Pegeen (film)

Last updated

Pegeen
Pegeen (1920) - Love & Spere.jpg
Still with Bessie Love and Charles Spere
Directed by David Smith
Screenplay byWilliam B. Laub [1]
Based onPegeen (novel)
by Eleanor Hoyt Brainerd
Starring Bessie Love
Cinematography Charles R. Seeling [2]
Production
company
Release date
  • January 11, 1920 (1920-01-11)(U.S.) [3]
Running time
5 reels [4]
CountryUnited States
Language Silent (English intertitles)

Pegeen is a 1920 American silent drama film based on the 1915 novel of the same name by Eleanor Hoyt Brainerd. [4] [5] It was produced by Vitagraph Studios [1] and directed by David Smith. [1] It stars Bessie Love in the title role.

Contents

Plot

Recently widowed Danny O'Neil (Stanley) has the belief that his wife will return to him by way of fire, and sets fire to buildings around town in hope that she will return to him. For her safety, his daughter Pegeen (Love) is sent to live with neighbor. When her father is to be arrested, Pegeen's friend Ezra (McGuire) helps hide her father, who dies shortly thereafter. [1] [6]

Cast

Reception

Reviews for the film were mixed. [9] [10] [11] Its "worst criticism" is that "it is not a thriller, nor a spectacle. Neither is it a heavy digest of a weighty social or economic problem. It is just a simple story of every day people, told in simple, direct continuity, intelligently and coherently." [6]

Scenes involving a hanging and a shoot-out were recommended for removal when showing the film to family audiences. [12]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bessie Love</span> American actress (1898–1986)

Bessie Love was an American-British actress who achieved prominence playing innocent, young girls and wholesome leading ladies in silent and early sound films. Her acting career spanned nearly seven decades—from silent film to sound film, including theatre, radio, and television—and her performance in The Broadway Melody (1929) earned her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eleanor Hoyt Brainerd</span> American writer

Eleanor Hoyt Brainerd was an early 20th-century American writer. She published at least 10 novels, mostly written for young women.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gladys Leslie</span> American actress

Gladys Leslie Moore was an American actress in silent film, active in the 1910s and 1920s. Though less-remembered than superstars like Mary Pickford, she had a number of starring roles from 1917 to the early 1920s and was one of the young female stars of her day.

<i>Sundown</i> (1924 film) 1924 film

Sundown is a 1924 American silent Western film directed by Laurence Trimble and Harry O. Hoyt, produced and distributed by First National Pictures, and starring Bessie Love. Frances Marion, Marion Fairfax, and Kenneth B. Clarke wrote the screenplay based on an original screen story by Earl Hudson. This film was the only production cinematographer David Thompson ever worked on. This film is presumed lost.

<i>A Yankee Princess</i> 1919 silent film by David Smith

A Yankee Princess is a 1919 American silent comedy-drama film produced and distributed by the Vitagraph Company of America. It was directed by David Smith and stars Bessie Love, who also wrote the screenplay. It is a lost film.

<i>Over the Garden Wall</i> (1919 film) 1919 silent romantic comedy film by David Smith

Over the Garden Wall is a lost 1919 American silent romantic comedy film produced and distributed by the Vitagraph Company of America. It was directed by David Smith, brother of one of the Vitagraph founders Albert E. Smith. The film stars Bessie Love.

<i>The Vermilion Pencil</i> 1922 silent film by Norman Dawn

The Vermilion Pencil is a 1922 American silent drama film directed by Norman Dawn, and produced and distributed by Robertson–Cole. It is based on the eponymous 1908 novel by Homer Lea. The film stars Japanese actor Sessue Hayakawa in multiple roles, and white actors Ann May, Bessie Love, and Sidney Franklin, all in Asian roles. It is now a lost film.

<i>Gentle Julia</i> (1923 film) Silent film by Rowland V. Lee

Gentle Julia is a 1923 American silent romantic drama film based on the popular novel Gentle Julia by Booth Tarkington. Directed by Rowland V. Lee, the film starred Bessie Love. It was produced and distributed by Fox Film Corporation, and is considered a lost film.

<i>Sally of the Scandals</i> 1928 film

Sally of the Scandals is a 1928 American silent crime drama film produced and released by Film Booking Offices of America. It was directed by Lynn Shores and starred Bessie Love.

<i>Polly Ann</i> 1917 silent film by Charles Miller

Polly Ann is a lost 1917 American silent comedy-drama film produced and distributed by the Triangle Film Corporation. It was directed by Charles Miller and stars Bessie Love.

<i>The Dawn of Understanding</i> 1918 film

The Dawn of Understanding is a lost 1918 American silent Western comedy film produced by The Vitagraph Company of America and directed by David Smith. It stars Bessie Love in the first film of her nine-film contract with Vitagraph. It is based on the short story "The Judgement of Bolinas Plain" by 19th-century Western writer Bret Harte.

