Puritan Passions

Last updated

Puritan Passions
Puritan Passions-lobbycard-1923.jpg
Lobby card
Directed by Frank Tuttle
Written byFrank Tuttle
James Ashmore Creelman [1]
Starring Maude Hill
Glenn Hunter
Osgood Perkins
Thomas Chalmers
Mary Astor
Cinematography Fred Waller
Distributed by W. W. Hodkinson Corporation
Release date
  • September 9, 1923 (1923-09-09)
Running time
70 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageSilent

Puritan Passions is a 1923 silent film directed by Frank Tuttle, based on Percy MacKaye's 1908 play The Scarecrow , which was itself based on Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story "Feathertop". The film stars Glenn Hunter, Mary Astor, and stage actor Osgood Perkins. It follows the play faithfully, except that Osgood Perkins' character is called Dickon in the play and Dr. Nicholas in the movie, and Justice Gilead Merton is renamed Justice Gilead Wingate in the film. It is the only theatrical film version – so far – of Percy MacKaye's play, though there were previously two silent film versions of Hawthorne's original story. [2]

Contents

Plot

Goody Rickby is impregnated by the wealthy Gilead Wingate, after which he refuses to accept the responsibility of fatherhood. Rickby decides to use black magic to get revenge on Wingate. She succeeds in summoning Satan before her, and together they concoct a scheme to punish the man who wronged her. Satan creates a living being from a scarecrow and the creature adopts the human identity of "Lord Ravensbane" so that he can function unsuspected in society. Satan instructs his creature to seduce Wingate's niece Rachel and fool the villagers into believing the Wingates are all witches. Ravensbane develops emotions and a soul, however, and genuinely falls in love with the young lady, foiling the Devil's plans.

Cast

Preservation status

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Satan</span> Figure in Abrahamic religions

Satan, also known as the Devil, is an entity in Abrahamic religions that seduces humans into sin or falsehood. In Judaism, Satan is seen as an agent subservient to God, typically regarded as a metaphor for the yetzer hara, or "evil inclination". In Christianity and Islam, he is usually seen as a fallen angel or jinn who has rebelled against God, who nevertheless allows him temporary power over the fallen world and a host of demons. In the Quran, Shaitan, also known as Iblis, is an entity made of fire who was cast out of Heaven because he refused to bow before the newly created Adam and incites humans to sin by infecting their minds with waswās.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anthony Perkins</span> American actor (1932–1992)

Anthony Perkins was an American actor, director, and singer. Born in Manhattan, Perkins got his start as an adolescent in summer stock programs, although he acted in films before his time on Broadway. His first film, The Actress, co-starring Spencer Tracy and Jean Simmons and directed by George Cukor, was an overall disappointment aside from its Academy Award for Best Costume Design, prompting Perkins to return to theatre. He made his Broadway debut in the Elia Kazan-directed Tea and Sympathy (1953), in which he played Tom Lee, a "sissy" who is "cured" by the right woman. He was praised for the role, and after it closed, he turned to Hollywood once more, starring in Friendly Persuasion (1956) with Gary Cooper and Dorothy McGuire, which earned him the Golden Globe Award for Best New Actor of the Year and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. The film led to Perkins's seven-year, semi-exclusive contract with Paramount Pictures, where he was their last matinee idol.

This is an overview of 1923 in film, including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths.

<i>The Scarlet Letter</i> 1850 novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne

The Scarlet Letter: A Romance is a work of historical fiction by American author Nathaniel Hawthorne, published in 1850. Set in the Puritan Massachusetts Bay Colony during the years 1642 to 1649, the novel tells the story of Hester Prynne, who conceives a daughter with a man to whom she is not married and then struggles to create a new life of repentance and dignity. As punishment, she must wear a scarlet letter 'A'. Containing a number of religious and historic allusions, the book explores themes of legalism, sin and guilt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frederick Converse</span> American composer

Frederick Shepherd Converse, was an American composer of classical music, whose works include four operas and five symphonies.

