Between Friends | |
---|---|
Directed by | J. Stuart Blackton |
Written by | Robert W. Chambers |
Screenplay by | Charles Gaskill |
Based on | Between Friends by Robert William Chambers |
Produced by | Albert E. Smith |
Starring | Lou Tellegen Anna Q. Nilsson Norman Kerry |
Cinematography | Stephen Smith Jr. |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Vitagraph Company of America |
Release date |
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Running time | 7 reels |
Country | United States |
Language | Silent (English intertitles) |
Between Friends is a 1924 American silent melodrama film based on the eponymous 1914 novel by Robert W. Chambers. The film was directed by J. Stuart Blackton and produced by Albert E. Smith. It stars Lou Tellegen, Anna Q. Nilsson, and Norman Kerry. The feature was distributed by Vitagraph Studios, which was founded by Blackton and Smith in 1897 in Brooklyn, New York. The film is lost. [1]
Jack Greylock runs away with the wife of his lifelong friend, David Drene, a sculptor. Drene only knows that his wife has fled; he does not know the identity of the man with whom she went. The wife kills herself from remorse and Greylock returns to keep up the semblance of his ancient friendship with the sculptor, who buries his sorrow in his work. Cecile Waite, a model, poses for Drene and Greylock, upon meeting her, falls honestly in love with her. She, however, loves Drene, who is apparently oblivious. Drene learns through another friend that Greylock was responsible for his wife's downfall. He first intends to kill him, but perceiving Greylock's love for the model, resolves to work his vengeance through Cecile. Drene threatens her. Greylock pleads for mercy for the girl and eventually agrees to kill himself at midnight Christmas Eve if Drene will spare her. Drene's brooding overturns his reason for a time and after a night of delirium, he collapses. Cecile finds him and nurses him back to health. The sculptor regains consciousness on Christmas Eve, his disposition improved. He sends Cecile to tell Greylock of his changed mood, but she cannot get into the house where Greylock is slowly preparing to keep his pledge. Drene then telepathically draws Greylock to his home and absolves him of his promise.
The film adaption was written and credited to screenwriter and director Charles Gaskill. However, in her book J. Stuart Blackton: A Personal Biography by His Daughter (June 1985), Marian Blackton Trimble writes that her father was unhappy with Gaskill's adaption of Chamber's novel, saying: "The script proved too involved, too scholarly, top heavy with long, platitudinous titles, the cardinal sin of the silent movie, and soggy with prolonged, unclimaxed scenes" (p. 150). Trimble says in her book that while en route by train from New York to Los Angeles, she penned a script that was acceptable to her father and actor Lou Tellegen as well, but Trimble received no credit for her work. Trimble went on to receive credit for other features under the pseudonym Marian Constance, mainly in films where she was working with her father. [1] In a review of the film in The Film Daily , dated April 20, 1924, a list of credits for the film include Marion Constance along with Chas. L Gaskill for scenario. [2] Trimble also states in her book (p. 152) that her father "was one of the first, if not the first", to utilize the technique of montage shots in his films. [1]
When the film played at the Forum Theatre in Los Angeles, the silent film The Haunted Hotel (1907), was shown in connection with Blackton's film. The showing of the old film proved to be a hit and other exhibitors started requesting early-day pictures from Vitagraph as well. [3] The Exhibitors Herald reported in 1924 that Blackton had purportedly "invented a new technical arrangement of lights by which he has procured effects in photography which never before have been shown on the screen...the experiments were conducted in Los Angeles and used for the first time in the studio set of Between Friends, where a model poses for a statue". [4]
In February 1918, Vitagraph released The Woman Between Friends , a silent film based upon the novel which featured Robert Walker, Edith Speare, and Marc McDermott. During filming, Walker accidentally shot at himself but was not injured in the mishap. [1]
When the film premiered at the Rivoli Theater in New York, local newspapers were mixed in their reviews. The New York Times review said "there are black cats, apples handed to the hero by the pretty model and an utterly overdone bit of suspense toward the end of the picture, together with scenic long-distance hypnotism". [1] The American considered the film "the best thing J. Stuart Blackton has made in a long, long time". The Daily News was harsh in their criticism of the feature saying, "just as the characters in this Robert W. Chambers story were cheap and unreal, so are they in the film". The Morning Telegraph praised the film stating that "it is many a day since Mr. Blackton has made a better picture, not only has he handled a strong story with intelligent dignity and repression, but he has skillfully avoided an interpretation which easily could have made it objectionable to the censors and the censorious". A reviewer for the New York Evening Post blasted the film saying, "How anything so frightfully poor, so hilariously ridiculous and generally terrible could ever be screened at all, much less shown at a Broadway house, passeth comprehension...it's so thoroughly atrocious that the problem of trying to review it staggers the mind of ye reviewer". [5]
Henriette Sloane gave the film a positive review in the Exhibitors Trade Review , stating that it was "armed with an unusually strong cast of noted stars...and was a very satisfactory and decidedly entertaining photoplay which should provide the average audience with a very pleasant matinee or evening". She also noted that the "story is alive with romance, thrills and suspense". [6] A review in The Film Daily was also positive stating the film had "some new twists in this latest eternal triangle plot and there's a splendid production and fine cast that also help to make the picture interesting". [2]
Vitagraph Studios, also known as the Vitagraph Company of America, was a United States motion picture studio. It was founded by J. Stuart Blackton and Albert E. Smith in 1897 in Brooklyn, New York, as the American Vitagraph Company. By 1907, it was the most prolific American film production company, producing many famous silent films. It was bought by Warner Bros. in 1925.
