The Dawn of a Tomorrow | |
---|---|
Directed by | James Kirkwood |
Written by | Eve Unsell(scenario) |
Based on | The Dawn of a Tomorrow by Frances Hodgson Burnett |
Produced by | Adolph Zukor Daniel Frohman |
Starring | Mary Pickford David Powell |
Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 5 reels |
Country | United States |
Language | Silent (English intertitles) |
The Dawn of a Tomorrow is a 1915 American silent film starring Mary Pickford, produced by Adolph Zukor's Famous Players Film Company and directed by James Kirkwood. It is based on a 1909 stage play starring Eleanor Robson Belmont, her last stage role. This film was rereleased by Paramount in 1919 under their Success-Series banner and a copy survives in Sweden today. The story was remade in 1924 again as The Dawn of a Tomorrow with Jacqueline Logan in the lead. [1]
The Dawn of Tomorrow is about a young girl named Glad (Mary Pickford) who becomes the inspiration for a suicidal millionaire to keep living. Glad, the selfless heroine, lives in a poor neighborhood of London. She tries to persuade her sweetheart Dandy (played by David Powell), who is an unscrupulous thief, to give up his ways, though initially not to much avail. At the same time, the millionaire Sir Oliver Holt (Forrest Robinson) has been diagnosed with incurable dementia. Because of this, Holt becomes depressed to the point where he plans his suicide.
Having disguised himself as a beggar, Holt wanders into the slums, where Glad lives. They encounter each other while he is preparing to kill himself, and Glad manages to persuade him out of suicide before it is too late. Her compassion and empathy towards Holt's sufferings touches his heart and he begins to have hope in his recovery. Meanwhile, Dandy has been falsely accused of murder, and only Holt's corrupt nephew (Robert Cain) could prove his innocence. Glad, for the sake of her love for Dandy, pleads with Holt's unnamed nephew to help him. The nephew refuses, however, and tries to assault Glad. Holt then comes to her rescue and chastises his nephew. Glad and Dandy are now finally reunited and the millionaire Holt, now seeming to be renewed in mind and spirit, vows to a life of charity and is suicidal no more.
Gladys Marie Smith, known professionally as Mary Pickford, was a Canadian actress resident in the U.S., and also producer, screenwriter and film studio founder, who was a pioneer in the US film industry with a Hollywood career that spanned five decades.
John Charles Smith, known professionally as Jack Pickford, was a Canadian-American actor, film director and producer. He was the younger brother of actresses Mary and Lottie Pickford.
Olive Thomas was an American silent-film actress, art model, and photo model.
Pollyanna is a 1913 novel by American author Eleanor H. Porter, considered a classic of children's literature. The book's success led to Porter soon writing a sequel, Pollyanna Grows Up (1915). Eleven more Pollyanna sequels, known as "Glad Books", were later published, most of them written by Elizabeth Borton or Harriet Lummis Smith. Further sequels followed, including Pollyanna Plays the Game by Colleen L. Reece, published in 1997. Due to the book's fame, "Pollyanna" has become a byword for someone who, like the title character, has an unfailingly optimistic outlook; a subconscious bias towards the positive is often described as the Pollyanna principle. Despite the current common use of the term to mean "excessively cheerful", Pollyanna and her father played the glad game as a method of coping with the real difficulties and sorrows that, along with luck and joy, shape every life.
Thomas Meighan was an American actor of silent films and early talkies. He played several leading-man roles opposite popular actresses of the day, including Mary Pickford and Gloria Swanson. At one point he commanded $10,000 per week.
Tess of the Storm Country is a 1922 silent film starring Mary Pickford, directed by John S. Robertson, and based upon a Grace Miller White novel. It is a remake of Pickford's film from eight years prior and was subsequently remade a decade later as a sound version starring Janet Gaynor.
Friends is a 1912 film written and directed by D. W. Griffith and starring Mary Pickford, Henry B. Walthall, Lionel Barrymore, and Harry Carey. Walthall and Barrymore portray two old friends who each wind up involved with a beautiful girl (Pickford) who lives above a mining camp saloon.
The Hessian Renegades is a 1909 American silent war film directed by D. W. Griffith. It is set during the American Revolution.
The Unwelcome Guest is a 1913 American silent drama film directed by D. W. Griffith.
The Little American is a 1917 American silent romantic war drama film directed by Cecil B. DeMille. The film stars Mary Pickford as an American woman who is in love with both a German soldier and a French soldier during World War I. A print of the film is housed at the UCLA Film and Television Archive and has been released on DVD.
Pollyanna is a 1920 American silent melodrama/comedy film starring Mary Pickford, directed by Paul Powell, and based on Eleanor H. Porter's 1913 novel of the same name. It was Pickford's first motion picture for United Artists. It became a major success and was regarded as one of Pickford's most defining pictures. The film grossed $1.1 million.
Stella Maris is a 1918 American silent drama film directed by Marshall Neilan, written by Frances Marion and based on William John Locke's 1913 novel of the same name. The film stars Mary Pickford in dual roles as the title character and an orphan servant.
Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Hall is a 1924 American silent historical drama film directed by Marshall Neilan and starring Mary Pickford. The script by Waldemar Young was based upon the 1902 novel Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Hall by Charles Major.
Tess of the Storm Country is a 1914 silent drama directed by Edwin S. Porter. It is based on the 1909 novel of the same name by Grace Miller White. It stars Mary Pickford, in a role she would reprise eight years later for the 1922 adaptation by John S. Robertson.
Hollywood is a 1923 American silent comedy film directed by James Cruze, co-written by Frank Condon and Thomas J. Geraghty, and released by Paramount Pictures. The film is a lengthier feature follow-up to Paramount's own short film exposé of itself, A Trip to Paramountown from 1922.
When Knighthood Was in Flower is a 1922 American silent historical film directed by Robert G. Vignola, based on the novel by Charles Major and play by Paul Kester. The film was produced by William Randolph Hearst for Marion Davies and distributed by Paramount Pictures. This was William Powell's second film. The story was re-filmed by Walt Disney in 1953 as The Sword and the Rose, directed by Ken Annakin.
The Dawn of a Tomorrow is a 1924 American silent drama film directed by George Melford, produced by Famous Players–Lasky and distributed through Paramount Pictures, and starring Jacqueline Logan. It is based on the 1906 novel of the same name by Frances Hodgson Burnett which had been filmed before in 1915 also titled as The Dawn of a Tomorrow with Mary Pickford. A play version had been produced on Broadway in 1909 which served as the final starring stage role for Eleanor Robson Belmont.
The White Man's Law is a surviving 1918 American silent drama film directed by James Young and written by Marion Fairfax and John B. Browne. The film stars Sessue Hayakawa, Florence Vidor, Jack Holt, Herbert Standing, Mayme Kelso, and Forrest Seabury. The film was released on May 6, 1918, by Paramount Pictures.
Faint Perfume is a 1925 American silent drama film directed by Louis J. Gasnier and starring Seena Owen, William Powell, and Mary Alden.
Forrest Robinson was an American stage and silent era actor. He was a leading man at the Boston Museum Theater and acted in numerous theatrical productions in New York. He also appeared in numerous films.