The College Widow (1915 film)

The College Widow
Scene from film
Directed by	Barry O'Neil
Written by	scenario Clay M. Greene
Based on	The College Widow by George Ade
Produced by	Sigmund Lubin
Starring	Ethel Clayton
Cinematography	Fred Chaston
Production company	Lubin Manufacturing Company
Distributed by	V-L-S-E
Release date	May 10, 1915 (1915-05-10)
Running time	6 reels
Country	United States
Language	Silent (English titles)

The College Widow is a 1915 silent comedy drama film starring Ethel Clayton. ^[1] It's the first filming of George Ade's 1904 campus comedy play of the same name performed on Broadway that year. The film was made by the Lubin Manufacturing Company in Pennsylvania and is now lost. ^{[2] [3] [4]}

Later film adaptations of this story are The College Widow (1927), Maybe It's Love (1930), and Freshman Love (1936).

Cast

• Ethel Clayton – Jane Witherspoon
• George Soule Spencer – Billy Bolton
• Charles Brandt – Dr. Witherspoon
• Edith Ritchie – Mrs. Dalzelle
• Ferdinand Tidmarsh – Jack Larrabee
• Howard Missimer – Matty McGowan
• Clarence Elmer – Stub Talmadge
• Peter Lang – Hiram Bolton
• George Clarke – Silent Murphy
• Joseph Kaufman – Tom Pierson
• Bartley McCullum - Hiram Hicks
• Arthur Matthews - Bud Hicks
• Richard Wangermann - Dan Tibbetts (as Richard Wangemann)
• Percy Winter - Copernicus Talbott
• Ruth Bryan - Bessie Tanner
• Betty Brice - Flora Wiggins (as Rosetta Brice)
• Florence Williams - Mrs. Wiggins

Production

During the filming of The College Widow, actor Clarence Elmer met and married Edyth Stroud Anderton, and the wedding was held at the Philadelphia Lubin Studio on February 13th. ^{[5] [6]}

Reception

Motion Picture News reviewer Irene Page Soloman gave the film a positive review, finding that the acting was not only good from the leads "In fact, the long cast are all good even the minor characters being in capable hands." ^[7]

References

1. "AFI Catalog: The College Widow". catalog.afi.com. Retrieved April 23, 2025.
2. "The Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog: The College Widow". web.archive.org. March 21, 2023. Retrieved April 23, 2025.
3. Condon, Mabel (22 May 1915). Lubin's "The College Widow" (review), Motography , pp. 829–30
4. (17 April 1915). "The College Widow" (review), Motion Picture News , p. 67
5. Moving Picture World. New York: Chalmers Publishing Company. March 6, 1915. p. 1474.
6. Photoplay Magazine. Chicago: Photoplay Publishing Co. April 1, 1915. p. 95.
7. Motion Picture News. New York: Motion Picture News, Inc. April 17, 1915. p. 67.

External links

• The College Widow at IMDb