A Doll's House (1917 film)

Last updated

A Doll's House
'A Doll's House'.jpg
Film poster
Directed by Joe De Grasse
Written byJoe De Grasse
Based on A Doll's House
by Henrik Ibsen
Produced byBluebird Photoplays
Starring Lon Chaney
Dorothy Phillips
CinematographyKing D. Gray
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Release date
  • June 11, 1917 (1917-06-11)
Running time
5 reels (50 minutes)
CountryUnited States
LanguageSilent with English intertitles

A Doll's House is a 1917 American silent drama film based on the eponymous 1879 play by Henrik Ibsen (original title: Et dukkehjem/ A Doll House). The film was written and directed by Joe De Grasse, and stars Lon Chaney, William Stowell and Dorothy Phillips. [1] Film historian Jon C. Mirsalis stated that director De Grasse's wife Ida May Park wrote the screenplay, but most sources attribute both the writing and directing of the film to De Grasse himself. The film is today considered lost. [2]

Contents

The film did not do well with the critics, who called it stagy and disappointing. Chaney's performance as the blackmailing Krogstad was singled out as brilliant, however. A still exists showing Chaney in the role of Krogstad. [3] Two other silent film versions of the Ibsen play were produced, released in 1911 and 1918 respectively. [4]

Plot

Nora Helmer (Dorothy Phillips) has years earlier committed a forgery in order to save the life of her authoritarian husband Torvald Helmer (William Stowell), a well-to-do bank manager. Her husband had become very ill, and the only thing that could save him was an operation in Italy. Unbeknownst to Torvald, Nora forged a check from her father's checkbook in order to get the money to send him there, aided and abetted by a crooked moneylender named Nils Krogstad (Lon Chaney) who worked as a clerk in her husband's bank.

Now she is being blackmailed by Krogstad, and lives in fear of her husband's finding out what she did, and of the shame such a revelation would bring to his career. Soon after, her husband catches Krogstad embezzling bank funds and fires him. Krogstad threatens to expose Nora if she does not help him to get his job back, but Nora persuades her husband to give Korgstad's job to a needy widow named Christina Linde instead.

In retaliation, the moneylender tells Nora's husband everything. Even though Nora committed the forgery to save her husband from death, he still becomes enraged and cannot find it in himself to forgive her. He lectures her mercilessly until, in the end, Nora winds up leaving him in hopes of finding a better life elsewhere.

Cast

Reception

"As a means of popular entertainment it is doubtful that the screen version of A DOLL'S HOUSE...will become much of a success. The absence of the theatrical in the Ibsen method and the difficulty of conveying the fine shades of meaning in the dialogue without the aid of speech render the task of the actors in the cast doubly hard...The Helmer of William Stowell, the Krogstad of Lon Chaney, the Dr. Rank of Sydney Deane, the Christina of Miriam Shelby and the Anna of Helen Wright are all worthy of praise." --- Moving Picture World [5]

"Bluebird's production of Henrik Ibsen's play A Doll's House turns out to be a dramatically fine piece of work in every respect...(It) is more likely to win new audiences than to swell the old ones." --- Motion Picture News [6]

Related Research Articles

<i>A Dolls House</i> 1879 three-act play by Henrik Ibsen

A Doll's House is a three-act play written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It premiered at the Royal Danish Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 21 December 1879, having been published earlier that month. The play is set in a Norwegian town c. 1879.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lon Chaney</span> American actor (1883–1930)

Leonidas Frank "Lon" Chaney was an American actor and makeup artist. He is regarded as one of the most versatile and powerful actors of cinema, renowned for his characterizations of tortured, often grotesque and afflicted, characters and for his groundbreaking artistry with makeup. Chaney was known for his starring roles in such silent horror films as The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) and The Phantom of the Opera (1925). His ability to transform himself using makeup techniques that he developed earned him the nickname "The Man of a Thousand Faces".

<i>The Pipes o Pan</i> 1914 film

The Pipes o' Pan is a 1914 American silent drama film directed by Joe De Grasse and featuring Lon Chaney and Pauline Bush. It is thought the screenplay was written by De Grasse's wife Ida May Park, but she was uncredited. The film is now considered to be lost.

The Sin of Olga Brandt is a 1915 American silent drama film directed by Joe De Grasse and featuring Lon Chaney and Pauline Bush. Jon Mirsalis claims the film was written by Ida May Park and that "some sources suggest that the film, which preaches about the high morality of moving pictures, was instigated by (producer) Carl Laemmle, who was involved in censorship fights of his own over some of his releases".

When the Gods Played a Badger Game is a 1915 American silent drama film directed by Joe De Grasse and written by Ida May Park, and featuring Pauline Bush and Lon Chaney. The film's working title was The Girl Who Couldn't Go Wrong. The film is today considered lost.

Mountain Justice is a 1915 American silent drama film directed by Joe De Grasse and featuring Lon Chaney and Arthur Shirley. It was written by Ida May Park, based on a story by Jules Furthman. The film is now considered to be lost.

Lon of Lone Mountain is a 1915 American short silent drama film directed by Joe De Grasse, written by Ida May Park, and featuring Lon Chaney and Arthur Shirley. It only ran one reel. The film is now presumed lost. A still exists showing Lon Chaney in the role of "Lon", the mountain man.

<i>The Mark of Cain</i> (1916 film) 1916 film

The Mark of Cain is a 1916 American silent lost film directed by Joe De Grasse, written by Stuart Paton, and starring Lon Chaney and Dorothy Phillips. The film's tagline was "A Thrilling Drama of the Long Arm of the Law With an Absorbing Love Interest". The film's working title was By Fate's Decree.

