A Soul Enslaved

Last updated
A Soul Enslaved
A Soul Enslaved (1916) - 1.jpg
Film still
Directed by Cleo Madison
Screenplay by Adele Farrington
Olga Printzlau
Produced by Cleo Madison
Starring Cleo Madison
Tom Chatterton
Lule Warrenton
Distributed by Universal Film Manufacturing Company
Release date
  • January 24, 1916 (1916-01-24)(U.S.)
Running time
5 reels
CountryUnited States
LanguageSilent (English intertitles)

A Soul Enslaved is a 1916 American silent drama film directed by actress-turned-director (and suffragist) Cleo Madison, and written by screenwriters Adele Farrington and Olga Printzlau. Madison also stars. The Universal film is believed to be lost. [1] [2]

Contents

Plot

The film—which explores themes of hypocrisy, double standards, and gender norms—features Madison as an activist fighting for better working conditions at her factory job. Madison's character is having an affair with the factory's owner, and she later moves on and marries a man who is unaware of her past. When he discovers that she was previously a "kept woman," he leaves her, only to return after reflecting that he once seduced and abandoned a young woman who committed suicide. [3]

Cast

Production

The film was Madison's directorial feature debut. [4] [5] Production was delayed by nearly 10 days after Madison was struck in the eye by a fishing hook in a freak accident. The incident nearly cost her her sight in that eye. [6]

Related Research Articles

Loretta Young American actress (1913–2000)

Loretta Young was an American actress. Starting as a child, she had a long and varied career in film from 1917 to 1953. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in the film The Farmer's Daughter (1947), and received her second Academy Award nomination for her role in Come to the Stable (1949). Young moved to the relatively new medium of television, where she had a dramatic anthology series, The Loretta Young Show, from 1953 to 1961. The series earned three Emmy Awards, and was re-run successfully on daytime TV and later in syndication. In the 1980s, Young returned to the small screen and won a Golden Globe for her role in Christmas Eve in 1986.

Jane Campion New Zealand screenwriter, producer, and film director

Dame Elizabeth Jane Campion is a New Zealand director, screenwriter, and producer. She has received two Academy Awards, two BAFTA Awards, and two Golden Globe Awards for her critically acclaimed films, The Piano (1993), and The Power of the Dog (2021). Campion was appointed a Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (DNZM) in the 2016 New Year Honours, for services to film.

Mayo Methot American actress (1904–1951)

Mayo Jane Methot was an American film and stage actress. She appeared in over 30 films, as well as in various Broadway productions, though she attracted significant media attention for her tempestuous marriage to actor Humphrey Bogart.

Sharon Gless American actress

Sharon Marguerite Gless is an American actress, who is known for her television roles as Maggie Philbin on Switch (1975–78), Sgt. Christine Cagney in the police procedural drama series Cagney & Lacey (1982–88), the title role in The Trials of Rosie O'Neill (1990–92), Debbie Novotny in the Showtime cable television series Queer as Folk (2000–2005), and Madeline Westen on Burn Notice (2007–2013). A 10-time Emmy Award nominee and seven-time Golden Globe Award nominee, she won a Golden Globe in 1986 and Emmys in 1986 and 1987 for Cagney & Lacey, and a second Golden Globe in 1991 for The Trials of Rosie O'Neill. Gless received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1995.

Elsie Jane Wilson Australian film director

Elsie Jane Wilson was a cinema actress, director, and writer during the early film era. She took part in the productions of the silent film era and starred in over thirty films. Between the years of 1916 and 1919, Wilson was credited for producing, writing two films, and directing eleven films. She was best known in the genres of dramas and comedy dramas.

Jane Withers American actress and childrens radio show host (1926–2021)

Jane Withers was an American actress and children's radio show host. She became one of the most popular child stars in Hollywood in the 1930s and early 1940s, with her films ranking in the top ten list for box-office gross in 1937 and 1938.

Lois Weber American actress, film director

Florence Lois Weber was an American silent film actress, screenwriter, producer and director. She is identified in some historical references as among "the most important and prolific film directors in the era of silent films". Film historian Anthony Slide has also asserted, "Along with D. W. Griffith, Weber was the American cinema's first genuine auteur, a filmmaker involved in all aspects of production and one who utilized the motion picture to put across her own ideas and philosophies".

Bessie Barriscale American actress (1884–1965)

Bessie Barriscale was an American actress who gained fame on the stage and in silent films.

