The Christian | |
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Directed by | Frederick A. Thomson Frederick Stanhope (assistant director) |
Written by | Eugene Mullin Hall Caine (scenario) |
Based on | The Christian by Hall Caine |
Produced by | J. Stuart Blackton |
Starring | Earle Williams Edith Storey |
Cinematography | Orestes A. Zangrilli |
Distributed by | Vitagraph-Libler |
Release date |
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Running time | 2,400 meters 8 reels |
Country | United States |
Languages | Silent film (English intertitles) |
The Christian (1914) is a silent film drama, directed by Frederick A. Thomson, and costarring Earle Williams and Edith Storey. The film is based on the novel The Christian by Hall Caine, published in 1897, the first British novel to reach the record of one million copies sold. [1] The novel was adapted for the stage, opening on Broadway at the Knickerbocker Theatre 10 October 1898. [2] This was the second film of the story; the first, The Christian (1911) was made in Australia.
John Storm decides to enter a monastery after his girlfriend Glory Quayle becomes a diva of London's stages. Not being able to forget Glory, John leaves the monastery to devote himself to the destitute and opens a refuge in the London slums. Glory, who has become his neighbour, tells him about her friend Polly who was pregnant by Lord Robert Ure, an aristocrat. As an unmarried mother Polly is disgraced and is dismissed from the hospital where she works as a nurse. John confronts Ure telling him to do his duty by marrying the girl. Ure, enraged by Storm's interference, marries Vera, a rich American woman. John publicly exposes Ure, but he takes his revenge by spreading the word that Storm makes catastrophic predictions and is announcing the end of the world on Derby Day. Riots break out in the slums. Glory manages to convince people that John is innocent of Ure's accusations. John and Glory decide to spend their lives together.
The Christian was produced by the Vitagraph Company of America in association with the Liebler Company. It was the first eight reel film they made. Shooting was done in part at North Scituate in Rhode Island, at Winthrop Beach, in Massachusetts and in several places between Boston and Philadelphia. Frederick Stanhope, assistant to Frederick A. Thomson, was the theatrical director who had performed the Broadway work for Liebler Co. Viola Allen, the show's star, wanted to play Glory Quayle in the film, but Edith Storey wanted the role for herself. [3] Caine wrote the film scenario, the first time ever that a famous author undertook a film scenario of their own work. Vitagraph staff writer Eugene Mullins followed Caine's scenario. [4]
Distributed by the Vitagraph-Liebler Feature Film Company, The Christian was released in US cinemas on 16 March 1914. It premiered in New York at the Manhattan Opera House. Vitagraph leased the Harris Theatre on West 42nd Street, for the purpose of exclusively showing their own films, opening with The Christian.
A new edition of it was made in 1917 by the Greater Vitagraph (V-L-S-E, Incorporated).
Christian most often refers to:
Sir Thomas Henry Hall Caine, usually known as Hall Caine, was a British novelist, dramatist, short story writer, poet and critic of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Caine's popularity during his lifetime was unprecedented. He wrote fifteen novels on subjects of adultery, divorce, domestic violence, illegitimacy, infanticide, religious bigotry and women's rights, became an international literary celebrity, and sold a total of ten million books. Caine was the most highly paid novelist of his day. The Eternal City is the first novel to have sold over a million copies worldwide. In addition to his books, Caine is the author of more than a dozen plays and was one of the most commercially successful dramatists of his time; many were West End and Broadway productions. Caine adapted seven of his novels for the stage. He collaborated with leading actors and managers, including Wilson Barrett, Viola Allen, Herbert Beerbohm Tree, Louis Napoleon Parker, Mrs Patrick Campbell, George Alexander, and Arthur Collins. Most of Caine's novels were adapted into silent black and white films. A. E. Coleby's 1923 18,454 feet, nineteen-reel film The Prodigal Son became the longest commercially made British film. Alfred Hitchcock's 1929 film The Manxman, is Hitchcock's last silent film.
James Oliver Curwood was an American action-adventure writer and conservationist. His books were often based on adventures set in the Hudson Bay area, the Yukon or Alaska and ranked among the top-ten best sellers in the United States in the early and mid 1920s, according to Publishers Weekly. At least one hundred and eighty motion pictures have been based on or directly inspired by his novels and short stories; one was produced in three versions from 1919 to 1953. At the time of his death, Curwood was the highest paid author in the world.
Lee Patrick was an American actress whose career began in 1922 on the New York stage with her role in The Bunch and Judy which headlined Adele Astaire and featured Adele's brother Fred Astaire.
