Pippa Passes (film)

This article is about the 1909 silent film. For verse drama by Robert Browning, see Pippa Passes. For the small city in Kentucky, see Pippa Passes, Kentucky.

Pippa Passes
Directed by	D. W. Griffith
Based on	poem Pippa Passes by Robert Browning
Produced by	Biograph Company
Cinematography	G. W. Bitzer Arthur Marvin
Distributed by	Biograph Company General Film Company (re-release)
Release date	October 4, 1909 (1909-10-04)
Running time	1 reel
Country	USA
Language	Silent..English titles

Pippa Passes; or, The Song of Conscience is a 1909 silent short directed D. W. Griffith. It was produced and distributed by the Biograph Company. It is based on a play Pippa Passes by Robert Browning. ^[1]

It is preserved from a paper print. ^[2]

New York Times milestone

On October 10, 1909 – six days after its release – Pippa Passes became the first motion picture ever reviewed by The New York Times . ^{[3] [4] [5]}

Cast

• Gertrude Robinson – Pippa
• George Nichols – Pippa's Husband
• Arthur V. Johnson – Luca
• Marion Leonard – Ottima
• Owen Moore – Sibald

continuing cast

• Linda Arvidson – Greek Model
• Clara T. Bracy –
• Adele DeGarde –
• James Kirkwood – In Bar
• Anthony O'Sullivan – In Studio
• Mary Pickford – Girl in Crowd
• Billy Quirk – In Studio
• Mack Sennett – In Studio
• Henry B. Walthall –

Bibliography

Notes

1. AFI Catalog, 1993.
2. Bennett.
3. Griffith, 1925, p. 129.
4. New York Times, Oct. 10, 1909, p. 8.
5. Guiliano & Keenan, 1976, p. 126.

References

• AFI Catalog of Feature Films – The First 100 Years, 1893–1993.

1. Pippa Passes; or, The Song of Conscience at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films (AFI Film ID 37157). Retrieved 25 September 2015.

• Bennett, Carl. "Silent Era" – "Progressive Silent Film List:" Pippa Passes". Carl Bennett and the Silent Era Company. Retrieved 22 September 2015. OCLC   47081708, 1147377061, 1141447659.
• Griffith, Mrs. David Wark (née Linda Arvidson Johnson; 1884–1949), ed. (1925). Chapter 17: "Pippa Passes Filmed". When the Movies Were Young. New York: E.P. Dutton & Company. p. 129 – via Internet Archive (Media History Digital Library; Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum; Kirkland Town Library; David Shepard). LCCN   25-19076; OCLC   1467813(all editions).

Note: The author, Linda Arvidson, who played a Greek model in the 1909 film, Pippa Passes , was, from 1906 to 1936, married to the director, David Wark Griffith (1875–1948).

• Guiliano, Edward; Keenan, Richard C. (1976). "Browning Without Words: D.W. Griffith and the Filming of Pippa Passes" . Browning Institute Studies. 4. Cambridge University Press: 125–159. Retrieved 3 November 2025. ISSN   0092-4725; JSTOR   25057629.
• New York Times (The). ISSN   0362-4331.

1. "Browning Now Given in Moving Pictures — Pippa Passes Latest Play Without Words to Be Seen in the Nickelodeons — The Classics Drawn Upon — Even Biblical Stories Portrayed for Critical Audiences – Improvement Due to Board of Censors". Vol. 59, no. 18887. October 10, 1909. p. 1 (column 1, top).
1. Via Newspapers.com .
2. Via NYTimes blog .
3. Via TimesMachine .
4. Via TimesMachine permalink .
5. Pdf via TimesMachine .
6. Pdf via TimesMachine (PDF).

External links

• Pippa Passes at IMDb.com