Related Research Articles
The year 1914 in film involved some significant events, including the debut of Cecil B. DeMille as a director.
Leonidas Frank "Lon" Chaney was an American actor and makeup artist. He is regarded as one of the most versatile and powerful actors of cinema, renowned for his characterizations of tortured, often grotesque and afflicted, characters and for his groundbreaking artistry with makeup. Chaney was known for his starring roles in such silent horror films as The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) and The Phantom of the Opera (1925). His ability to transform himself using makeup techniques that he developed earned him the nickname "The Man of a Thousand Faces".
The Penalty is an American psychological thriller crime film starring Lon Chaney and originally released in 1920 by Goldwyn Pictures. The movie was directed by Wallace Worsley, and written by Philip Lonergan and Charles Kenyon, based upon the pulp novel by Gouverneur Morris. The supporting cast includes Charles Clary, Doris Pawn, Jim Mason, and Claire Adams. The copyright for the film was owned by Gouverneur Morris, who wrote the novel on which the film was based. The budget for the film was $88,868.00. Portions of the film were shot in San Francisco.
Almost an Actress was a 1913 American silent short comedy film directed by Allen Curtis and starring Louise Fazenda, Max Asher, Lon Chaney and Silvion de Jardin. A surviving still from the film shows Lon Chaney as the exasperated cameraman, grimacing in frustration as chaos envelops the film set. The film is now considered lost. It is unknown when the film was lost, but if it was in Universal's vaults it would have been deliberately destroyed along with the remaining copies of Universal's silent era films in 1948.
The Tragedy of Whispering Creek is a 1914 American silent short Western film directed by Allan Dwan and featuring Murdock MacQuarrie, Pauline Bush, and Lon Chaney. Chaney expert Jon Mirsalis says Chaney also wrote the screenplay, based on a story by Elliott J. Clawson, but the Blake book says the film's director Allan Dwan wrote the screenplay himself. A print exists in the Deutsche Kinemathek film archive, making it Chaney's earliest surviving moving picture. A still exists which shows Chaney in his role as "The Greaser".
By the Sun's Rays is a 1914 American short silent Western film directed by Charles Giblyn and featuring Lon Chaney and Murdock MacQuarrie. It is one of the earliest surviving films of Lon Chaney, with several prints existing in private film collections and a video release in 1995. A still from the film exists showing Lon Chaney in the role of the villainous "Frank Lawlor".
Anything Once is a 1917 American silent drama film directed by Joe De Grasse and featuring Lon Chaney and Franklyn Farnum. The screenplay was written by William Parker, based on a story by Izola Forrester and Mann Page. It was distributed by Universal Pictures.
The Scarlet Car is a 1917 American silent drama film directed by Joe De Grasse and featuring Lon Chaney, Edith Johnson, and Franklyn Farnum. The film was written by William Parker, based upon the novel The Scarlet Car by Richard Harding Davis, which also served as the basis of a 1923 Universal film of the same name. A print of the 1917 film exists at the Library of Congress, and the movie is available on DVD. Clips from the film were used in the 1995 documentary Lon Chaney: Behind the Mask. A still exists showing Lon Chaney in his own make-up as the protagonist "Paul Revere Forbes".
Broadway Love is a 1918 American silent romance film directed by Ida May Park and starring Dorothy Phillips, William Stowell, and Lon Chaney. It was written by Ida May Park, based on the novelette by W. Carey Wonderly.
Riddle Gawne is a 1918 American silent Western film directed by William S. Hart and Lambert Hillyer, and featuring William S. Hart, Katherine MacDonald and Lon Chaney. The film was co-produced by William S. Hart and Thomas H. Ince. The screenplay was written by Charles Alden Seltzer from his earlier novel The Vengeance of Jefferson Gawne. Chaney historian Jon C. Mirsalis claims that William S. Hart contributed greatly to the screenplay but all other sources credit the writing of the screenplay solely to Charles Alden Seltzer.
That Devil, Bateese is a 1918 American silent action-drama film directed by William Wolbert and starring Monroe Salisbury, Ada Gleason, and Lon Chaney. The screenplay was written by Bernard McConville, based on a story written by Bess Meredyth. Even though this film was released before some of his earlier Universal films, it was actually Chaney's final film from his first stint at Universal Studios. Filming took place at Big Bear Lake and the San Bernardino National Forest in California. The film is considered lost.
The Talk of the Town is a 1918 American silent comedy film directed by Allen Holubar and featuring Lon Chaney, William Stowell and Dorothy Phillips. The screenplay was written by Allen Holubar, based on the novelette "Discipline of Genevra" by Harold Vickers. The Talk of the Town is currently considered a lost film.
