Stella Dallas (1925 film)

Last updated

Stella Dallas
Stella Dallas poster.jpg
Film poster
Directed by Henry King
Written by Frances Marion
Based on Stella Dallas
1923 novel
by Olive Higgins Prouty
Produced by Samuel Goldwyn
Starring Ronald Colman
Belle Bennett
Lois Moran
Cinematography Arthur Edeson
Edited by Stuart Heisler
Production
company
Distributed by United Artists
Release date
  • November 16, 1925 (1925-11-16)
Running time
110 minutes
CountryUnited States
Language Silent (English intertitles)
Budget$500,000 [1]
Box office$1.5 million [2]
The full film

Stella Dallas is a 1925 American silent drama film that was produced by Samuel Goldwyn, adapted by Frances Marion, and directed by Henry King. The film stars Ronald Colman, Belle Bennett, Lois Moran, Alice Joyce, Jean Hersholt, and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. [3] [4] Prints of the film survive in several film archives. [5]

Contents

This was the first feature film adaptation of the 1923 novel Stella Dallas by Olive Higgins Prouty. Subsequent film versions were Stella Dallas (1937) and Stella (1990).

Plot

As described in a review in a 1925 film magazine, [6] upon the suicide of his father who has embezzled funds, Stephen Dallas (Colman), reared in luxury, forsakes his sweetheart Helen (Joyce) and hides in a mill town.

Lonely, he succumbs to the blandishments of Stella (Bennett). For a while, their married life is happy, and a baby girl is born. Stella, however, never rises to Stephen's social level. She dresses gaudily, her ideas and tastes are crude, and her boon companion is a horseman of the coarse type. Stephen finally leaves her but agrees she can keep their child, Laurel.

Years pass. Laurel (Moran) grows up. Stella comes to the realization that she is a drag on Laurel who takes after her father. Stifling her pride she agrees to a divorce so that Stephen can marry Helen, now a widow, to provide Laurel with a proper home and "mother," but Laurel refuses to leave her own mother. Stella, deciding that no sacrifice is too great for her daughter's happiness, hunts for her friend Ed (Hersholt), now a drunkard, and tells Laurel she is going to marry him. She sends her to visit her father and claims that she and Ed are going away for a year.

Laurel resumes her romance with a fine young fellow and marries him, and Stella in the rain outside watches the ceremony and leaves weeping but happy that her sacrifice has not been in vain.

Cast

Related Research Articles

The following is an overview of 1925 in film, including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths.

<i>The Sin of Madelon Claudet</i> 1931 film

The Sin of Madelon Claudet is a 1931 American pre-Code drama film directed by Edgar Selwyn and starring Helen Hayes. The screenplay by Charles MacArthur and Ben Hecht was adapted from the play The Lullaby by Edward Knoblock. It tells the story of a wrongly imprisoned woman who turns to theft and prostitution in order to support her son.

<i>Arrowsmith</i> (film) 1931 film

Arrowsmith is a 1931 American pre-Code drama film directed by John Ford and starring Ronald Colman, Helen Hayes, Richard Bennett, and Myrna Loy. It was adapted from Sinclair Lewis's 1925 novel Arrowsmith by Sidney Howard, departing substantially from the book regarding Arrowsmith's womanizing and other key plot elements. The pre-Code film received four Oscar nominations, including the Academy Award for Best Picture, Best Writing, Adaptation (Howard), Best Cinematography, and Best Art Direction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alice Joyce</span> American actress (1890–1955)

Alice Joyce Brown was an American actress who appeared in more than 200 films during the 1910s and 1920s. She is known for her roles in the 1923 film The Green Goddess and its 1930 remake of the same name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lois Moran</span> American actress (1909–1990)

Lois Moran was an American film and stage actress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lois Wilson (actress)</span> American actress

Lois Wilson was an American actress who worked during the silent film era. She also directed two short films and was a scenario writer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Belle Bennett</span> American actress (1891–1932)

Belle Bennett, was a stage and screen actress who started her career as a child as a circus performer. She later performed in theater and films.

<i>A Thief in Paradise</i> 1925 film

A Thief in Paradise is a 1925 American silent drama film produced by Samuel Goldwyn, directed by George Fitzmaurice, and adapted by Frances Marion from Leonard Merrick's 1900 novel The Worldlings.

<i>Stella</i> (1990 film) 1990 American drama film directed by John Erman

Stella is a 1990 American drama film produced by The Samuel Goldwyn Company and released by Touchstone Pictures. The screenplay by Robert Getchell is the third feature film adaptation of the 1923 novel Stella Dallas by Olive Higgins Prouty. Previous film versions were Stella Dallas (1937) and the silent film Stella Dallas (1925).

