was constructed on the company's backlot and used as the principal set for outdoor scenes.