The Common Cause

Last updated
The Common Cause
The Common Cause 1919.png
Advertisement
Directed by J. Stuart Blackton
Written by Anthony Paul Kelly
Based onplay, Getting Together, by Ian Hay, J. Hartley Manners, and Percival Knight
Produced byJ. Stuart Blackton
Starring Effie Shannon
Irene Castle
Marjorie Rambeau
CinematographyGeorge Brautigan
Production
company
J. Stuart Blackton Feature Pictures
Distributed by Vitagraph Company of America
Release date
January 5, 1919
Running time
7 reels
CountryUnited States
Language Silent (English intertitles)

The Common Cause is a lost [1] 1919 American silent comedy film directed and produced by J. Stuart Blackton and distributed by Vitagraph Company of America. [2] It is based on a play, Getting Together, by Ian Hay, J. Hartley Manners, and Percival Knight. [3]

Contents

Plot

As described in a film magazine, [4] Helene Palmer (Breamer) is estranged from her husband Orrin (Rawlinson) due to the attentions paid to her by a man about town. After the United States enters World War I, she takes up war work and pleads with men from all walks of life on the steps of the New York City public library to enlist. Her husband joins his company and goes abroad, and she induces her male friend to also join the colors. She then goes to France where she ministers to the sick and destitute. The Germans invade the town and she remains behind with those too ill to be moved. A German officer goes to her room and is about to assault her when the American troops arrive, and she is saved by her husband. There is a reconciliation between them. The film has a prologue where actresses representing Britannia, Italy, and the United States answer the call of Belgium and France, and the film ends with an epilogue with a "league of nations" tableau.

Cast

Related Research Articles

<i>Mamas Affair</i> 1921 film by Victor Fleming

Mama's Affair is a 1921 American silent romantic comedy film directed by Victor Fleming and based on the play of the same title by Rachel Barton Butler. Cast members Effie Shannon, George Le Guere and Katharine Kaelred reprise their roles from the Broadway play.

<i>We Cant Have Everything</i> 1918 film

We Can't Have Everything was a 1918 American silent drama film directed and written by Cecil B. DeMille based upon a novel by Rupert Hughes. The film is considered to be lost.

<i>The Great Love</i> (1918 film) 1918 film

The Great Love is a 1918 American silent war drama film directed and written by D. W. Griffith who, along with scenario writer Stanner E.V. Taylor, is credited as "Captain Victor Marier". The film stars George Fawcett and Lillian Gish. Set during World War I, exterior scenes were shot on location in England. The Great Love is now considered to be a lost film.

<i>Her Husbands Trademark</i> 1922 film

Her Husband's Trademark is a 1922 American silent drama film directed by Sam Wood and starring Gloria Swanson and Richard Wayne. Produced by Famous Players-Lasky and distributed by Paramount Pictures, the film was shot on location in El Paso, Texas. Prints of Her Husband's Trademark are held at the George Eastman House and the Gosfilmofond archive in Moscow.

<i>Counterfeit</i> (1919 film) 1919 film by George Fitzmaurice

Counterfeit is a 1919 American silent detective drama film directed by George Fitzmaurice and starring Elsie Ferguson. The assistant director was C. Van Arsdale.

<i>The Glorious Adventure</i> (1918 film) 1918 film

The Glorious Adventure is a lost 1918 American silent drama film directed by Hobart Henley.

<i>The Woman on the Jury</i> 1924 film

The Woman on the Jury is a lost 1924 American silent drama film produced and released by Associated First National and directed by Harry Hoyt. It is based on a Broadway stage play, The Woman on the Jury, and stars Sylvia Breamer and Bessie Love. The story was refilmed in 1929 as an early talkie under the title The Love Racket starring Dorothy Mackaill.

<i>Treasure Island</i> (1918 film) 1918 film by Sidney Franklin, Chester M. Franklin

Treasure Island is a 1918 American silent adventure film based on the 1883 novel of the same name by Robert Louis Stevenson. This is one of many silent versions of the story and is noteworthy because it is almost entirely acted by child or teenage actors. The film was co-directed by brothers Sidney and Chester Franklin. The film is one of Fox's Sunset Kiddies productions following in the wake of previous Kiddie productions like Aladdin and his Wonderful Lamp. This is a lost film.