Treasure Island is a 1920 silent film adaptation of the 1883 novel by Robert Louis Stevenson, directed by Maurice Tourneur, and released by Paramount Pictures. Lon Chaney played two different pirate roles in this production, "Blind Pew" and "Merry", and stills exist showing him in both makeups. Charles Ogle, who had played Frankenstein's Monster in the first filmed version of Frankenstein a decade earlier at Edison Studios, portrayed Long John Silver. Wallace Beery was supposed to play Israel Hands, but that role went to Joseph Singleton instead. The film was chosen as one of the Top Forty Pictures of the Year by the National Board of Review.
Victory is a surviving 1919 American action film directed by Maurice Tourneur and starring Jack Holt, Seena Owen, Lon Chaney, Wallace Beery and Bull Montana. The film is an adaptation of the 1915 eponymous novel by Joseph Conrad. The screenplay was written by Jules Furthman and Ben Carré was the art director.
Shadows is a dramatic 1922 silent film starring Lon Chaney, Marguerite De La Motte, Harrison Ford and John Sainpolis. Shadows is a tale of a gentle Chinese immigrant trying to make a life for himself in a small New England town who comes across a vile plot to blackmail two good townspeople. It was directed by Tom Forman. The screenplay was written by Eve Unsell and Hope Loring, based on Ching, Ching, Chinaman, a short story by Wilbur Daniel Steele. The photography was by Harry Perry, and Louis Gottschalk supplied the music score, for which Eve Unsell also wrote the lyrics. The following year, as Chaney was preparing to star in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, he suggested Marguerite De La Motte for the role of Esmeralda, but the part went to Patsy Ruth Miller instead.
Voices of the City is a 1921 American silent crime drama film starring Leatrice Joy and Lon Chaney that was directed by Wallace Worsley, based on the Leroy Scott novel The Night Rose. The film took more than 9 months to be released due to a controversy over the proposed title and the film's abundance of gunplay. The film was retitled Voices of the City and was only released in December 1921, although it had been completed in early March. The film is still listed under The Night Rose in some reference sources.
All the Brothers Were Valiant is a 1923 American silent sea adventure and romantic drama film starring Lon Chaney. The film was produced and distributed by Metro Pictures corporation and directed by Irvin Willat. The cast also features Malcolm McGregor, Billie Dove and Robert McKim. The screenplay was written by Julien Josephson, based on the eponymous novel by Ben Ames Williams. The film was also known as Cold Courage.
For Those We Love is a 1921 American silent romantic drama film produced by and starring Betty Compson, and featuring Lon Chaney and Richard Rosson. Written and directed by Arthur Rosson, the film was based on a story by Perley Poore Sheehan (who later co-wrote the script for Chaney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame. The film was distributed by Goldwyn Pictures. Some sources list the release date as being in March 1921. This is unlikely since the film was only copyrighted in July, but the exact release date has not been confirmed. It is now considered a lost film. A still exists showing Chaney holding the heroine.
When Bearcat Went Dry is a 1919 American silent drama film directed by Oliver L. Sellers from the novel by Charles Neville Buck, and starring Lon Chaney as Kindard Powers. The title refers to a character nicknamed "Bearcat" who promises his girlfriend that he will quit drinking liquor. The plot involving a promise to give up drinking was timely given the passage of the Wartime Prohibition Act, which took effect on June 30, 1919, and banned the sale of alcoholic beverages, and ratification of the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in January of the same year.
A Man's Country is a 1919 silent Western drama film directed by Henry Kolker, and starring Alma Rubens, Alan Roscoe, and Lon Chaney. It was written by Richard Schayer based on a screen story by John Lynch. The poster's tagline was "A forceful and spectacular drama of the primitive West in the days of the Gold Rush, when men fought hard, women lived fast and human life was cheap."
References
- ↑ "Silent Era: Fast Company". silentera.com. Retrieved June 26, 2008.
- ↑ Blake, Michael F. (1998). "The Films of Lon Chaney". Vestal Press Inc. Page 84. ISBN 1-879511-26-6.
- ↑ "Reviews: Fast Company". Exhibitors Herald. 6 (16). New York City: Exhibitors Herald Company: 25. April 13, 1918.
- ↑ Blake, Michael F. (1998). "The Films of Lon Chaney". Vestal Press Inc. Page 84. ISBN 1-879511-26-6.
- ↑ Mirsalis, Jon C. "Fast Company". Lonchaney.org. Retrieved March 12, 2021.