His Picture in the Papers

Last updated

His Picture in the Papers
His Picture in the Papers Poster.jpg
Film poster
Directed by John Emerson
Written byJohn Emerson
Anita Loos
Starring Douglas Fairbanks
Loretta Blake
Cinematography George W. Hill
Production
company
Fine Arts Picture Company
Distributed by Triangle Film Corporation
Release date
  • February 13, 1916 (1916-02-13)
Running time
62 minutes
CountryUnited States
Language Silent (English intertitles)
Budget$42,599.94 [1]

His Picture in the Papers is a 1916 American silent comedy film written and directed by John Emerson. Anita Loos also wrote the film's scenario. The film stars Douglas Fairbanks and Loretta Blake and features Erich von Stroheim in a minor role. [2]

Contents

Plot

Watch His Picture in the Papers

Pete Prindle, son of Proteus, is a vegetarian health food manufacturer who wishes to marry Christine Cadwalader. She agrees. However, Proteus considers his son lazy, with no contributions to the company and therefore undeserving of his father's wealth. His daughters have their pictures in the newspapers, pictures of them promoting the company products. Cassius refuses to consent to his daughter's hand since he believes Pete to be lazy as well, with no real stake in his father's company. Pete tries hard to get in the newspaper: He fakes a car accident, which gets an insignificant mention in the paper. He wins a boxing match, which turns out to be an illegally run ring which ends up being raided by police.

After a misunderstanding, he washes up on the shore in his pajamas after falling off a cruise ship, and proceeds to beat two police officers, his name is withheld by the newspaper. Finally, he saves many people on a train from a group of thugs intent on murdering Cassius by preventing a collision with another rail car. He receives a front-page article in every major local newspaper and a large photo as well which pleases everyone.

Cast

Production notes

The film was produced by Fine Arts Film Company for $42,599.94, and distributed by the Triangle Film Corporation. [1] [2] Portions of the film were shot at the Willat-Triangle Studio in Fort Lee, New Jersey. [3] Other sequences were shot in Yonkers and Atlantic City. A boxing scene featured in the film was shot at Sharkey's Athletic Club, a boxing club, on Columbus Avenue in Manhattan. [1]

This was the first Fairbanks film with a Loos scenario, and an early example of her intertitle style involving self-parady, sarcasm, slang, and puns. [4] For example, one title card near the end, referring to the character Pete, said "Ain't he the REEL hero?" The titles of the film were well received and Fairbanks signed a contract to have Loos do the intertitles for his next films. [4]

Preservation status

Prints of His Picture in the Papers are preserved in the Library of Congress, [2] George Eastman House Motion Picture Collection, and other archives. [5] It was also released on DVD by Flicker Alley. [6]

Related Research Articles

<i>Wild and Woolly</i> (1917 film) 1917 film

Wild and Woolly is a 1917 American silent Western comedy film which tells the story of one man's personal odyssey from cowboy-obsessed Easterner to Western tough guy. It stars Douglas Fairbanks, Eileen Percy, Walter Bytell and Sam De Grasse. The film was adapted by Anita Loos from a story by Horace B. Carpenter and was directed by John Emerson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Erich von Stroheim</span> Austrian-American actor and director

Erich Oswald Hans Carl Maria von Stroheim was an Austrian-American director, screenwriter, actor, and producer, most noted as a film star and avant-garde, visionary director of the silent era. His 1924 film Greed is considered one of the finest and most important films ever made. After clashes with Hollywood studio bosses over budget and workers' rights problems, Stroheim found it difficult to find work as a director and subsequently became a well-respected character actor, particularly in French cinema.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anita Loos</span> American screenwriter, playwright, author, actress, and television producer

Corinne Anita Loos was an American actress, novelist, playwright and screenwriter. In 1912, she became the first female staff screenwriter in Hollywood, when D. W. Griffith put her on the payroll at Triangle Film Corporation. She is best known for her 1925 comic novel, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, and her 1951 Broadway adaptation of Colette's novella Gigi.

<i>Hollywood</i> (British TV series) 1980 documentary series

Hollywood is a British television documentary miniseries produced by Thames Television and originally broadcast on ITV in 1980. Written and directed by film historians Kevin Brownlow and David Gill, it explored the establishment and development of the Hollywood studios and their cultural impact during the silent film era of the 1910s and '20s. At the 1981 BAFTA TV Awards, the series won for Best Original Television Music and was nominated for Best Factual Series, Best Film Editing and Best Graphics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary Philbin</span> American silent film actress (1902–1993)

Mary Loretta Philbin was an American film actress of the silent film era, who played Christine Daaé in the 1925 film The Phantom of the Opera opposite Lon Chaney, and Dea in The Man Who Laughs alongside Conrad Veidt.

<i>The Wedding March</i> (1928 film) 1928 film

The Wedding March is a 1928 American Sound romantic drama film written and directed by Erich von Stroheim. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects using both the sound-on-disc and sound-on-film process. The film stars Erich von Stroheim, Fay Wray and ZaSu Pitts. Paramount Pictures forced von Stroheim to create two films from the footage, the second being The Honeymoon. The Honeymoon is now considered lost, the only known copy destroyed in a fire in France in 1959.

