Joan the Woman | |
---|---|
Directed by | Cecil B. DeMille |
Written by | Jeanie MacPherson |
Produced by | Jesse L. Lasky Cecil B. DeMille |
Starring | Geraldine Farrar |
Cinematography | Alvin Wyckoff |
Edited by | Cecil B. DeMille |
Music by | William Furst |
Production companies | Cardinal Film Corporation Famous Players–Lasky Corporation |
Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 138 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | Silent (English intertitles) |
Budget | $302,976 [1] [2] |
Box office | $605,731 [1] |
Joan the Woman is a 1916 American epic silent drama film directed by Cecil B. DeMille and starring Geraldine Farrar as Joan of Arc. The film premiered on Christmas Day in 1916. This was DeMille's first historical drama. The screenplay is based on Friedrich Schiller's 1801 play Die Jungfrau von Orleans ( The Maid of Orleans ). [3] This film was considered to be the "first cinematic spectacle about Joan of Arc." [3]
Miss Farrar ranked her performance in Joan the Woman among the great achievements of her entire career. [4]
A British officer (Reid) in World War I has a dream of the life of Joan of Arc (Farrar). The officer pulls a sword out of the wall of the trench he is in, the sword used to belong to Joan of Arc. Removing the sword conjures up the ghost of Joan, leading to her telling her story. The setting then changes to France where the story of Joan of Arc is told, of her leading the French troops to victory and her subsequent burning at the stake. The story ends back in the trench with the officer deciding to go on a suicide mission, using Joan's story and sword as inspiration. [5]
The original plan for Joan the Woman was for it to be the first of two shorter, unrelated films starring Farrar and directed by DeMille. However, in the early stages of filming in May 1916, producer Jesse L. Lansky convinced DeMille to combine the two efforts into a single, longer film about Joan of Arc. [6]
This was the first film to use the Handschiegl Color Process (billed as the "Wyckoff-DeMille Process") for certain scenes. This process is especially noticeable in the scene of Joan burning at the stake, the use of red and yellow gave this a heightened dramatic effect. DeMille has said that in the weeks before shooting he became obsessed with historical research, costume and set design, and casting decisions. [7]
The film was released on December 25, 1916 and grossed $605,731 at the box office.
The success of Joan the Woman encouraged producer Jesse Lasky and DeMille to feature Farrar in another spectacle, The Woman God Forgot (1917), an epic set during the Aztec Empire. [8]
The film has been criticized by some as propaganda for World War I. The film begins and ends with the story of a British officer in the trenches fighting in World War I. He is prompted with the decision to participate in a suicide mission. He discovers a sword that belonged to Joan, and after hearing her story, decides to go on the mission. Film historian Robin Blaetz in her book Studies in Medievalism points out the sexism that exists in the film. While Joan was the inspiration for the British soldier's heroic acts, he is ultimately the hero at the end of the film. [5] Blaetz points out that this sends the message that "women and war do not mix", alluding to the idea that in World War I women should stay behind the front lines, but still be supportive of those at war.
In his review of the film, Leonard Maltin said this was "DeMille's first historical epic is nicely mounted, spotlighting the heroism and sacrifice of Joan of Arc (a miscast Farrar) as she evolves from peasant girl to saint-like figure and becomes involved with Englishman Reid. Fashioned as an accolade to France, with the story bookended by sequences set during WW1 involving a soldier who is inspired by Joan's bravery. Some of the effects are in color." [9]
In 1917 three men were arrested for the theft of a print of the film from a New York film exchange, which they took to New Jersey for the making of a new master negative. Both the missing print and the master were recovered. At that time there was an active criminal practice in making master negatives of American films for shipment to other countries for the production of new prints, [10] an early example of motion picture piracy.
Complete prints of Joan the Woman are held by:
Cecil Blount DeMille was an American filmmaker and actor. Between 1914 and 1958, he made 70 features, both silent and sound films. He is acknowledged as a founding father of American cinema and the most commercially successful producer-director in film history. His films were distinguished by their epic scale and by his cinematic showmanship. His silent films included social dramas, comedies, Westerns, farces, morality plays, and historical pageants. He was an active Freemason and member of Prince of Orange Lodge #16 in New York City.
Alice Geraldine Farrar was an American lyric soprano who could also sing dramatic roles. She was noted for her beauty, acting ability, and "the intimate timbre of her voice." In the 1910s, she also found success as an actress in silent films. She had a large following among young women, who were nicknamed "Gerry-flappers".