<i>If My Country Should Call</i> 1916 film

If My Country Should Call is a 1916 silent drama film directed by Joe De Grasse and starring Lon Chaney, Jack Nelson and Dorothy Phillips. The film was written by Ida May Park, based on a story by Virginia Terhune Van de Water. The film's theme was very topical at the time, since many American men were then signing up to fight in World War I and Mexico.

<i>The Place Beyond the Winds</i> 1916 film

The Place Beyond the Winds is a 1916 American silent drama film directed by Joe De Grasse, and starring Lon Chaney, Gretchen Lederer and Dorothy Phillips. It was written by Ida May Park, based on the novel by Harriet T. Comstock. The director De Grasse also played a role in the film. The film's original working title was Mansion of Despair. A still exists showing Chaney in the role of Jerry Jo, the homeless man.

<i>The Pipers Price</i> 1917 film

The Piper's Price is a 1917 silent drama film directed by Joe De Grasse and starring Lon Chaney, William Stowell and Dorothy Phillips. It was the first in a series of films co-starring William Stowell and Dorothy Phillips together. The screenplay was written by Ida May Park, based on the short story by Nancy Mann Waddel Woodrow. The film was released in the U.K. as Storm and Sunshine. The film is today considered lost. A still exists showing Lon Chaney in the role of Billy Kilmartin.

<i>Hell Morgans Girl</i> 1917 film

Hell Morgan's Girl is a 1917 American silent drama film directed by Joseph De Grasse, and starring William Stowell, Dorothy Phillips and Lon Chaney. The screenplay was written by Ida May Park, based on the Harvey Gates story entitled The Wrong Side of Paradise, which was the film's working title. The film's tagline read: "This is "Hell Morgan's Girl". You Doubt Her. You Accuse Her. You Pity Her. You Condemn Her. You Hate Her. You Love Her. SHE'S WONDERFUL!"

<i>The Girl in the Checkered Coat</i> 1917 film

The Girl in the Checkered Coat is a 1917 American silent drama film directed by Joe De Grasse and starring Lon Chaney, Dorothy Phillips and William Stowell. It was written by Ida May Park, based on the short story by E. Magnus Ingleton. The film today is considered lost. A still exists showing Lon Chaney in the role of Hector Maitland.

<i>The Flashlight</i> 1917 film

The Flashlight is a 1917 American silent drama film directed by Ida May Park and starring Lon Chaney, Dorothy Phillips and William Stowell. The screenplay was written by Ida May Park, based on the short story by Albert M. Treynore. This was the first film Ida May Park ever directed.

<i>Fires of Rebellion</i> 1917 film

Fires of Rebellion is a 1917 American silent drama film written and directed by Ida May Park, and starring Lon Chaney, William Stowell, and Dorothy Phillips. The film is today considered lost. A still exists showing Lon Chaney in the role of the lecherous photographer Russell Hanlon. The film's main musical theme was Serenade by R. Czerwonky.

<i>The Rescue</i> (1917 film) 1917 film

The Rescue is a 1917 American silent drama film written and directed by Ida May Park and starring Lon Chaney, William Stowell and Dorothy Phillips. The screenplay was based on a story by Hugh McNair Kahler. The film is today considered lost. A photo exists showing Lon Chaney in his role as Thomas Holland, a rare occasion when Chaney did not play a villain.

<i>Pay Me!</i> 1917 film

Pay Me! is a 1917 American silent drama film directed by Joe De Grasse and starring Lon Chaney, Dorothy Phillips, and William Stowell. In the United States, the film is also known as The Vengeance of the West. The screenplay was written by Bess Meredith, based on a story by Joe De Grasse. This film was Universal Pictures' first "Jewel Production" release. Once considered to be a lost film, an incomplete (23-minute) print was rediscovered in the Gosfilmofond archive in Russia in 2019. A still exists showing Lon Chaney in the role of the villainous Joe Lawson.

<i>Triumph</i> (1917 film) 1917 film

Triumph is a 1917 American silent drama film directed by Joe De Grasse, written by Fred Myton, starring Lon Chaney and Dorothy Phillips. The screenplay was adapted from a short story by Samuel Hopkins Adams. It was produced by Bluebird Photoplays and released by Universal Film Manufacturing Company. Only the first three of the five reels of this film survive, and the third reel is heavily decomposed. Two stills exist showing Lon Chaney as the terminally ill Paul Neihoff.

<i>A Dolls House</i> (1922 film) 1922 film by Charles Bryant

A Doll's House is a 1922 American silent drama film produced by and starring Alla Nazimova and directed by her husband Charles Bryant. The couple released the film through United Artists. It is based on the 1879 play A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen with the scenario written by Nazimova under the pseudonym Peter M. Winters. The film was the fourth silent version filmed of the play, being preceded by a 1918 Paramount film directed by Maurice Tourneur. The film is classified as being lost.

Bondage is a 1917 American silent drama film written and directed by Ida May Park, and starring Dorothy Phillips, William Stowell, Gretchen Lederer and J.B. MacLaughlin.

References

  1. ↑ "Silent Era: A Doll's House". silentera. Archived from the original on July 6, 2008. Retrieved June 26, 2008.
  2. ↑ Mirsalis, Jon C. "A Doll's House". Lonchaney.org. Retrieved December 19, 2020.
  3. ↑ Mirsalis, Jon C. "A Doll's House". Lonchaney.org. Retrieved December 19, 2020.
  4. ↑ "Silent Era : Progressive Silent Film List".
  5. ↑ Mirsalis, Jon C. "A Doll's House". Lonchaney.org. Retrieved December 19, 2020.
  6. ↑ Blake, Michael F. (1998). "The Films of Lon Chaney". Vestal Press Inc. Page 73. ISBN   1-879511-26-6.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.