Life's Whirlpool | |
---|---|
Directed by | Lionel Barrymore |
Written by | Lionel Barrymore (story, scenario) |
Produced by | B. A. Rolfe William A. Brady (executive producer) |
Starring | Ethel Barrymore |
Cinematography | John M. Bauman |
Distributed by | Metro Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 5 reels |
Country | United States |
Language | Silent (English intertitles) |
Life's Whirlpool is a 1917 American silent drama film written and directed by Lionel Barrymore with his sister Ethel Barrymore as the star. This is the brother and sister's only collaboration on a silent film as director and star. [1]
This film should not be confused with Life's Whirlpool (also known as McTeague), the first film adaptation of Frank Norris's McTeague .
The Lionel Barrymore directed film was produced by B. A. Rolfe and released through Metro Pictures. Barrymore would return for a short time to directing films in the early sound era. This is now considered to be a lost film. [2] [3] [4]
As described in a film magazine, [5] Esther (Barrymore), upon the death of her father, is advised by her kindly neighbors to get married. She is forced to sell the homestead and marries a domineering old miser named John Martin (Carrington), who lives with his maiden sister Ruth (Allen). Because she passes the time of day on the street with young men, her husband becomes jealous. He chokes her after he finds a letter from a former friend, Dr. Henry Grey (Hale), and she decides to leave him. While escaping with her son she is detained in a hut by a drunken farmer who tries to embrace her. She shoots him dead, and a posse arrests her for the death of her husband, who was found strangled in the library. However, the death confession of the real murderer clears her of her husband's death, and the return of her former friend from France completes her happiness.
Like many American films of the time, Life's Whirlpool was subject to cuts by city and state film censorship boards. The Chicago Board of Censors required that three choking scenes be shortened. [6]
Lionel Barrymore was an American actor of stage, screen and radio as well as a film director. He won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in A Free Soul (1931) and is known to modern audiences for the role of villainous Mr. Potter in Frank Capra's 1946 film It's a Wonderful Life.
Ethel Barrymore was an American actress and a member of the Barrymore family of actors. Barrymore was a stage, screen and radio actress whose career spanned six decades, and was regarded as "The First Lady of the American Theatre". She received four nominations for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, winning for None but the Lonely Heart (1944).
Forever is a 1921 American silent romance film, also known as Peter Ibbetson, that was written by Ouida Bergère and directed by George Fitzmaurice. It was adapted from George du Maurier's 1891 novel Peter Ibbetson, which was made into a play of the same name by John N. Raphael.
The Mystery Ship is a 1917 American adventure film serial directed by Harry Harvey and Henry MacRae. The film is considered to be lost.
The Fatal Ring is a 1917 American action film serial directed by George B. Seitz. Silentera.com reports that the UCLA Film and Television Archive may have a complete print. A deteriorating fragment roll containing a scene is discovered in France by Australian filmmaker Robert Hoskins in 2021 who then scanned it and uploaded it to his YouTube channel.
The Seven Pearls is a 1917 American silent action film serial directed by Louis J. Gasnier and Donald MacKenzie. Fragments are held by the Library of Congress.
The Jury of Fate is a 1917 American silent drama film directed by Tod Browning. Mabel Taliaferro plays a brother and sister dual role in the film, which is set in Canada. With no prints of The Jury of Fate located in any film archives, it is a lost film.
The Eyes of Mystery is a lost 1918 American silent mystery film directed by Tod Browning starring Edith Storey.
The Secret of the Storm Country was a 1917 American silent drama film directed by Charles Miller and starring Norma Talmadge. The film is described as not a direct sequel but a "continuation" of the 1914 film Tess of the Storm Country, starring Mary Pickford. The film is now considered lost.
Raffles, the Amateur Cracksman is a 1917 American silent film starring John Barrymore and Evelyn Brent. The movie also co-stars Frank Morgan and Mike Donlin, and was directed by George Irving. The film has been released on DVD.
Big Timber is a 1917 American silent film Northwoods/drama produced by the Oliver Morosco Company and distributed by Paramount Pictures. It was directed by William Desmond Taylor and starred Kathlyn Williams and Wallace Reid. It is not known whether the film currently survives, and it may be a lost film.
On the Quiet is a lost 1918 American silent comedy film produced by Famous Players–Lasky and released by Paramount Pictures. It was directed by Chester Withey and starred John Barrymore. The film, based on an original 1901 play, was written by Augustus Thomas and served as a popular hit for William Collier, Sr.
A Man of Iron is a 1925 American silent drama film produced and directed by Whitman Bennett and distributed through Chadwick Pictures. The film starred Lionel Barrymore.
The Lifted Veil is a 1917 American silent drama film produced by B. A. Rolfe and distributed by Metro Pictures. It is based on a 1917 novel The Lifted Veil by Basil King, an author popular with women readers. Stage star Ethel Barrymore, under contract to Metro, appears in her eighth silent feature film, which is now lost.
Our Mrs. McChesney is a lost 1918 American silent comedy-drama film produced and distributed by Metro Pictures, directed by Ralph Ince, and based on the 1915 play by Edna Ferber and George V. Hobart starring Ethel Barrymore.
The Divorcee is a 1919 American society drama starring Ethel Barrymore in her last silent feature film. The film is based on a 1907 play, Lady Frederick by young Somerset Maugham, which had starred Barrymore on Broadway. The play was already quite dated when this film was made, but the actress was always comfortable with this kind of soap-operish melodramatic material. Herbert Blaché directed, and June Mathis wrote the scenario based on Maugham's play. The film was produced and distributed by the Metro Pictures company.
The Eternal Mother is a surviving 1917 American silent drama film directed by Frank Reicher and stars Ethel Barrymore. The picture is taken from a novel, Red Horse Hill, by Sidney McCall, an alias for Mary McNeill Fenollosa.
Exile is a 1917 American silent drama film directed by Maurice Tourneur and written by Charles E. Whittaker based upon the 1916 Dolf Wyllarde novel. The film stars Olga Petrova, Wyndham Standing, Mahlon Hamilton, Warren Cook, Charles Martin, and Violet Reed. The film was released in September 1917, by Paramount Pictures. It is not known whether the film currently survives, which suggests that it is a lost film.
The Trouble Buster is a lost 1917 American drama silent film directed by Frank Reicher, written by Tom Forman and Gardner Hunting, and starring Vivian Martin, James Neill, Paul Willis, Charles West, Louise Harris, and Mary Mersch. It was released on October 8, 1917, by Paramount Pictures.
Who Is Number One? is a 1917 American silent mystery film serial directed by William Bertram and written by Anna Katharine Green. The film stars Kathleen Clifford, Cullen Landis, Gordon Sackville, Neil Hardin, Bruce Smith, and Ethel Ritchie. The film serial was released on October 29, 1917, by Paramount Pictures. It is presumed to be a lost film.