| Melissa of the Hills | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | James Kirkwood |
| Written by | Maibelle Heikes Justice |
| Starring | Mary Miles Minter |
| Distributed by | Mutual Film |
Release date |
|
Running time | 5 reels |
| Country | United States |
| Language | Silent (English intertitles) |
Melissa of the Hills is a 1917 American silent film directed by James Kirkwood and starring Mary Miles Minter. As is the case with many of Minter's features, it is thought to be a lost film. [1]
As described in film magazines, [2] [3] [4] young Melissa Stark (Minter) lives with her father Jethro (Aitken), a circuit rider and preacher, in the Tennessee mountains. Melissa tries to aid her father in his ministry, but the warring clans of the mountains, the Watts and the Allisons, do not appreciate their endeavours. Melissa's friend and confidant is Tom Williams (Forrest), a young attorney practising nearby.
Trouble erupts between the clans when Sam Allison, deputy sheriff, kills a member of the Watts clan, and the Watts vow revenge. The Allisons, meanwhile, become convinced that Jethro Stark has taken the side of the Watts after he tends to their children during an epidemic. Matters are complicated when a city couple arrive, having donated a new dress to Melissa after she replied to a newspaper offer, and mistakenly identify Jethro as a fugitive from justice, despite the real criminal having confessed.
Sam Allison, still bearing a grudge against Jethro for his perceived favouring of the Watts clan, is only too happy to arrest him. Desperate to protect her father, Melissa begs the help of the Watts clan. A battle ensues, and it is only when Jethro Stark is killed by a stray bullet that both clans realise the error of their ways and reconcile. Melissa, left alone after the death of her father, marries Tom the attorney.
Frank Spottiswoode Aitken was a Scottish-American actor of the silent era. He played Dr. Cameron in D. W. Griffith's epic drama The Birth of a Nation.
Gertrude Le Brandt was an American silent film actress.
The Trail of the Lonesome Pine is a 1923 American silent Western film directed by Charles Maigne and starring Mary Miles Minter. It was adapted by Will M. Ritchey from the play and novel of the same name by John Fox Jr. This was the second time that Maigne had directed Minter in an adaptation of a Fox novel, the first being 1920's A Cumberland Romance. This was Minter's final film; her contract with Paramount Pictures was not renewed, and she stated that she was "through" with films. As with many of Minter's features, The Trail of the Lonesome Pine is thought to be a lost film.
Periwinkle is a 1917 American silent film directed by James Kirkwood and starring Mary Miles Minter. It was based on the 1910 novel Periwinkle; an Idyl of the Dunes written by William Farquhar Payson. As with many of Minter's features, it is thought to be a lost film.
Peggy Leads the Way is a 1917 American silent drama film directed by Lloyd Ingraham and starring Mary Miles Minter. It also features Andrew Arbuckle, Carl Stockdale, Allan Forrest, Emma Kluge, and Margaret Shelby, who is Minter's older sister. It is one of approximately a dozen of Minter's films to have survived, a copy having first been found at the Dutch Filmmuseum. It was sold to the American Film Institute in 1991 and is held at the UCLA Film and Television Archive.
Charity Castle is a 1917 American silent comedy-drama film directed by Lloyd Ingraham and starring Mary Miles Minter. As is the case with many of Minter's features, it is thought to be a lost film.
Her Country's Call is a 1917 American silent drama film directed by Lloyd Ingraham and starring Mary Miles Minter, along with George Periolat and Allan Forrest. The film is the final instalment in a series a films written by Abraham Lincoln impersonator Benjamin Chapin, who also appeared in the film as Lincoln. It was one of many films of the time that catered to the vogue for patriotic pictures after America joined World War I, with ample shots of soldiers and the American flag. As with many of Minter's features, it is thought to be a lost film.
The Mate of the Sally Ann is a 1917 American silent comedy-drama film directed by Henry King and starring Mary Miles Minter. As with many of Minter's features, it is thought to be a lost film.
Beauty and the Rogue is a 1918 American silent comedy crime drama film directed by Henry King and starring Mary Miles Minter. It was filmed under the working title of "Mademoiselle Tiptoe," based on a story by Arthur Berthelet and adapted for the screen by Elizabeth Mahoney, who was the screenwriter for many of Minter's Mutual Film features. As with many of Minter's features, it is thought to be a lost film.
Powers That Prey is a 1918 silent comedy-drama film directed by Henry King and starring Mary Miles Minter, with whom King stated that he enjoyed working. The film is based on a story called Extra! Extra! by Will M. Ritchey, which was also the working title of the film. As with many of Minter's features, it is thought to be a lost film.
The Eyes of Julia Deep is a 1918 American silent comedy-drama film starring Mary Miles Minter and directed by Lloyd Ingraham. The film is based on the short story by the same name, written by Kate L. McLaurin. It is one of the few films starring Minter which are known to have survived, and one of even fewer readily available for the general public to view.
Social Briars is a 1918 American silent comedy-drama film directed by Henry King and starring Mary Miles Minter. The story was by Jeanne Judson, and it was filmed under the working title of "The Greater Call." As with many of Minter's features, it is thought to be a lost film.
Tillie is a 1922 American silent drama film directed by Frank Urson and starring Mary Miles Minter. The scenario was written by Alice Eyton, based on the novel Tillie, the Mennonite Maid by Helen Reimensnyder Martin. Tillie reunited Minter with Allan Forrest, her most frequent leading man from her time at Mutual Film and the American Film Company, for the first time since their 1919 picture Yvonne from Paris. As with many of Minter's features, Tillie is thought to be a lost film.
The Little Clown is a 1921 American silent comedy film directed by Thomas N. Heffron and starring Mary Miles Minter, adapted by Eugene B. Lewis from a comedy play by Avery Hopwood. It is one of approximately a dozen of Minter's films which still survive today. A copy of the film was found in the Dawson Film Find in 1978 - although other copies survived in various holdings - and a few brief frames from this copy can be seen in 2016 documentary Dawson City: Frozen Time.
Rosemary Climbs the Heights is a 1918 American silent drama film directed by Lloyd Ingraham and starring Mary Miles Minter, Allan Forrest, and Margaret Shelby. It is the only one of Minter's feature films not listed in the Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Database, making its survival status difficult to ascertain.
Yvonne from Paris is a 1919 American silent comedy film directed by Emmett J. Flynn and starring Mary Miles Minter, Allan Forrest, and Vera Lewis. It was Minter's last film with the American Film Company; she signed a contract with Realart, part of Famous Players–Lasky, in June 1919.
The Intrusion of Isabel is a 1919 American silent comedy film directed by Lloyd Ingraham and starring Mary Miles Minter, J. Parks Jones, Allan Forrest, and Lucretia Harris. As with many of Minter's features, it is thought to be a lost film.
A Bit of Jade is a 1918 silent comedy-drama film directed by Edward Sloman and starring Mary Miles Minter. As with many of Minter’s features, it is thought to be a lost film.
The Ghost of Rosy Taylor is a 1918 American silent comedy-drama film starring Mary Miles Minter and directed by Edward Sloman. The film is based on a Saturday Evening Post story of the same name, written by Josephine Daskam Bacon. It is one of approximately a dozen Minter films which are known to have survived - a print was found in New Zealand in the 1990s which is in possession of the BFI National Archive - and one of even fewer readily available for the general public to view.
A Bachelor's Wife is a 1919 silent drama film directed by Emmett J. Flynn and starring Mary Miles Minter. As with many of Minter's films, the film is thought to be a lost film. In the weeks before its release, some film magazines listed the feature under its working title “Mary O’Rourke.”
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