Disraeli | |
---|---|
Directed by | Henry Kolker |
Written by | Forrest Halsey (scenario) |
Based on | Disraeli by Louis Napoleon Parker |
Produced by | Distinctive Productions (formed by Arliss) |
Starring | George Arliss |
Cinematography | Harry Fischbeck |
Distributed by | United Artists |
Release date |
|
Running time | 7-9 reels at 6800 feet (circa 80-90 minutes) |
Country | United States |
Language | Silent (English intertitles) |
Disraeli (1921) is an American silent historical drama film directed by Henry Kolker and starring George Arliss. This film features Arliss's portrayal of Benjamin Disraeli. He had played the same role in the play Disraeli in 1911. Arliss also reprised this role in the 1929 sound film Disraeli .
A British film of the play, Disraeli , had been made in 1916 with the permission of the author Louis Napoleon Parker. Because of the production of the 1916 film angered Arliss while he was still performing the play on Broadway, Arliss later secured all screen rights to the play from its author Louis Napoleon Parker. The 1921 movie is the result of Arliss's use of his rights after his efforts and frustrations with Parker. [1] [2]
As described in a film magazine, [3] Disraeli (Arliss), a middle class Jew, has become the British Prime Minister under Queen Victoria and incurs the enmity of nobles and racist snobs. He knows that Russia is angling through diplomacy and intrigue for possession of the Suez Canal and, realizing that unless Britain secures it, the strength of her empire will be lost. He plays a lone game for control of the canal and wins. In his final hour of honor at court, those who stood against him claim the honor of having helped him.
According to silentera.com, this is a lost film with the exception of one reel held at the George Eastman House. [4] The FIAF database and Library of Congress Silent Database list complete copies of Disraeli in Gosfilmofond, Moscow, Russia, and Cinematheque Royale de Belgique in Brussels. [5]
Disraeli is a 1929 American pre-Code historical film directed by Alfred E. Green, released by Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc., and adapted by Julien Josephson (screenplay) and De Leon Anthony (titles) from the 1911 play Disraeli by Louis N. Parker.
Joseph Henry Kolker was an American stage and film actor and director.
George Arliss was an English actor, author, playwright, and filmmaker who found success in the United States. He was the first British actor to win an Academy Award – which he won for his performance as Victorian-era British prime minister Benjamin Disraeli in Disraeli (1929) – as well as the earliest-born actor of any category to win the honour. He specialized in successful biopics, such as Disraeli, Voltaire (1933), and Cardinal Richelieu (1935), as well as light comedies, which included The Millionaire (1931) and A Successful Calamity (1932).
Thank You is a lost 1925 American comedy film directed by John Ford. This film is based on a 1921 Broadway play, Thank You, by Winchell Smith and Tom Cushing.
Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) was a British politician and writer who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
Margaret Dale was an American stage and film actress. She performed on Broadway for over fifty years and occasionally did films in the 1920s. She appeared in a large number of Broadway hits over the course of her years as an actress.
Experience is a 1921 American silent morality drama film produced by Famous Players–Lasky and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The allegorical film was directed by George Fitzmaurice and starred Richard Barthelmess. It was based on George V. Hobart's successful 1914 Broadway play of the same name. It was the film debut of Lilyan Tashman.
Six Cylinder Love is a 1923 American silent comedy film produced and distributed by Fox Film and directed by Elmer Clifton. The film is based on a popular 1921 Broadway play and stars Ernest Truex from the play. Other actors appearing in the film from the Broadway play are Donald Meek and Ralph Sipperly.
The Passing of the Third Floor Back is a 1918 British/American silent allegorical film based on the 1908 play The Passing of the Third Floor Back by Jerome K. Jerome and directed by Herbert Brenon. The star of the film is Sir Johnston Forbes-Robertson, a legendary Shakespearean actor, who starred in the 1909 Broadway presentation of the play and its 1913 revival. Forbes-Robertson had been knighted by King George V in 1913 and had retired from acting in theatre that same year. In his retirement Forbes-Robertson had only dabbled in film acting making a 1913 film version of Hamlet, the most famous role he had played on the stage. Filmed in 1916, it was released in 1918.
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.
The Brat is a 1919 American silent drama film produced by and starring Alla Nazimova and directed by Herbert Blache. The film was released by Metro Pictures, who had Nazimova under contract, and is based on Maude Fulton's 1917 Broadway play in which she starred. It was remade as the 1931 film The Brat with Sally O'Neil in the lead role. The film is lost.
Tiger Rose is a 1923 American silent romantic adventure film produced and distributed by the Warner Brothers. It is based on Willard Mack's 1917 Broadway play starring Lenore Ulric. Ulric reprises her role in this silent film version. The story was later filmed as again in 1929 as Tiger Rose by George Fitzmaurice. The SilentEra database lists this film as surviving.
Louis Napoleon Parker was an English dramatist, composer and translator. Parker wrote many plays, developing a reputation for historical works. His 1911 play Disraeli is one of his best known, written as a vehicle for the actor George Arliss who later won an Academy Award for his performance in the 1929 film adaptation, itself based on his earlier 1921 silent film version.
Our Mrs. McChesney is a lost 1918 American silent comedy-drama film produced and distributed by Metro Pictures, directed by Ralph Ince, and based on the 1915 play by Edna Ferber and George V. Hobart starring Ethel Barrymore.
Disraeli is a 1916 British silent biographical film directed by Charles Calvert and Percy Nash and starring Dennis Eadie, Mary Jerrold and Cyril Raymond. The film was based on the 1911 play Disraeli by Louis N. Parker, which was adapted twice more, as a 1921 silent version and most famously in 1929, as an early sound film. It was made at Ealing Studios.
Disraeli is a play by the British writer Louis N. Parker. The comedy with dramatic overtones has four acts and four settings, with a large cast, and moderate pacing. It is a fictional depiction of Benjamin Disraeli's life around 1875, when he arranged the purchase of the Suez Canal. It also contains dual love stories: Disraeli and his wife, and a young couple.
Rich Man, Poor Man is a lost 1918 American silent romantic drama film starring Marguerite Clark and directed by J. Searle Dawley. It is based on a 1916 Broadway play by George Broadhurst. It was produced by Famous Players–Lasky and distributed by Paramount Pictures.
(for a 1929 early talkie remake starring Edward G. Robinson and Claudette Colbert see --The Hole in the Wall.)
Tess of the d'Urbervilles is a 1913 American silent drama film based upon the Thomas Hardy 1891 novel of the same name and was one of the first feature films made. It was directed by J. Searle Dawley, released by Famous Players Film Company and stars Mrs. Fiske, reprising her famous role from the 1897 play. An Adolph Zukor feature production after securing the services of top American actress Mrs. Fiske.
The Devil is a surviving 1921 silent drama film directed by James Young and starring stage actor George Arliss in a film version of his 1908 Broadway success of Ferenc Molnár's play, The Devil [1]. Long thought to be a lost film, a print was discovered in the 1990s and restored by the Library of Congress.