Samson and Delilah is a 1949 American romantic biblical drama film produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille and released by Paramount Pictures. It depicts the biblical story of Samson, a strongman whose secret lies in his uncut hair, and his love for Delilah, the woman who seduces him, discovers his secret, and then betrays him to the Philistines. It stars Victor Mature and Hedy Lamarr in the title roles, George Sanders as the Saran, Angela Lansbury as Semadar, and Henry Wilcoxon as Prince Ahtur.
Étienne de Vignolles, Sieur de Montmorillon, Chatelain de Longueville, also known as La Hire, was a French military commander during the Hundred Years' War.
Joan of Arc was a French woman who is known for her role in the Hundred Years' War and as a religious figure, also called The Maid
Joan of Arc is a 1948 American hagiographic epic film directed by Victor Fleming, and starring Ingrid Bergman as the eponymous French religious icon and war heroine. It was produced by Walter Wanger and is based on Maxwell Anderson's successful Broadway play Joan of Lorraine, which also starred Bergman, and was adapted for the screen by Anderson himself, in collaboration with Andrew Solt. It is the only film of an Anderson play for which the author wrote the film script. It is the last film Fleming directed before his death in 1949.
Joan of Arc is a 1900 French silent film directed by Georges Méliès, based on the life of Joan of Arc.
George H. Melford was an American stage and film actor and director. Often taken for granted as a director today, the stalwart Melford's name by the 1920s was, like Cecil B. DeMille's, appearing in big bold letters above the title of his films.
Anita King was an American stunt driver, actress, and thoroughbred racehorse owner. In 1915, she became the first woman to drive a car unaccompanied across the United States, with her 49-day journey from Hollywood to New York City.
The Handschiegl color process produced motion picture film prints with color artificially added to selected areas of the image. Aniline dyes were applied to a black-and-white print using gelatin imbibition matrices.
Joan of Arc has inspired artistic and cultural works for nearly six centuries. The following lists cover various media to include items of historic interest, enduring works of high art, and recent representations in popular culture. The entries represent portrayals that a reader has a reasonable chance of encountering rather than a complete catalog. Lesser known works, particularly from early periods, are not included. In this article, many of the excluded items are derivative of better known representations. For instance, Friedrich Schiller's 1801 play The Maid of Orleans inspired at least 82 different dramatic works during the nineteenth century, and Verdi's and Tchaikovsky's operatic adaptations are still recorded and performed. Most of the others survive only in research libraries. As another example, in 1894, Émile Huet listed over 400 plays and musical works about Joan of Arc. Despite a great deal of scholarly interest in Joan of Arc, no complete list of artistic works about her exists, although a 1989 doctoral dissertation did identify all relevant films including ones for which no copy survives.
Julia Faye Maloney, known professionally as Julia Faye, was an American actress of silent and sound films. She was known for her appearances in more than 30 Cecil B. DeMille productions. Her various roles ranged from maids and ingénues to vamps and queens.
Theodore Kosloff was a Russian-born ballet dancer, choreographer, and film and stage actor. He was occasionally credited as Theodor Kosloff.
Abbie Jean MacPherson was an American silent actress, writer and director. She is known for her collaborations with directors D. W. Griffith and Cecil B. DeMille, and was a founding member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Oscar C. Apfel was an American film actor, director, screenwriter, and producer. He appeared in more than 160 films between 1913 and 1939, and also directed 94 films between 1911 and 1927.
The Captive is an American silent-era film released on April 22, 1915. It was released on five reels. The film was written, directed, edited, and produced by Cecil B. DeMille. Jesse L. Lasky was another producer and Jeanie MacPherson worked with DeMille to write the screenplay. The film is based on a play written by Cecil B. DeMille and Jeanie MacPherson. The Captive grossed over $56,000 on a budget of $12,154. Blanche Sweet stars as Sonia Martinovich, alongside House Peters who stars as Mahmud Hassan. The film details the romantic war-era plight of Sonia and her lover Mahmud.
Carmen is a 1915 American silent drama film directed by Cecil B. DeMille. The film is based on the novella Carmen by Prosper Mérimée. The existing versions of this film appear to be from the re-edited 1918 re-release.
Temptation is a 1915 American silent romantic drama film directed and produced by Cecil B. DeMille. The film starred Geraldine Farrar and Theodore Roberts and was written by and based on an original story by Hector Turnbull. Additional writing was done by DeMille and Jeanie MacPherson, who did not receive screen credit.
The Woman God Forgot is a 1917 American silent romance film directed by Cecil B. DeMille and starring Geraldine Farrar. Art direction for the film was done by Wilfred Buckland.
The Devil-Stone is a 1917 American silent romance film directed by Cecil B. DeMille, co-written by his mother Beatrice deMille and Jeanie MacPherson, and starring Geraldine Farrar.