James Stuart Blackton was a British-American film producer and director of the silent era. One of the pioneers of motion pictures, he founded Vitagraph Studios in 1897. He was one of the first filmmakers to use the techniques of stop-motion and drawn animation, is considered a father of American animation, and was the first to bring many classic plays and books to the screen. Blackton was also the commodore of the Motorboat Club of America and the Atlantic Yacht Club.
Laurence Norwood Trimble was an American silent film director, writer and actor. Trimble began his film career directing Jean, the Vitagraph Dog, the first canine to have a leading role in motion pictures. He made his acting debut in the 1910 silent Saved by the Flag, directed scores of films for Vitagraph and other studios, and became head of production for Florence Turner's independent film company in England (1913–1916). Trimble was most widely known for his four films starring Strongheart, a German Shepherd dog he discovered and trained that became the first major canine film star. After he left filmmaking he trained animals exclusively, particularly guide dogs for the blind.
Jean, also known as the Vitagraph Dog (1902–1916), was a female collie that starred in silent films. Owned and guided by director Laurence Trimble, she was the first canine to have a leading role in motion pictures. Jean was with Vitagraph Studios from 1909, and in 1913 went with Trimble to England to work with Florence Turner in her own independent film company.
The Automobile Thieves is an American crime-drama silent film directed by J. Stuart Blackton. The picture stars Blackton and Florence Lawrence. It was released on November 10, 1906 by The American Vitagraph Company; a print of the feature is preserved in the UCLA Film and Television Archive.
The Glorious Adventure is a lost 1918 American silent drama film directed by Hobart Henley.
The Outsider is a lost 1926 American 60-minute silent drama film directed by Rowland V. Lee and starring Jacqueline Logan, Lou Tellegen, and Walter Pidgeon. It was based on the 1923 play The Outsider by Dorothy Brandon. The screenplay is set in London and concerns an unorthodox doctor who cures a patient with whom he is in love.
A Yankee Princess is a 1919 American silent comedy-drama film produced and distributed by the Vitagraph Company of America. It was directed by David Smith and stars Bessie Love, who also wrote the screenplay. It is a lost film.
The Battle Cry of Peace is a 1915 American silent war film directed by Wilfrid North and J. Stuart Blackton, one of the founders of Vitagraph Company of America who also wrote the scenario. The film is based on the book Defenseless America, by Hudson Maxim, and was distributed by V-L-S-E, Incorporated. The film stars Charles Richman, L. Rogers Lytton, and James W. Morrison.
Let Not Man Put Asunder is a 1924 American silent drama film starring Pauline Frederick, produced and directed by J. Stuart Blackton, and distributed by Vitagraph, a company Blackton co-founded. The story is based on a 1902 novel of the same name by Basil King about divorce.
The Love Master is a 1924 American silent family drama film starring canine star Strongheart and actress Lillian Rich, directed by Laurence Trimble. The film survives in a French archive.
The World for Sale is a 1918 American silent drama film directed by J. Stuart Blackton and starring Conway Tearle, Ann Little, W.W. Bitner, Norbert Wicki, Crazy Thunder, and E.L. Fernandez. It is based on the 1916 novel The World For Sale by Gilbert Parker. The film was released on January 21, 1918, by Paramount Pictures. It is not known whether the film currently survives, and it may be a lost film.
A Fighting Colleen is a 1919 American silent comedy-drama film directed by David Smith and produced by Vitagraph Company of America. It stars Bessie Love and Charles Spere.
The Common Cause is a lost 1919 American silent comedy film directed and produced by J. Stuart Blackton and distributed by Vitagraph Company of America. It is based on a play, Getting Together, by Ian Hay, J. Hartley Manners, and Percival Knight.
William Pitt Striker Earle was an American director of the silent film era. He attended Columbia University and worked for a time as a photographer before breaking into the movie business by sneaking onto the lot of Vitagraph Company of America to observe how directors worked. After a few days of this, Earle approached the studio president and was given his first movie to direct, For the Honor of the Crew, a short about a crew race at Columbia University. He subsequently directed a number of features and shorts for Vitagraph. Later he worked with producer David O. Selznick. Earle founded his own, short-lived production company called Amex Production Corporation with J. S. Joffe, and shot the final two films of his career in Mexico.
The Redeeming Sin is a 1925 American silent drama film directed by J. Stuart Blackton and starring Alla Nazimova. It was produced and distributed by the Vitagraph Company of America. The story was remade in 1929 by Warner Bros. as The Redeeming Sin starring Dolores Costello.
The Beloved Brute is a 1924 American silent Western film directed by J. Stuart Blackton and starring Marguerite De La Motte, Victor McLaglen, and William Russell. It is based on the 1923 novel The Beloved Brute by Kenneth Perkins. This was English-born McLaglen's first American film.
Marian Constance Blackton was an American screenwriter and actress active primarily in the 1920s. She was sometimes credited as Marian Constance.
Yvonne from Paris is a 1919 American silent comedy film directed by Emmett J. Flynn and starring Mary Miles Minter, Allan Forrest, and Vera Lewis. It was Minter's last film with the American Film Company; she signed a contract with Realart, part of Famous Players–Lasky, in June 1919.
Lady Godiva is a 1911 American silent historical drama film directed by J. Stuart Blackton and produced by Vitagraph Studios in Brooklyn, New York. Its scenario is based on a legendary incident in the life of Godiva, Countess of Mercia, who lived in England during the mid-11th century. Allegedly, the Anglo-Saxon noblewoman rode naked—covered only by her long hair—through the streets of Coventry to protest and abolish an oppressive tax imposed on that town's residents by her husband, Leofric, Earl of Mercia. The film, copies of which survive today, stars Julia Swayne Gordon in the title role with a supporting cast including Robert Maillard, Harold Wilson, and Kate Price.