<i>My Ladys Garter</i> 1920 film by Maurice Tourneur

My Lady's Garter is a lost 1920 American silent mystery film directed by Maurice Tourneur and starring Wyndham Standing, Sylvia Breamer and Holmes Herbert. It was based on the 1912 novel of the same name by Jacques Futrelle, a writer who perished with the sinking of the Titanic in 1912.

<i>Arms and the Girl</i> 1917 American film

Arms and the Girl is a 1917 American silent drama film produced by Famous Players-Lasky and distributed by Paramount Pictures. It was directed by Joseph Kaufman and stars Billie Burke. The film is one of the few of director Kaufman's to survive and the earliest known Billie Burke silent to survive.

<i>Girls</i> (1919 film) 1919 film by Walter Edwards

Girls is a 1919 American silent romantic comedy directed by Walter Edwards and starring Marguerite Clark. It is based on the 1909 Broadway play of the same name by Clyde Fitch starring Florence Reed in the part Clark plays in this film.

<i>Scratch My Back</i> (film) 1920 film by Sidney Olcott

Scratch my Back is a 1920 American silent comedy film produced by Eminent Authors Pictures and distributed by Goldwyn Pictures. Adapted by Rupert Hughes from one of his story, the film was directed by Sidney Olcott with T. Roy Barnes and Helene Chadwick in the leading roles. It is not known whether the film currently survives.

<i>The Judgment House</i> 1917 American film

The Judgment House is a 1917 American silent drama film directed by J. Stuart Blackton and written by J. Stuart Blackton based upon the novel by Gilbert Parker. The film stars Violet Heming, Wilfred Lucas, Conway Tearle, Paul Doucet, Florence Deshon, and Lucille Hammill. The film was released on November 19, 1917, by Paramount Pictures.

<i>Missing</i> (1918 film) 1918 American film

Missing is a 1918 American silent drama film directed by James Young and written by Mary Augusta Ward, J. Stuart Blackton, and James Young. The film stars Thomas Meighan, Sylvia Breamer, Robert Gordon, Winter Hall, Ola Humphrey and Mollie McConnell. The film was released on June 16, 1918, by Paramount Pictures.

<i>Wealth</i> (film) 1921 film

Wealth is a 1921 American silent drama film directed by William Desmond Taylor, written by Cosmo Hamilton and Julia Crawford Ivers, and starring Ethel Clayton, Herbert Rawlinson, J.M. Dumont, Larry Steers, George Periolat, and Claire McDowell. It was released on August 21, 1921, by Paramount Pictures. It is not known whether the film currently survives, and it may be a lost film.

<i>Between Friends</i> (1924 film) 1924 film

Between Friends is a 1924 American silent melodrama film based on the eponymous 1914 novel by Robert W. Chambers. The film was directed by J. Stuart Blackton and produced by Albert E. Smith. It stars Lou Tellegen, Anna Q. Nilsson, and Norman Kerry. The feature was distributed by Vitagraph Studios, which was founded by Blackton and Smith in 1897 in Brooklyn, New York. The film is lost.

<i>Her Temporary Husband</i> 1923 film

Her Temporary Husband is a 1923 American silent comedy film directed by John McDermott and starring Owen Moore. Based upon a play of the same name by Edward A. Paulton, it was produced and distributed by Associated First National.

<i>The Scarlet Car</i> (1923 film) 1923 film by Stuart Paton

The Scarlet Car is a lost 1923 American silent drama film directed by Stuart Paton and starring Herbert Rawlinson, Claire Adams, and Edward Cecil. It is based on a novel by Richard Harding Davis, which had previously been turned into a 1917 Lon Chaney film of the same title.

<i>The Black Bag</i> 1922 film directed by Stuart Paton

The Black Bag is a lost 1922 American silent mystery film directed by Stuart Paton and starring Herbert Rawlinson. It was produced and distributed by the Universal Film Manufacturing Company.

<i>My Husbands Other Wife</i> 1920 film by J. Stuart Blackton

My Husband's Other Wife is a 1920 American silent drama film directed by J. Stuart Blackton and starring Sylvia Breamer, Robert Gordon and May McAvoy. There are no known archival holdings of the film, so it is presumably a lost film.

References

  1. The Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog: The Common Cause
  2. The AFI Catalog of Feature Films: The Common Cause
  3. Progressive Silent Film List: The Common Cause at silentera.com
  4. "Reviews: The Common Cause". Exhibitors Herald. New York City: Exhibitors Herald Company. 7 (24): 34. December 7, 1918.