A Thief in Paradise | |
---|---|
Directed by | George Fitzmaurice |
Written by | Frances Marion |
Based on | The Worldlings by Leonard Merrick |
Produced by | George Fitzmaurice Samuel Goldwyn |
Starring | Doris Kenyon Ronald Colman Aileen Pringle |
Cinematography | Arthur C. Miller |
Edited by | Stuart Heisler |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Associated First National (USA) UFA (Germany) |
Release date |
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Running time | 8 reels |
Country | United States |
Language | Silent (English intertitles) |
A Thief in Paradise is a 1925 American silent drama film produced by Samuel Goldwyn, directed by George Fitzmaurice, and adapted by Frances Marion from Leonard Merrick's 1900 novel The Worldlings. [1]
Ronald Colman stars as Maurice Blake. Co-star Charles Youree plays the role of Philip Jardine, the wayward son of a San Francisco millionaire. The men are part-time pearl fishers on a tropical island and, during an underwater fight for a pearl, Jardine is attacked and killed by a shark. After his death, Aileen Pringle playing the role of Rosa Carmino, informs Blake that she has a letter from Jardine's wealthy father, urging him to return to San Francisco. The envelope containing the letter includes $500 to pay for transportation. Carmino, knowing that Jardine's father has never seen his fully grown son, implores Blake to impersonate him. The two thieves, as they are alluded to in the movie's title, arrive in San Francisco and are welcomed by the Jardine family. Soon, Blake falls in love with a neighbor named Helen played by Doris Kenyon. Carmino, jealous of the affair, is paid off by Blake to maintain her silence. However, after Blake marries Helen, Carmino tells Helen the true story. Blake admits the truth to Helen and despondent, tries to kill himself. Helen, in love with Blake, refuses to leave him and instead nurses him back to health. As the movie ends, the elder Jardine improbably accepts Blake as his step son and Carmino returns to her native island. [2] [3]
The movie was praised by critics for its filming of the underwater fight scene between Blake and Jardine, an impressive technological feat at the time the movie was made, as well for its lavish sets. [2] [4] Another scene that captured the attention of critics was a polo match, organized by the hosts of a garden party, that featured a team of barefoot blondes wearing one piece bathing suits playing a team of brunettes attired in the same manner. [4]
”A feature of this chapter is a polo game played by women in bathing suits. The guests are all the more thrilled by making it a contest between blondes and brunettes. Now this may be wandering away from the narrative, but who will say such a game lacks interest?” [2]
The director, George Fitzmaurice, said in an interview after the movie was completed, that he was surprised at the athleticism of brunettes compared to blondes whom he had long regarded as athletically superior to dark haired women. [5]
With no prints of A Thief in Paradise located in any film archives, [6] it is a lost film. [1] However, the stock footage company Producers Library has a 2-minute fragment of the film available for viewing on its site.
Bulldog Drummond is a 1929 American pre-Code crime film in which Hugh "Bulldog" Drummond helps a beautiful young woman in distress. The film stars Ronald Colman as the title character, Claud Allister, Lawrence Grant, Montagu Love, Wilson Benge, Joan Bennett, and Lilyan Tashman. Produced by Samuel Goldwyn and directed by F. Richard Jones, the movie was adapted by Sidney Howard from the play by H. C. McNeile.
This is an overview of 1925 in film, including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths.
Corinne Anita Loos was an American actress, novelist, playwright and screenwriter. In 1912, she became the first female staff screenwriter in Hollywood, when D. W. Griffith put her on the payroll at Triangle Film Corporation. She is best known for her 1925 comic novel, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, her screenplay of the 1939 adaptation of The Women, and her 1951 Broadway adaptation of Colette's novella Gigi.
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is a 1953 American musical comedy film directed by Howard Hawks and written by Charles Lederer. The film is based on the 1949 stage musical of the same name, which in turn is based on the 1925 novel of the same name by Anita Loos. The film stars Jane Russell and Marilyn Monroe, with Charles Coburn, Elliott Reid, Tommy Noonan, George Winslow, Taylor Holmes and Norma Varden in supporting roles.
Mary Brian was an American actress who made the transition from silent films to sound films.
Milton George Gustavus Sills was an American stage and film actor of the early twentieth century.
The Half-Way Girl is a 1925 American silent drama film directed by John Francis Dillon that was filmed around the Jersey Shore.
