Richard Semler Barthelmess was an American film actor, principally of the Hollywood silent era. He starred opposite Lillian Gish in D. W. Griffith's Broken Blossoms (1919) and Way Down East (1920) and was among the founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1927. The following year, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for two films: The Patent Leather Kid and The Noose.
The year 1920 in film involved some significant events.
The year 1916 in film involved some significant events.
Mary William Ethelbert Appleton Burke, better known as Billie Burke, was an American actress who was famous on Broadway and radio, and in silent and sound films. She is best known to modern audiences as Glinda the Good Witch of the North in the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer movie musical The Wizard of Oz (1939).
David Powell was a Scottish stage and later film actor of the silent era.
The Noose is an American silent drama film adaptation of the Willard Mack play The Noose, which was released in 1928 by First National Pictures. It stars Richard Barthelmess, Montagu Love, Robert Emmett O'Connor, and Thelma Todd. It was directed by John Francis Dillon and Richard Barthelmess's performance was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor. The movie was adapted by Garrett Graham and James T. O'Donohoe from the play. The play was also the basis of the Paramount Pictures film I'd Give My Life (1936).
The Green Archer is a ten part 1925 American mystery film serial directed by Spencer Gordon Bennet. It is based on Edgar Wallace's bestselling 1923 novel of the same name. The filmmakers moved the setting of the novel from England to the United States. The story was remade in the sound era as another serial The Green Archer by Columbia Pictures.
Her Gilded Cage is a 1922 American silent drama film directed by Sam Wood and starring Gloria Swanson. The film was based on the play The Love Dreams by Elmer Harris and Anne Nichols.
Drag is a 1929 American Pre-Code drama film produced by Richard A. Rowland and directed by Frank Lloyd based on the 1925 novel Drag: A Comedy by William Dudley Pelley. It stars Richard Barthelmess and Lucien Littlefield.
Classmates is a 1924 American silent drama film starring Richard Barthelmess, produced by his company Inspiration Pictures, and distributed by Associated First National Pictures. The film was directed by John S. Robertson and starred Richard Barthelmess and a still teenaged Madge Evans. The film is based on a popular 1907 play by William C. deMille and Margaret Turnbull.
Wanted: A Husband is a 1919 American silent comedy film starring Billie Burke. It was produced by Famous Players–Lasky and distributed by Paramount-Artcraft. The film is based on the short story "Enter D'Arcy" by Samuel Hopkins Adams. The relatively unknown Lawrence C. Windom directed this lost film.
The Misleading Widow (1919) is a silent film comedy directed by John S. Robertson and starring Billie Burke. The film is based on the play Billeted by F. Tennyson Jesse and H. M. Harwood and was produced by Famous Players–Lasky and distributed by Paramount Pictures.
A Society Scandal is a 1924 American silent drama film directed by Allan Dwan, and starring Gloria Swanson and Rod La Rocque. Distributed by Paramount Pictures, the film is based on a 1922 play The Laughing Lady, by Alfred Sutro which starred Ethel Barrymore in 1923 on Broadway and originally in 1922 with Edith Evans in UK.
Scarlet Days is a 1919 American silent Western film produced and directed by D. W. Griffith and released through Paramount/Artcraft Pictures, Artcraft being an affiliate of Paramount. Richard Barthelmess stars in a role for which Griffith had screentested Rudolph Valentino. In today's time, this film is considered by many to be one of Griffith's worst films though it might have worked better as a short film. This film was unlike others created by D.W. Griffith. According to an article written for The Cincinnati Enquirer, written on the 16 of November 1919: "Unlike other recent Griffith production, Scarlet Days is a story of the old West, of the gold rush days of 49- Bret Harte transferred to the screen!" The Western film genre was expanding at this time and Scarlet Days fits into this category. Western films were popular for this time.
Her Private Life is a surviving 1929 American pre-Code drama film directed by Alexander Korda and starring Billie Dove, Walter Pidgeon and Holmes Herbert. The plot concerns an English aristocrat who causes a scandal when she divorces her husband and runs off with a young American. The film had been considered a lost film. However, in July 2016, according to the Library of Congress, the film was found in an Italian archive.
Just Suppose is a 1926 American silent drama film produced by and starring Richard Barthelmess with distribution through First National Pictures. Kenneth Webb directed Barthelmess and young Lois Moran star. The film is based on the 1920 Broadway play Just Suppose by Albert E. Thomas.
Let's Get a Divorce is a 1918 American silent comedy film starring Billie Burke and written for the screen by husband and wife team John Emerson and Anita Loos. The film was produced by the Famous Players–Lasky company and distributed through Paramount Pictures. The film is based on the popular stage play Divorçons by Victorien Sardou and Émile de Najac.
Young Nowheres is a 1929 American drama film directed by Frank Lloyd and starring Richard Barthelmess, Marian Nixon and Bert Roach. It was produced and released by First National Pictures with a Vitaphone soundtrack in both silent and sound versions.
The Beautiful City is a 1925 American silent drama film directed by Kenneth Webb and starring Richard Barthelmess, Dorothy Gish, and William Powell. For their mother's sake, a man takes the blame for a robbery committed by his brother and his brother's gangster boss.
The Seventh Day is a 1922 American silent drama film directed by Henry King and starring Richard Barthelmess, Louise Huff, Frank Losee and Anne Cornwall. A group of high society New Yorkers on a yachting vacation put into a small New England fishing village for repairs. While there they strike up relationships with locals that threaten the harmony of their party.