Cleo Ridgely American actress

Cleo Ridgely-Horne was a star of silent and sound motion pictures. Her career began early in the silent film era, in 1911, and continued for forty years. She retired in the 1930s but later returned to make more movies. Her final film was Hollywood Story (1951), in which she had a bit part.

Margarita Fischer American actress

Margarita Fisher was an American actress in silent motion pictures and stage productions. Newspapers sometimes referred to her as "Babe" Fischer.

Spottiswoode Aitken Scottish actor

Frank Spottiswoode Aitken was a Scottish-American actor of the silent era. He played Dr. Cameron in D. W. Griffith's epic drama The Birth of a Nation.

Cleo Madison American actress

Cleo Madison was a theatrical and silent film actress, screenwriter, producer, and director who was active in Hollywood during the silent era.

<i>Her Bitter Cup</i> 1916 film by Cleo Madison

Her Bitter Cup is a 1916 American silent film directed by Cleo Madison. One of only two feature-length films directed by Madison, she also played the leading role, a fervent labor organizer who uses drastic methods to finance her cause of improving the miserable lot of the workers in a factory.

Her Defiance is a short silent film directed by Cleo Madison and Joe King. The film was released January 14, 1916. Starring Madison as an innocent young country girl who becomes involved in a love affair, the film is noted for its use of the "matte process" which Madison uses to explain time and distance in the narrative. This powerful feminist melodrama was released around the same time that many suffragette films were produced. Her Defiance is usually associated with other feminist melodramas that Madison produced in this year including Alias Jane Jones,A Soul Enslaved, and A Heart's Crucible. Motion Picture News claimed Her Defiance was "a sympathetic subject along conventional lines but benefited by several original situations that add much to its value," on January 15, 1916.

<i>Barriers of Society</i> 1916 American silent drama film

Barriers of Society is a 1916 American silent drama film directed by Lloyd B. Carleton. Universal based the film on the story written by Clarke Irvine and adapted for the screen by Fred Myton. The feature film stars Dorothy Davenport, Emory Johnson, and an all-star cast of Universal contract players.

<i>The Yaqui</i> The Yaqui is a 1916 melodrama movie directed by Lloyd B. Carleton

The Yaqui is a 1916 American silent Black and white Melodrama directed by Lloyd B. Carleton and starring Hobart Bosworth, Gretchen Lederer and Emory Johnson. The film depicts Yaqui Indians entrapped by nefarious elements into enslavement for a wealthy plantation owner. They struggle in captivity, eventually rebelling against their owner's oppression.

<i>Her Husbands Faith</i> 1916 movie by Lloyd B. Carleton

Her Husband's Faith is a 1916 American silent short film directed by Lloyd B. Carleton. The film is based on a story by Paul Machette. Eugene De Rue developed the screenplay. This domestic society drama's features Dorothy Davenport, T. D. Crittenden and Emory Johnson.

<i>The Way of the World</i> (1916 film) 1916 movie by Lloyd B. Carleton

The Way of the World is a 1916 American silent Feature film directed by Lloyd B. Carleton. The film is based on a play by Clyde Fitch and developed for the screen by F. McGrew Willis. This drama's features Hobart Bosworth, Dorothy Davenport, and Emory Johnson.

<i>Her Souls Song</i> 1916 movie by Lloyd B. Carleton

Her Soul's Song is a 1916 American silent short film directed by Lloyd B. Carleton. The film is based on a story by Betty Schade. Calder Johnstone developed the screenplay. This drama's features Dorothy Davenport and Emory Johnson.

<i>No. 16 Martin Street</i> No. 16 Martin Street 1916 movie directed by Lloyd Carleton

No. 16 Martin Street was a 1916 American silent Short film directed by Lloyd B. Carleton. The film was based on the detective story and screen adaptation by Bess Meredyth. The drama stars Dorothy Davenport, Emory Johnson, and an all-star cast of Universal contract players.

References

  1. Dixon, Wheeler W. (1999). Disaster and Memory: Celebrity Culture and the Crisis of Hollywood Cinema. Columbia University Press. ISBN   9780231113175.
  2. Photoplay Magazine. Cloud Publishing Company. 1916.
  3. Cooper, Mark Garrett (2010-10-01). Universal Women: Filmmaking and Institutional Change in Early Hollywood. University of Illinois Press. ISBN   9780252090875.
  4. "1 Nov 1915, Page 8 - The News-Review at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2018-12-29.
  5. "1 Mar 1916, Page 11 - The Charlotte News at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2018-12-29.
  6. Sink, Alice E. (2013-11-12). On This Day in Piedmont Triad History. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN   9781625842176.