The Scarecrow is a play written by Percy MacKaye in 1908, and first presented on Broadway in 1911. It is based on Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story, "Feathertop", but greatly expands upon the tale. Mackaye himself stated that he hoped that the play would not be taken as a dramatization of "Feathertop", since the intentions of the two works are so different: "The scarecrow Feathertop is ridiculous, as the emblem of a superficial fop; the scarecrow Ravensbane is pitiful, as the emblem of human bathos."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Feathertop</span> Short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne

"Feathertop" is a short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne, first published in 1852. The moral tale uses a metaphoric scarecrow named Feathertop and its adventure to offer the reader a conclusive lesson about human character. It has since been used and adapted in several other media forms, such as opera and theatre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ruth Stonehouse</span> American actress

Ruth Stonehouse was an actress and film director during the silent film era. Her stage career started at the age of eight as a dancer in Arizona shows.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Osgood Perkins</span> American actor (1892–1937)

James Ridley Osgood Perkins was an American actor.

<i>Frankenstein</i> 1818 novel by Mary Shelley

Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus is an 1818 novel written by English author Mary Shelley. Frankenstein tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a sapient creature in an unorthodox scientific experiment. Shelley started writing the story when she was 18, and the first edition was published anonymously in London on 1 January 1818, when she was 20. Her name first appeared in the second edition, which was published in Paris in 1821.

<i>Bachelor Flat</i> 1962 film by Frank Tashlin

Bachelor Flat is a 1962 American DeLuxe Color comedy film directed by Frank Tashlin and starring Tuesday Weld, Richard Beymer, Terry-Thomas, and Celeste Holm. Filmed in CinemaScope in Malibu, California, the film is a revised version of Tashlin's own Susan Slept Here (1954).

<i>Pirates of Tortuga</i> 1961 film by Robert D. Webb

Pirates of Tortuga is a 1961 American swashbuckler film which invented an alternate history for the actual Welsh privateer Henry Morgan. It was released in October 1961 in the United States in CinemaScope.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harold Huth</span> British actor and film producer

Harold Huth was a British actor, film director and producer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Hardie Chalmers</span> American opera singer

Thomas Hardie Chalmers was an American opera singer and actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glenn Hunter (actor)</span> American actor (1894–1945)

Glenn Hunter was an American stage and silent film actor who gained popularity in the 1920s on the Broadway stage.

<i>Second Fiddle</i> (1923 film) 1923 American film by Frank Tuttle

Second Fiddle is a 1923 American silent comedy-drama film directed by Frank Tuttle and distributed by W. W. Hodkinson. It stars Glenn Hunter and has an early appearance in a lead role by actress Mary Astor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jules Eckert Goodman</span> American dramatist

Jules Eckert Goodman was an American playwright and author. He was best known for his plays Treasure Island (1915), The Man Who Came Back (1916), The Silent Voice (1914), Chains (1923), and a series of plays featuring Potash and Permutter written with Montague Glass.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">F. Harmon Weight</span> American film director

Frederick Harmon Weight was an American film director most prolific in the late silent film era of the 1920s. He directed many well-known performers such as George Arliss, Betty Compson, Myrna Loy and Rin-Tin-Tin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elliot Cabot</span> American actor (1899–1938)

James Elliot Cabot (1899–1938) was an American stage actor. Born in Boston to Charles Mills Cabot and Caroline Elizabeth he attended Harvard University and Caius College, Cambridge University. He studied for the theatre under Frances Robinson-Duff, Laura Elliott and Moffat Johnston. Possessing good looks, he started on Broadway in Six Characters in Search of an Author in 1922. He appeared in the following years in the 1920s in plays that were either based on novels or original for the stage. Later plays include Sun-Up (1923), The Great Gatsby (1926), The Silver Cord (1926), Coquette (1927).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aileen Manning</span> American film actress

Aileen Manning was an American film actress.

References

  1. Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 266. ISBN   978-1936168-68-2.
  2. Puritan Passions at silentera.com
  3. The Library of Congress/FIAF American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog:Puritan Passions

Further reading