A Fighting Colleen

Last updated

A Fighting Colleen
Fighting Colleen lobby card.jpg
Lobby card
Directed by David Smith
Screenplay by Gerald C. Duffy [1]
Story byGerald C. Duffy [1]
Starring
Cinematography Charles R. Seeling [2]
Production
company
Release date
  • November 16, 1919 (1919-11-16)(U.S.) [3] [4]
Running time
5 reels; [1] 4,471 feet [5]
CountryUnited States
Language Silent (English intertitles)

A Fighting Colleen is a 1919 American silent comedy-drama [1] film directed by David Smith [1] and produced by Vitagraph Company of America. [1] It stars Bessie Love and Charles Spere.

Contents

The film is presumed lost. [6]

Plot

Alannah Malone (Love), an Irish immigrant living in a tenement, who sells newspapers to make a living. When her mother dies, she engages in fistfights to defend her territory from newsboys. One particular newsboy (Spere) falls for her after she beats him up. The tenement in which Alannah lives is owned by the city's unjust mayor. When the District Attorney announces his candidacy for mayor, Alannah aids his campaign by gathering evidence to expose the mayor as a hypocrite. [1] [7]

Cast

Reception

Press for the film likened it to Mary Pickford's Daddy Long Legs and Mabel Normand's Mickey . [8] The film received positive reviews, and did well at the box office. [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bessie Love</span> American actress (1898–1986)

Juanita Horton, better known as Bessie Love, was an American-British actress who achieved prominence playing innocent, young girls and wholesome leading ladies in silent and early sound films. Her acting career spanned nearly seven decades—from silent film to sound film, including theatre, radio, and television—and her performance in The Broadway Melody (1929) earned her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress.

<i>The Trail of the Lonesome Pine</i> (1923 film) 1923 film

The Trail of the Lonesome Pine is a 1923 American silent Western film directed by Charles Maigne and starring Mary Miles Minter. It was adapted by Will M. Ritchey from the play and novel of the same name by John Fox Jr. This was the second time that Maigne had directed Minter in an adaptation of a Fox novel, the first being 1920's A Cumberland Romance. This was Minter's final film; her contract with Paramount Pictures was not renewed, and she stated that she was "through" with films. As with many of Minter's features, The Trail of the Lonesome Pine is thought to be a lost film.

<i>Judy of Rogues Harbor</i> 1920 film by William Desmond Taylor

Judy of Rogue's Harbor is a 1920 American silent drama film directed by William Desmond Taylor and starring Mary Miles Minter. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Grace Miller White, with a scenario by Clara Beranger. It was produced by Famous Players–Lasky and distributed through Realart and Paramount Pictures.

<i>Dinty</i> (film) 1920 film by Marshall Neilan

Dinty is a 1920 American silent comedy drama film written by Marshall Neilan and John McDermott specifically for Wesley Barry, a young actor known for his freckled complexion. Prominent among the supporting players were Colleen Moore, Marjorie Daw, Pat O'Malley, and Noah Beery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gladys Leslie</span> American actress

Gladys Leslie Moore was an American actress in silent film, active in the 1910s and 1920s. Though less-remembered than superstars like Mary Pickford, she had a number of starring roles from 1917 to the early 1920s and was one of the young female stars of her day.

<i>A Yankee Princess</i> 1919 silent film by David Smith

A Yankee Princess is a 1919 American silent comedy-drama film produced and distributed by the Vitagraph Company of America. It was directed by David Smith and stars Bessie Love, who also wrote the screenplay. It is a lost film.

<i>The Ghost Patrol</i> 1923 silent film by Nat Ross

The Ghost Patrol is a 1923 American silent romantic melodrama film directed by Nat Ross from a short story by Sinclair Lewis, produced and distributed by Universal Pictures. It starred Ralph Graves and Bessie Love and is now considered lost.

<i>Over the Garden Wall</i> (1919 film) 1919 silent romantic comedy film by David Smith

Over the Garden Wall is a lost 1919 American silent romantic comedy film produced and distributed by the Vitagraph Company of America. It was directed by David Smith, brother of one of the Vitagraph founders Albert E. Smith. The film stars Bessie Love.

<i>Something Different</i> (1920 film) 1920 film by Roy William Neill

Something Different is a lost 1920 American silent drama film produced and distributed by Realart Pictures, an affiliate of Famous Players–Lasky and Paramount Pictures. It is based on a novel, Calderon's Prisoner, by Alice Duer Miller. The picture was directed by Roy William Neill with some filming being done in Cuba. Some of the cast's passport photos to enter Cuba for this production are found at Flickr.

<i>The Dawn of Understanding</i> 1918 film

The Dawn of Understanding is a lost 1918 American silent Western comedy film produced by The Vitagraph Company of America and directed by David Smith. It stars Bessie Love in the first film of her nine-film contract with Vitagraph. It is based on the short story "The Judgement of Bolinas Plain" by 19th-century Western writer Bret Harte.

<i>Cupid Forecloses</i> 1919 silent film by David Smith

Cupid Forecloses is a 1919 American silent comedy film starring Bessie Love and Wallace MacDonald. It was directed by David Smith and produced by Vitagraph Studios. It was based on the popular novel Hurrying Fate and Geraldine by Florence Morse Kingsley. The film has been preserved at the British Film Institute and American Film Institute.