<i>The Midlanders</i> 1920 silent film by Joe De Grasse

The Midlanders is a 1920 American silent drama film starring Bessie Love and directed by husband and wife duo Joseph De Grasse and Ida May Park. It was produced by Andrew J. Callaghan Productions and distributed by Federated Film Exchanges of America. It is based on the 1912 novel of the same name by Charles Tenney Jackson, published by Bobbs-Merrill Company.

<i>The Enchanted Barn</i> 1919 silent film by David Smith

The Enchanted Barn is a 1919 American silent drama film produced by Vitagraph Studios. It was directed by David Smith and starred Bessie Love and J. Frank Glendon. The script was written by Kathryn Reed, based on the novel by Grace Livingston Hill Lutz. Bessie Love had been familiar with the source novel, and was instrumental in optioning it for this film.

<i>Carolyn of the Corners</i> 1919 silent film by Robert Thornby

Carolyn of the Corners is a 1919 American silent drama film directed by Robert Thornby, and starring Bessie Love, Charles Edler, and Charlotte Mineau.

<i>The Wishing Ring Man</i> 1919 silent film by David Smith

The Wishing Ring Man is a 1919 American silent drama film produced by Vitagraph Studios and directed by David Smith. It was based on the novel by Margaret Widdemer, and stars Bessie Love, with J. Frank Glendon in the title role.

<i>The Little Boss</i> 1919 silent film by David Smith

The Little Boss is a 1919 American silent romantic comedy film directed by David Smith and produced by Vitagraph Studios. The story and screenplay were by Rida Johnson Young, and it starred Bessie Love and Wallace MacDonald.

<i>A Fighting Colleen</i> 1919 silent film by David Smith

A Fighting Colleen is a 1919 American silent comedy-drama film directed by David Smith and produced by Vitagraph Company of America. It stars Bessie Love and Charles Spere.

<i>Bonnie May</i> 1920 silent film by Ida May Park

Bonnie May is a lost silent 1920 American comedy-drama film based on the 1916 novel by Louis Dodge. It was directed by Ida May Park and Joseph De Grasse and starred Bessie Love. It was produced by Andrew J. Callaghan Productions and distributed by Federated Film Exchanges of America, Inc.

<i>Deserted at the Altar</i> 1922 silent film by William K. Howard

Deserted at the Altar is a 1922 American silent film melodrama directed by William K. Howard and produced by Phil Goldstone Productions. It stars Bessie Love and Tully Marshall.

<i>Three Who Paid</i> 1923 film

Three Who Paid is a 1923 American silent Western film film directed by Colin Campbell, and starring Dustin Farnum, with Bessie Love and Frank Campeau. The film was based on the 1922 short story by George Owen Baxter, and was produced and distributed through Fox Film.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Reid, Janet (February 1920). "Pegeen". Motion Picture Magazine. Vol. 19, no. 1. pp. 41–44, 103.
  2. ↑ Love, Bessie (1977). From Hollywood with Love: An Autobiography of Bessie Love. London: Elm Tree Books. p. 150. OCLC   734075937.
  3. ↑ "Current Releases". Wid's Daily. February 8, 1920. p. 20.
  4. 1 2 Cutter, Charles Ammi (January 15, 1920). "Recent Motion Pictures based on Current Literature". Library Journal. p. 72.
  5. ↑ Brainerd, Eleanor Hoyt (1915). Pegeen. New York: Century Co. OCLC   9665988.
  6. 1 2 3 "Reviews". Exhibitors Herald. Vol. 9, no. 25. December 13, 1919. pp. 69–70.
  7. ↑ "Pegeen". The Moving Picture World. January 17, 1920. p. 464.
  8. ↑ "Who's Where". Camera!. Vol. 2, no. 36. December 13, 1919. p. 8.
  9. ↑ Quotes from three reviews: "Consensus of Trade Press Reviews". The Moving Picture World. Vol. 44, no. 11. June 12, 1920. p. 1499. well-handled Vitagraph picture. … Saccharine story on a 'Pollyanna' theme. … Pegeen is one of the most charming pictures that ever graced the screen.
  10. ↑ "Digest of Pictures of the Week". Exhibitors Herald. Vol. 9, no. 25. December 13, 1919. p. 68. … qualifies as good every-day entertainment, the sort of entertainment that must be provided for every exhibitor. Bessie Love is the star, and she takes full advantage of a role fashioned after the model with which her name has come to be associated.
  11. ↑ Quotes from negative reviews:
    • Walton, T.E. (April 3, 1920). "What the Picture Did for Me". Exhibitors Herald. p. 75. This picture positively the worst I ever had. Nothing to it. People walked out on it telling me I never ought to pay for such a picture.
    • Brenner, W.H. (April 9, 1921). "Vitagraph". Exhibitors Herald. Vol. 12, no. 15. p. 75. A terrible picture.
    • Howe, Herbert (March 1920). "Concerning Invisible Stars". Picture-Play Magazine. Vol. 12, no. 1. p. 96. Pegeen has about as much plot as a travelogue.
  12. ↑ "New Instructional Films and Where to Get Them". Moving Picture Age. Vol. 3, no. 3. March 1920. p. 38.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.