A Florida Enchantment (1914) is a silent film directed by Sidney Drew and released by the Vitagraph studio. The feature-length comedy/fantasy was shot in and around St. Augustine, Florida, where its story is set. It is notable for its cross-dressing lead characters, much later discussed as bisexual, lesbian, gay, and transgender.
Clara Blandick was an American character, film, stage and theater actress. She played Aunt Em in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's The Wizard of Oz (1939). As a character actress, she often played eccentric elderly matriarchs.
Eileen Mary Ure was a British stage and film actress. She was the second Scottish-born actress to be nominated for an Academy Award, for her role in the 1960 film Sons and Lovers.
Clara Kimball Young was an American film actress who was popular in the early silent film era.
The Constant Gardener is a 2005 drama thriller film directed by Fernando Meirelles. The screenplay by Jeffrey Caine is based on John le Carré's 2001 novel of the same name. The story follows Justin Quayle, a British diplomat in Kenya, as he tries to solve the murder of his wife Tessa, an Amnesty activist, alternating with many flashbacks telling the story of their love.
Frances Charlotte Greenwood was an American actress and dancer. Born in Philadelphia, Greenwood started in vaudeville, and starred on Broadway, movies and radio. Standing almost six feet tall, she was best known for her long legs and high kicks. She earned the unique praise of being, in her words, the "...only woman in the world who could kick a giraffe in the eye."
Edith Storey was an American actress during the silent film era.
Edward Marshall Kimball was an American actor of the silent era. He appeared in more than 60 films between 1912 and 1936. Like many older actors of the Victorian and Edwardian eras, he enjoyed a varied stage career on and off Broadway before entering the silent films.
Harry Temple Morey was an American stage and motion picture actor who appeared in nearly 200 films during his career.
The Christian (1923) is a silent film drama, released by Goldwyn Pictures, directed by Maurice Tourneur, his first production for Goldwyn, and starring Richard Dix and Mae Busch. The film is based on the novel The Christian by Hall Caine, published in 1897, the first British novel to reach the record of one million copies sold. The novel was adapted for the stage, opening on Broadway at the Knickerbocker Theatre October 10, 1898. This was the fourth film of the story; the first, The Christian (1911) was made in Australia.
The Christian is a 1911 Australian silent film starring Roy Redgrave and Eugenie Duggan. It was the first film directed by Franklyn Barrett. The film was based on Hall Caine's play adapted from his novel The Christian which was published in 1897 and the first British novel to sell one million copies. It is considered a lost film.
Marguerite Bertsch was an American screenwriter and film director who worked in the early days of film. Her 1917 text How to Write for Moving Pictures: A Manual of Instruction and Information reflected and influenced the screenwriters of the era. In the early days of film it was not uncommon for "scenario writers" to be women and she was among those who, beginning in 1916, also directed films. However, she would later be called one of the "forgotten women" of silent film as the non-acting women of early film largely became obscure. Prints of two films that Bertsch had worked on as a screenwriter were rediscovered in the Netherlands, at the Nederlands Filmmuseum. These newly discovered films, The Diver and The Troublesome Step-Daughter, and the 1914 film A Florida Enchantment, are currently the only films from Bertsch's career that have been recovered. The rest are presumed to be lost.
Paid in Full is a lost 1919 American silent drama film starring Pauline Frederick and directed by Emile Chautard. It was produced by Famous Players-Lasky and released by Paramount Pictures. The film is based on the hit 1908 Broadway stage play Paid in Full by Eugene Walter which starred Lillian Albertson. Two previous silent films appeared in 1910 as a short and in 1914 as a feature.
An Enemy to the King is a 1916 silent film directed by Frederick A. Thomson.
The Christian is a 1915 British silent film directed by George Loane Tucker and starring Derwent Hall Caine and Elizabeth Risdon. The film is an adaptation of Hall Caine's 1897 novel The Christian. This was the third film of the story, the first The Christian (1911) was made in Australia and the second The Christian (1914) was made in the United States. The Christian was made by the London Film company, which was at the time England's most highly regarded producing organisation and whose policy was to film works of the great authors.
A Gentleman of Quality is a 1919 American silent drama film directed by James Young and starring Earle Williams, Kathryn Adams, Joyce Moore, James Carpenter, and Robert Bolder. It is based on the 1909 novel of the same name by Frederick Van Rensselaer Dey. The film was released by Vitagraph Company of America on March 17, 1919.