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.
Metro Pictures Corporation was a motion picture production company founded in early 1915 in Jacksonville, Florida. It was a forerunner of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The company produced its films in New York, Los Angeles, and sometimes at leased facilities in Fort Lee, New Jersey. It was purchased in 1919.
Revelation is a 1924 film starring Viola Dana, Monte Blue, and Lew Cody. The film was directed and written by George D. Baker and based upon a popular novel, The Rosebud of a Thousand Years. Dana was one of the top stars of the newly amalgamated MGM, a lively comedian who enjoyed a long career that faded with the emergence of the talkies. In 1918, Metro Pictures filmed Revelation again, starring Alla Nazimova and again directed by Baker.
The Great Love is a 1925 silent film directed by Marshall Neilan based upon his own story, scripted by Benjamin Glazer. The film stars Robert Agnew, Viola Dana and ZaSu Pitts. This film is considered lost.
La Demoiselle de magasin is a 1913 theatrical play in three acts written by Belgians Frantz Fonson and Fernand Wicheler.
That Certain Thing is a 1928 silent film comedy directed by Frank Capra. It was Capra's first film for Harry Cohn's Columbia Pictures.
The Ice Flood is a 1926 American silent northwoods drama film produced and distributed by Universal Pictures. It was directed by George Seitz and starred Kenneth Harlan and Viola Dana. A complete, though poor quality copy, exists and has been distributed by the Grapevine company in Arizona.
Kosher Kitty Kelly is a 1926 American silent comedy drama film directed by James W. Horne, produced by Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. (Robertson-Cole), and distributed by Film Booking Offices of America (FBO). Based on the stage musical Kosher Kitty Kelly by Leon De Costa, the film stars Viola Dana.
The Great Divide is a 1929 American pre-Code Western film directed by Reginald Barker and starring Dorothy Mackaill. Released in both silent and sound versions, it was produced and distributed by First National Pictures. The film is a remake of The Great Divide, made at MGM in 1925. There was another remake in 1931 as the full sound film Woman Hungry. All three films are based on the 1906 Broadway play The Great Divide by William Vaughn Moody.
Open All Night is a 1924 American silent comedy film produced by Famous Players-Lasky and released by Paramount Pictures. Paul Bern, better known as a writer and later husband of Jean Harlow, directed and Viola Dana, Jetta Goudal, and Raymond Griffith starred. The screenplay is based on Paul Morand's 1922 short story collection Open All Night. Actors Viola Dana and "Lefty" Flynn would soon marry after this film.
As Man Desires is a 1925 American silent drama film directed by Irving Cummings and starring Viola Dana. It was produced and distributed by First National Pictures.
Arms and the Girl is a 1917 American silent drama film produced by Famous Players-Lasky and distributed by Paramount Pictures. It was directed by Joseph Kaufman and stars Billie Burke. The film is one of the few of director Kaufman's to survive and the earliest known Billie Burke silent to survive.
Winds of Chance is a 1925 American silent drama film directed by Frank Lloyd and produced and released by First National Pictures.
A Weaver of Dreams is a lost silent film directed by Edison's John H. Collins and released under Metro Films February 18, 1918, at the height of Mr. Collins' career. It was the 36th of 41 films credited to his direction. The young director succumbed to Spanish Influenza and died later that year; October 23, 1918, at the age of 28. The film stars his actress wife Virginia Flugrath, who is best known by her screen name Viola Dana. The screenplay, written by John H. Collins and William Parker, is an adaptation of Myrtle Reed's (1874-1911) posthumously published novel A Weaver of Dreams (1911); the author took her own life earlier that year on August 17, 1911.
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.
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.
Breakers Ahead is a 1918 American silent drama film, directed by Charles Brabin. It stars Viola Dana, Clifford Bruce, and Mabel Van Buren, and was released on March 25, 1918.
The Five Dollar Baby is a 1922 American silent comedy film directed by Harry Beaumont and starring Viola Dana, Ralph Lewis and Otto Hoffman. A family hock their baby to a pawnbroker for five dollars.
The Heart Bandit is a 1924 American silent drama film directed by Oscar Apfel and starring Viola Dana, Milton Sills, and Gertrude Claire.
Rouged Lips is a 1923 American silent drama film directed by Harold M. Shaw and starring Viola Dana, Tom Moore, and Nola Luxford. It is based in the story Upstage by Rita Weiman which appeared in Cosmopolitan Magazine.
