Human Wreckage | |
---|---|
Directed by | John Griffith Wray |
Written by | C. Gardner Sullivan Dorothy Davenport (uncredited) |
Story by | Will Lambert |
Produced by | Dorothy Davenport Thomas Ince |
Starring | Dorothy Davenport Bessie Love James Kirkwood, Sr. |
Cinematography | Henry Sharp |
Distributed by | Film Booking Offices of America |
Release date |
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Running time | 80 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | Silent (English intertitles) |
Human Wreckage is a 1923 American independent silent drama [1] propaganda film [2] that starred Dorothy Davenport and featured James Kirkwood, Sr., Bessie Love, and Lucille Ricksen. The film was co-produced by Davenport and Thomas H. Ince and distributed by Film Booking Offices of America, with a premiere on June 17, 1923. [3] No print of this film is known to exist today, and it is considered a lost film. [4]
Davenport's husband Wallace Reid was addicted to morphine, which had been prescribed to him after an injury. [5] The film portrayed the dangers of drug addiction and was shown across the country by Davenport herself, billed as Mrs. Wallace Reid, in an early example of what would later be called a roadshow engagement.
Ethel McFarland (Davenport) presents her attorney husband, Alan (Kirkwood), with the case of a dope addict named Jimmy Brown (Hackathorne). With the help of Alan's impassioned defense, Jimmy gets acquitted.
Alan feels the pressures of his job and is introduced to a doctor at his club. When he becomes addicted, he is blackmailed by his peddlers to represent their friends in court. Jimmy, now off the smack and a taxi driver, hears of these goings-on. When he discovers that his passenger is the leader of the dope ring, he resolves to aid the war on narcotics by crashing the vehicle head-on into an oncoming train, killing them both. Alan gets treated for his addiction and begins to fight the pushers in court, all the while pushing for stronger laws against addictive substances.
At the film's close, Davenport addresses the audience directly, imploring them to support her in her crusade to wipe out the menace of narcotics.
Wallace Reid died on January 18, 1923, during the first year of existence of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America, which was led by Will H. Hays and which set standards for films to be approved for showing in theaters. Although it took years for the so-called "Hays Code" to be finalized, the Code did set certain standards for movies from the very beginning, including a ban on any reference to drug use. Despite this, Davenport received a dispensation from Hays allowing her to produce Human Wreckage because of its anti-drug message. [6]
The film was banned by the British Board of Film Censors in 1924. [4]
William Wallace Halleck Reid was an American actor in silent film, referred to as "the screen's most perfect lover". He also had a brief career as a racing driver.
Lila Lee was a prominent screen actress, primarily a leading lady, of the silent film and early sound film eras.
Juanita Hansen was an American actress who performed in silent films. She became one of the Sennett Bathing Beauties and appeared in a variety of serials through the late 1910s. She was well known for her troubled personal life and struggle with addiction to cocaine and morphine. In 1934, she became clean and traveled lecturing on the dangers of drugs. She wrote a book about addiction and started her own charity to help raise awareness about drug abuse.
Fannie Dorothy Davenport was an American actress, screenwriter, film director, and producer.
James Cornelius Kirkwood Sr. was an American actor and director.
Evelyn Nelson was an American silent film actress whose career encompassed 12 films over three years.
Lucille Ricksen was an American motion picture actress during the silent film era. She died of tuberculosis on March 13, 1925, at the age of 14.
J. Herbert Frank was an American actor of the silent era and on stage. He appeared in more than 50 films between 1914 and 1924. He was sometimes billed as Herbert Frank. Frank was born in Manhattan, New York City.
George Hackathorne was an American actor of the silent era. He appeared in more than 50 films between 1916 and 1939.
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John Griffith Wray was an American stage actor and director who later became a noted Hollywood silent film director. He worked on 19 films between 1913 and 1929 that included Anna Christie (1923) and Human Wreckage (1923), Dorothy Davenport's story about her husband Wallace Reid's drug addiction and death.
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Human Hearts is a 1922 American silent rural drama film directed by King Baggot, and produced and distributed by the Universal Film Manufacturing Company. It stars House Peters. It is based on a play of the same name by Hal Reid.
The Rendezvous is a 1923 American silent adventure melodrama film with comedic overtones directed by Marshall Neilan and starring Richard Travers, Conrad Nagel, Lucille Ricksen, and Syd Chaplin. It was produced and distributed by Goldwyn Pictures.
Mothers of Men is a 1917 silent film directed by Willis Robards, promoting woman's suffrage. The seven-reel drama is considered lost. A five-reel re-edited version also directed by Robards was released in 1921—following ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment—under the title Every Woman's Problem. This version survives through a single 35mm print preserved by the British Film Institute. The 1921 re-release was restored in 2016, in a collaboration between the BFI and the San Francisco Silent Film Festival.
The Unattainable is a 1916 American Black and White silent drama directed by Lloyd B. Carleton. The film is based on the story by Elwood D. Henning. The photoplay stars Dorothy Davenport and Emory Johnson.
No. 16 Martin Street was a 1916 American silent Short film directed by Lloyd B. Carleton. The film was based on the detective story and screen adaptation by Bess Meredyth. The drama stars Dorothy Davenport, Emory Johnson, and an all-star cast of Universal contract players.