| Aladdin’s Other Lamp | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | John H. Collins |
| Written by | June Mathis |
| Based on | The Dream Girl (play) by Willard Mack |
| Produced by | B.A. Rolfe |
| Cinematography | John Arnold |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Metro Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 5 reels |
| Country | United States |
| Language | Silent |
Aladdin's Other Lamp is a 1917 American fantasy-comedy silent film based on the play, The Dream Girl by Willard Mack. It was adapted for the screen by June Mathis and directed by John H. Collins. The film stars Viola Dana and Robert Walker, and was distributed by Metro Pictures Corp., a forerunner of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It is not known whether the film currently survives. [1] [2]
Patsy Smith is kidnapped by her father when she's a baby, after having a fight with Patsy's mother. When her father dies at sea, Captain Barnaby takes Patsy to a boardinghouse run by Mrs. Duff. Inspired by the Captain's tales of Aladdin, she goes on a hunt for her father's oriental lamp which Mrs. Duff has sold to a junk peddler. After finding the lamp, Patsy buys it and starts to rub it and the Genie Jehaunarara appears. The genie transforms her room, restores the Captain's leg and turns Mrs. Duff into a rag doll. However, the genie can't reunite Patsy with her mother, because it is beyond his magic. After the genie wins first prize at a masquerade ball for his attire, Patsy applauds and unwittingly causes him to disappear. Upset, Patsy throws the oriental lamp out the window and barely misses hitting her friend Harry, who wants to become a lawyer and then president. Patsy finds letters in the lamp that lead her to locating her mother, who arrives with her brother, who is now a judge. Harry now daydreams that he is president and Patsy is his first lady. [3]
At the time of Aladdin's Other Lamp, Viola Dana was married to the director of the film, John H. Collins. He had discovered her and first brought her to work at Edison Studios and then later to Metro Pictures. [2]
Hal Erickson wrote in The New York Times that, "the popular star/director combination of Viola Dana and John H. Collins had another winner on their hands". [4] Variety offered the opinion in 1917 that "there is no dramatic tensity [sic] worthwhile in this film, it being one of those fantastical, fairy-changing, double exposure films that will make more of a hit with the kids than the grownups". [2] The Oakland Tribune said the film contained “delicious humor and melting pathos” and opined that Willard Mack's play, The Dream Girl, “loses none of its charm by having been picturized”. [2]
Aladdin is a Middle-Eastern folk tale. It is one of the best-known tales associated with The Book of One Thousand and One Nights, despite not being part of the original text; it was added by the Frenchman Antoine Galland, based on a folk tale that he heard from the Syrian Maronite storyteller Hanna Diyab.
Jafar is a fictional character in Walt Disney Pictures' animated film Aladdin (1992). He is voiced by Jonathan Freeman, who also portrayed the character in the Broadway musical adaptation. Jafar also appears in the 1994 sequel to Aladdin, but he is not in the 1996 third film or the television series, although he does return in the latter's crossover Hercules and the Arabian Night.
Viola Dana was an American film actress who was successful during the era of silent films. She appeared in over 100 films, but was unable to make the transition to sound films.
Willard Mack was a Canadian-American actor, director, and playwright.
Aladdin is a 1992 animated fantasy film. It is based on the classic Arabian Nights story Aladdin, translated by Antoine Galland. Aladdin was produced by Golden Films and the American Film Investment Corporation. Like all other Golden Films productions, the film featured a single song, "Rub the Lamp", written and composed by Richard Hurwitz and John Arrias. It was released directly to video on April 27, 1992 by GoodTimes Home Video and was reissued on DVD in 2002 as part of the distributor's "Collectible Classics" line of products.
A Lad an' a Lamp is a 1932 Our Gang short comedy film directed by Robert F. McGowan. It was the 119th Our Gang short to be released. The film has been criticized as containing racist humor.
The Single Standard is a 1929 American synchronized sound romantic drama film from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer directed by veteran John S. Robertson and starring Greta Garbo, Nils Asther and Johnny Mack Brown. The film has no audible dialogue but featured a synchronized musical score and sound effects. The soundtrack was recorded using the Western Electric Sound System sound-on-film process. The soundtrack was also transferred to discs for those theatres that were wired with sound-on-disc sound systems.
The Willow Tree is a surviving 1920 American silent film directed by Henry Otto and distributed by Metro Pictures. The film is based on a Broadway play, The Willow Tree, by J. H. Benrimo and Harrison Rhodes. Fay Bainter starred in the Broadway play in 1917. The film stars Viola Dana and is preserved in the George Eastman House Motion Picture Collection.
God's Law and Man's is a lost 1917 silent film drama direct by John H. Collins and distributed by Metro Pictures. It starred Collins's wife Viola Dana. The story comes from a novel by Paul Trent, A Wife by Purchase.
The Light of Happiness is a lost 1916 silent film drama directed by John H. Collins and starring Viola Dana.
Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp is a 1982 Japanese anime fantasy film produced by Toei Animation, based on the Middle Eastern folk tale of Aladdin. The film was released in Japan on 13 March 1982 by Toei Company.
The Flower of No Man's Land is a lost 1916 silent film drama directed by John H. Collins and starring Viola Dana. It was distributed by Metro Pictures.
The Fourteenth Lover is a surviving 1922 American silent comedy film directed by Harry Beaumont and starring Viola Dana. It was produced and distributed by Metro Pictures.
John H. Collins was an American writer and director of the silent film era. He married film actress Viola Dana. His career was cut short when he died at the age of 28 due to the 1918 influenza epidemic. During his career which began in 1914, he directed more than 40 features and film shorts, and wrote the scenario for over a dozen more features. His 1917 film The Girl Without a Soul was selected by the National Film Registry to be preserved by the Library of Congress. His final works were shown posthumously in 1919.
Salvation Jane is a 1927 American silent crime film directed by Phil Rosen and written by Doris Schroeder. The film stars Viola Dana, J. Parks Jones, Fay Holderness and Erville Alderson. The film was released on March 1, 1927, by Film Booking Offices of America.
Crinoline and Romance is a 1923 American silent comedy film directed by Harry Beaumont and starring Viola Dana, Claude Gillingwater, and John Bowers.
Harry S. Hilliard (1886–1966) was an American silent film actor best remembered as one of Theda Bara's leading men, if not her most prominent one. He started at Fox Films and continued on at Metro Pictures. Other leading ladies were June Caprice, May Allison, Carmel Myers and Gladys Brockwell. His career was essentially over by the end of the silent era but he had an uncredited role in a 1944 film. He is not the son of nor is he related to stage actor Robert C. Hilliard despite the resemblance.
They Like 'Em Rough is a 1922 silent comedy film directed by Harry Beaumont and starring Viola Dana, W.E. Lawrence and Hardee Kirkland.
Don't Doubt Your Husband is a 1924 American silent comedy film directed by Harry Beaumont and starring Viola Dana, Allan Forrest and Winifred Bryson.
Cohen's Luck is a 1915 American silent comedy film directed by John H. Collins and starring William Wadsworth, Lillian Devere and Viola Dana.