<i>Hearts of the World</i> 1918 film by D. W. Griffith

Hearts of the World is a 1918 American silent World War I propaganda film written, produced and directed by D. W. Griffith. In an effort to change the American public's neutral stance regarding the war, the British government contacted Griffith due to his stature and reputation for dramatic filmmaking.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Emerson (filmmaker)</span> American film director

John Emerson was an American stage actor, playwright, producer, and director of silent films. Emerson was married to Anita Loos from June 15, 1919, until his death, and prior to that the couple had worked together as a writing team for motion pictures. They would continue to be credited jointly, even as Loos pursued independent projects.

<i>The Merry Widow</i> (1925 film) 1925 film

The Merry Widow is a 1925 American silent romantic drama/black comedy film directed and written by Erich von Stroheim. Released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the film stars Mae Murray, John Gilbert, Roy D'Arcy, and Tully Marshall, with pre-fame uncredited appearances by Joan Crawford and Clark Gable.

<i>Madame X</i> (1920 film) 1920 film

Madame X is a 1920 American silent drama film directed by Frank Lloyd and starring Pauline Frederick. The film is based on the 1908 play Madame X, by French playwright Alexandre Bisson, and was adapted for the screen by J.E. Nash and Frank Lloyd. A copy of this film survives in the George Eastman House Motion Picture Collection.

<i>Headin South</i> 1918 film

Headin' South is a 1918 American silent romantic comedy film directed by Arthur Rosson with supervision from Allan Dwan and starring Douglas Fairbanks. The film is now considered to be lost.

<i>Foolish Wives</i> 1922 film

Foolish Wives is a 1922 American erotic silent drama film produced and distributed by Universal Pictures under their Super-Jewel banner and written and directed by Erich von Stroheim. The drama features von Stroheim, Rudolph Christians, Miss DuPont, Maude George, and others.

<i>The Grand Passion</i> 1918 film

The Grand Passion is a 1918 American silent Western film directed by Ida May Park and starring Dorothy Phillips, Jack Mulhall, and Lon Chaney. Ida May Park also wrote the screenplay, based on a novel The Boss of Powderville by Thomas Addison. The film was allegedly shown in some theaters under the title of The Boss of Powderville.

<i>Hello, Sister!</i> (1933 film) 1933 film

Hello, Sister! is a 1933 American pre-Code drama-romance film produced by Fox Film Corporation. It was directed by Erich von Stroheim, Raoul Walsh, Alfred L. Werker, and Edwin Burke, although none of those directors are credited. The film is a re-edited version of von Stroheim's now-lost film Walking Down Broadway.

<i>Blind Husbands</i> 1919 film directed by Erich von Stroheim

Blind Husbands is a 1919 American drama film written and directed by Erich von Stroheim. The film is an adaptation of the story The Pinnacle by Stroheim.

<i>The Mystery of the Leaping Fish</i> 1916 silent short film by John Emerson, Christy Cabanne

The Mystery of the Leaping Fish is a 1916 American short silent comedy film starring Douglas Fairbanks, Bessie Love, and Alma Rubens. Directed by John Emerson, the story was written by Tod Browning with intertitles by Anita Loos.

<i>The Americano</i> (1916 film) 1916 film

The Americano is a 1916 American silent adventure / romantic comedy film directed by John Emerson and stars Douglas Fairbanks in his last production for Triangle Film Corporation. Based on the novel Blaze Derringer, by Eugene P. Lyle, Jr., the scenario was written by John Emerson and Anita Loos who also wrote the film's intertitles. The film was re-released by S.A. Lynch Enterprises on August 21, 1923. Three 16mm prints and one 8mm print of the film still exists. Set in a fictional South American country of Paragonia, it has been described as one of a group of films that supported United States imperialism by providing support to the idea of manifest destiny.

<i>The Devils Pass Key</i> 1920 film by Erich von Stroheim

The Devil's Pass Key is a 1920 silent drama film directed by Erich von Stroheim. Considered a “lost film”, no print is officially known to exist.

<i>Reaching for the Moon</i> (1917 film) 1917 film by John Emerson

Reaching for the Moon is a 1917 American silent adventure film directed by John Emerson and written by John Emerson, Joseph Henabery, and Anita Loos. The film stars Douglas Fairbanks, Eileen Percy, Richard Henry Cummings, Millard Webb, Eugene Ormonde, and Frank Campeau. The film was released on November 17, 1917, by Paramount Pictures. It has been released on DVD.

<i>In Again, Out Again</i> 1917 American film

In Again, Out Again is a 1917 American silent comedy film directed by John Emerson and written by Anita Loos. The film stars Douglas Fairbanks, Arline Pretty, Walter Walker, Arnold Lucy, Helen Greene, Homer Hunt, and Albert Parker. The film was released on April 30, 1917, by Artcraft Pictures.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Lennig, Arthur (2004). Stroheim. University Press of Kentucky. p. 35. ISBN   0-813-13750-0.
  2. 1 2 3 "His Picture in the Papers (1916)". silentera.com. Retrieved May 29, 2013.
  3. Koszarski, Richard (2004). Fort Lee: The Film Town. Indiana University Press. p. 164. ISBN   0-861-96652-X.
  4. 1 2 Frost, Laura (April 2010). "Blondes Have More Fun: Anita Loos and the Language of Silent Cinema" . Modernism/Modernity. Johns Hopkins University Press. 17 (2): 296–97. doi:10.1353/mod.0.0213. S2CID   143104887 . Retrieved March 22, 2020.
  5. Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Database: His Picture in the Papers
  6. Keil, Charlie; Singer, Ben, eds. (2009). American Cinema of the 1910s: Themes and Variations. Rutgers University Press. p. 250. ISBN   978-0-813-54445-8.