<i>The Enchanted Barn</i> 1919 silent film by David Smith

The Enchanted Barn is a 1919 American silent drama film produced by Vitagraph Studios. It was directed by David Smith and starred Bessie Love and J. Frank Glendon. The script was written by Kathryn Reed, based on the novel by Grace Livingston Hill Lutz. Bessie Love had been familiar with the source novel, and was instrumental in optioning it for this film.

<i>The Wishing Ring Man</i> 1919 silent film by David Smith

The Wishing Ring Man is a 1919 American silent drama film produced by Vitagraph Studios and directed by David Smith. It was based on the novel by Margaret Widdemer, and stars Bessie Love, with J. Frank Glendon in the title role.

<i>The Little Boss</i> 1919 silent film by David Smith

The Little Boss is a 1919 American silent romantic comedy film directed by David Smith and produced by Vitagraph Studios. The story and screenplay were by Rida Johnson Young, and it starred Bessie Love and Wallace MacDonald.

<i>Pegeen</i> (film) 1920 silent film by David Smith

Pegeen is a 1920 American silent drama film based on the 1915 novel of the same name by Eleanor Hoyt Brainerd. It was produced by Vitagraph Studios and directed by David Smith. It stars Bessie Love in the title role.

<i>Bonnie May</i> 1920 silent film by Ida May Park

Bonnie May is a lost silent 1920 American comedy-drama film based on the 1916 novel by Louis Dodge. It was directed by Ida May Park and Joseph De Grasse and starred Bessie Love. It was produced by Andrew J. Callaghan Productions and distributed by Federated Film Exchanges of America, Inc.

<i>Penny of Top Hill Trail</i> 1921 silent film by Arthur Berthelet

Penny of Top Hill Trail is a 1921 American silent Western comedy film based on the 1919 novel by Belle Kanaris Maniates. It was directed by Arthur Berthelet and stars Bessie Love. The film was produced by Andrew J. Callaghan Productions and distributed by Federated Film Exchanges of America. The film is presumed lost.

<i>Mary of the Movies</i> 1923 silent film by John McDermott

Mary of the Movies is a 1923 American silent semi-autobiographical comedy film based on the career of Marion Mack. It was written by Mack and her husband Louis Lewyn, and stars Mack and Creighton Hale. Hale and director John McDermott play fictionalized versions of themselves in the film, which was also directed by McDermott.

<i>Jenny Be Good</i> 1920 film

Jenny Be Good is a 1920 American silent romance drama film directed by William Desmond Taylor and starring Mary Miles Minter, based on a novel by Wilbur Finley Fauley and adapted for the screen by Julia Crawford Ivers. It is the last of Minter's films to also feature her older sister Margaret Shelby in a supporting role. As with many of Minter's features, it is believed to be a lost film.

<i>The Intrusion of Isabel</i> 1919 film directed by Lloyd Ingraham

The Intrusion of Isabel is a 1919 American silent comedy film directed by Lloyd Ingraham and starring Mary Miles Minter, J. Parks Jones, Allan Forrest, and Lucretia Harris. As with many of Minter's features, it is thought to be a lost film.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Hamlin, Tom (November 22, 1919). "A Fighting Colleen (Vitagraph)". Motion Picture News. Vol. 20, no. 22. p. 3789.
  2. Love, Bessie (1977). From Hollywood with Love: An Autobiography of Bessie Love. London: Elm Tree Books. p. 150. OCLC   734075937.
  3. "Release Dates". The Film Daily. New York: Wid's Films and Film Folks. January 4, 1920. p. 30.
  4. "Release Dates". The Film Daily. New York: Wid's Films and Film Folks. December 14, 1919. p. 30.
  5. "Slight Entertainment in Story of Slum Life". Wid's Daily. New York: Wid's Films and Film Folks. November 16, 1919. p. 23.
  6. "A Fighting Colleen / David Smith [motion picture]". Library of Congress.
  7. Monroe, Mary Denham (December 1919). "The Fighting Colleen". Picture-Play Magazine. Vol. 11, no. 4. pp. 45–48, 101.
  8. "Shortt's Theatre". Evening Post. Vol. 99, no. 109. Melbourne. May 8, 1920. p. 3.
  9. Various contemporaneous reviews:
    • Perry, Will C. (May 22, 1920). "Vitagraph". Exhibitors Herald. Vol. 10, no. 21. p. 80. This is a winsome little play, and the star does herself credit. Good house.
    • "Vitagraph". Exhibitors Herald. Vol. 11, no. 10. September 4, 1920. p. 116. Pleased our patrons. Well worth considering. Love a very pleasing star.
    • "Vitagraph". Motion Picture News. Vol. 21, no. 14. March 27, 1920. p. 2986. An entertaining comedy drama.
    • Miles, A. N. (August 7, 1920). "Vitagraph". Exhibitors Herald. Vol. 11, no. 6. p. 81. A likable little picture with a pleasing star whose work deserves bigger and better plays. Rain hurt business, but those who saw it like it.