Believe Me, Xantippe | |
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Directed by | Donald Crisp |
Written by | Olga Printzlau (scenario) |
Based on | Believe Me Xantippe by John Frederick Ballard |
Produced by | Jesse L. Lasky |
Starring | Wallace Reid Ann Little |
Cinematography | Henry Kotani |
Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 50 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | Silent (English intertitles) |
Believe Me, Xantippe is a lost [1] 1918 American silent romantic comedy film produced by Jesse Lasky for release through Paramount Pictures. [2] The film was directed by actor/director Donald Crisp and stars Wallace Reid and Ann Little. The film is based on a 1913 William A. Brady-produced play Believe Me Xantippe by John Frederick Ballard, which on the Broadway stage had starred John Barrymore. [3] [4]
As described in a film magazine, [5] George MacFarland (Reid) makes a bet with two of his friends that, having committed a forgery, he will be able to elude the officers of the law for one year. As his friends are very thorough, he does not find it an easy matter getting around town. He finally goes to a small town in the west where he lives unmolested for eleven months.
On a hunting expedition he meets Dolly Kamman (Little), daughter of Sheriff Kamman (Beery), who takes George to meet her father. As Dolly has fallen in love with George's photograph, he is a somewhat privileged prisoner. On the day the bet is off George hears that his friends have drowned and he is sure he is to be sent to Sing Sing. The arrival of the boys, however, changes things, and in addition to being set free George wins Dolly.
Lionel Barrymore was an American actor of stage, screen and radio as well as a film director. He won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in A Free Soul (1931) and is known to modern audiences for the role of villainous Mr. Potter in Frank Capra's 1946 film It's a Wonderful Life.
Wallace Fitzgerald Beery was an American film and stage actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Bill in Min and Bill (1930) opposite Marie Dressler, as General Director Preysing in Grand Hotel (1932), as the pirate Long John Silver in Treasure Island (1934), as Pancho Villa in Viva Villa! (1934), and his title role in The Champ (1931), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor. Beery appeared in some 250 films during a 36-year career. His contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer stipulated in 1932 that he would be paid $1 more than any other contract player at the studio. This made Beery the highest-paid film actor in the world during the early 1930s. He was the brother of actor Noah Beery and uncle of actor Noah Beery Jr.
Noah Nicholas Beery was an American actor who appeared in films from 1913 until his death in 1946. He was the older brother of Academy Award-winning actor Wallace Beery as well as the father of prominent character actor Noah Beery Jr. He was billed as either Noah Beery or Noah Beery Sr. depending upon the film.
Noah Lindsey Beery was an American actor often specializing in warm, friendly character roles similar to many portrayed by his Oscar-winning uncle, Wallace Beery. Unlike his more famous uncle, however, Beery Jr. seldom broke away from playing supporting roles. Active as an actor in films or television for well over half a century, he was best known for playing James Garner's character's father, Joseph "Rocky" Rockford, in the NBC television series The Rockford Files (1974–1980). His father, Noah Beery, enjoyed a similarly lengthy film career as an extremely prominent supporting actor in major films, although the elder Beery was also frequently a leading man during the silent film era.
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Less Than Kin is a lost 1918 American silent comedy film directed by Donald Crisp and written by Marion Fairfax and Alice Duer Miller. The film stars Wallace Reid, Ann Little, Raymond Hatton, Noah Beery, Sr., James Neill and Charles Ogle. The film was released on July 21, 1918, by Paramount Pictures.
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