The Penalty is an American psychological thriller crime film starring Lon Chaney and originally released in 1920 by Goldwyn Pictures. The movie was directed by Wallace Worsley, and written by Philip Lonergan and Charles Kenyon, based upon the pulp novel by Gouverneur Morris. The supporting cast includes Charles Clary, Doris Pawn, Jim Mason, and Claire Adams. The copyright for the film was owned by Gouverneur Morris, who wrote the novel on which the film was based. The budget for the film was $88,868.00. Portions of the film were shot in San Francisco.
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes: The Intimate Diary of a Professional Lady (1925) is a comic novel written by American author Anita Loos. The story follows the dalliances of a young blonde gold-digger and flapper named Lorelei Lee "in the bathtub-gin era of American history." Published the same year as F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby and Carl Van Vechten's Firecrackers, the lighthearted work is one of several famous 1925 American novels focusing on the carefree hedonism of the Jazz Age.
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is a 1928 American silent comedy film directed by Mal St. Clair, co-written by Anita Loos based on her 1925 novel, and released by Paramount Pictures. No copies are known to exist, and it is now considered to be a lost film. The Broadway version Gentlemen Prefer Blondes starring Carol Channing as Lorelei Lee was mounted in 1949. It was remade into the film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes with Jane Russell as Dorothy Shaw and Marilyn Monroe as Lorelei Lee in 1953, directed by Howard Hawks.
Gino Corrado was an Italian-born film actor. He appeared in more than 400 films between 1916 and 1954, almost always in small roles as a character actor. From 1916 to 1923, he was known as Eugene Corey, which was an Anglicized version of his name.
The Wife of the Centaur is a 1924 American silent drama film directed by King Vidor, and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer shortly after it formed from a merger of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures, and Mayer Pictures in April 1924. Metro had acquired the movie rights to Cyril Hume's debut novel Wife of a Centaur in November. A novelist imagines that he has been reincarnated as a creature from Greek mythology and becomes entangled in a love triangle.
Stella Dallas is a 1925 American silent drama film that was produced by Samuel Goldwyn, adapted by Frances Marion, and directed by Henry King. The film stars Ronald Colman, Belle Bennett, Lois Moran, Alice Joyce, Jean Hersholt, and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. Prints of the film survive in several film archives.
The Last of Mrs. Cheyney is a 1937 American comedy drama film adapted from the 1925 Frederick Lonsdale play The Last of Mrs. Cheyney. The film tells the story of a chic jewel thief in England, who falls in love with one of her marks.
The Unguarded Hour is a 1936 American drama film directed by Sam Wood and starring Loretta Young, Franchot Tone and Roland Young. In England, a prominent young prosecutor in a murder trial is unaware that his wife is involved.
Wildfire is a 1925 American silent drama film directed by T. Hayes Hunter. It was produced by Distinctive Productions, a company founded by George Arliss, and distributed by the Vitagraph Company of America. The film stars Aileen Pringle.
Wanted! Jane Turner is a 1936 American crime drama film directed by Edward Killy from a screenplay by Edmund L. Hartmann and John Twist, based on Twist's story. Produced by RKO Radio Pictures, the film premiered in New York City on November 27, 1936, with a national release the following week on December 4. The film stars Lee Tracy and Gloria Stuart with an extensive supporting cast.
A Kiss in the Dark is a 1925 American silent comedy film directed by Frank Tuttle and written by Townsend Martin based upon a novel by Frederick Lonsdale. The film stars Adolphe Menjou, Aileen Pringle, Lillian Rich, Kenneth MacKenna, Ann Pennington, Kitty Kelly, and Zeppo Marx. The film was released on April 6, 1925, by Paramount Pictures.
If I Marry Again is a 1925 American silent drama film directed by John Francis Dillon and written by Kenneth B. Clarke. The film stars Doris Kenyon, Lloyd Hughes, Frank Mayo, Hobart Bosworth, Anna Q. Nilsson, and Myrtle Stedman, and was released on February 15, 1925, by First National Pictures. It was based on a story by the British writer Gilbert Frankau.
Wise Guys Prefer Brunettes is an American silent comedy film directed by F. Richard Jones and Stan Laurel, starring James Finlayson, Ted Healy, Charlotte Mineau, and Helene Chadwick. It was released by Pathé Exchange on October 3, 1926.