Stella Dallas can refer to:

<i>Stella Dallas</i> (1937 film) 1937 film by King Vidor

Stella Dallas is a 1937 American drama film based on the 1923 Olive Higgins Prouty novel of the same name. It was directed by King Vidor and stars Barbara Stanwyck, John Boles and Anne Shirley. The film was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actress in a Leading Role and Best Actress in a Supporting Role.

<i>Stella Dallas</i> (radio series)

Stella Dallas was an America radio soap opera that ran from October 25, 1937, to December 23, 1955. The New York Times described the title character as "the beautiful daughter of an impoverished farmhand who had married above her station in life." She was played for the entire run of the series by Anne Elstner. Her husband Stephen Dallas was portrayed at various times by Leo McCabe, Arthur Hughes and Frederick Tazere. Initially, Joy Hathaway played Stella's daughter Laurel with Vivian Smolen later taking over the role. Laurel's husband was Dick Grosvenor.

<i>The Battle of the Sexes</i> (1928 film) 1928 film by D. W. Griffith

The Battle of the Sexes is a 1928 American comedy film directed by D. W. Griffith, starring Jean Hersholt, Phyllis Haver, Belle Bennett, Don Alvarado, and Sally O'Neil, and released by United Artists. The film was a remake by Griffith of an earlier film he directed in 1914, which starred Lillian Gish. Both films are based on the novel The Single Standard by Daniel Carson Goodman; the story was adapted for this production by Gerrit J. Lloyd.

<i>Lovey Mary</i> 1926 silent film by King Baggot

Lovey Mary is a 1926 American comedy-drama film directed by King Baggot, with Bessie Love in the title role. It is based on the 1903 novel of the same name by Alice Hegan Rice, a sequel to Rice's Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch. It was distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

<i>His Supreme Moment</i> 1925 film by George Fitzmaurice

His Supreme Moment is a 1925 American silent drama film with sequences filmed in Technicolor, starring Blanche Sweet and Ronald Colman, directed by George Fitzmaurice, and produced by Samuel Goldwyn. Anna May Wong has a small role as a harem girl appearing in a play. The film is now considered lost.

<i>So Big</i> (1924 film) 1924 film by Charles Brabin

So Big is a 1924 American silent film based on Edna Ferber's 1924 novel of the same name which won the Pulitzer Prize for the Novel in 1925. It was produced by independent producer Earl Hudson the film and distributed through Associated First National. Unseen for decades, it is considered to be a lost film. Only a trailer survives at the Library of Congress.

<i>Padlocked</i> 1926 film by Allan Dwan

Padlocked is a 1926 American silent drama film directed by Allan Dwan and written by Rex Beach, Becky Gardiner, and James Shelley Hamilton. The film stars Lois Moran, Noah Beery Sr., Louise Dresser, Helen Jerome Eddy, Allan Simpson, Florence Turner, and Richard Arlen. The film was released on August 2, 1926, by Paramount Pictures.

<i>The Reckless Lady</i> 1926 film

The Reckless Lady is a 1926 American silent drama film directed by Howard Higgin and starring Belle Bennett, Lois Moran, James Kirkwood, and Lowell Sherman.

<i>Headlines</i> (1925 film) 1925 film

Headlines is a 1925 American silent adventure and crime drama film directed by Edward H. Griffith and starring Alice Joyce and Malcolm McGregor. It was distributed through Pathé Exchange.

<i>The Price of Success</i> (1925 film) 1925 film

The Price of Success is a 1925 American silent drama film directed by Tony Gaudio and starring Alice Lake, Lee Shumway, and Gaston Glass.

References

  1. "Inside Stuff". Variety. October 21, 1925. p. 37. Retrieved March 20, 2023.
  2. Quigley Publishing Company "The All Time Best Sellers", International Motion Picture Almanac 1937-38 (1938) p. 942 accessed April 19, 2014
  3. The AFI Catalog of Feature Films: Stella Dallas
  4. Stella Dallas at The Alice Joyce Website, by Greta De Groat
  5. "Stella Dallas". American Silent Feature Film Survival Database. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  6. Sewell, Charles S. (November 28, 1925). "Through the Box Office Window: Stella Dallas; Samuel Goldwyn Picture One of Finest Ever Made, Is Truly a Dramatic and Emotional Masterpiece". The Moving Picture World. New York City: Chalmers Publishing Co. 77 (4): 342. Retrieved October 11, 2021.PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .