The Deemster | |
---|---|
Directed by | Howell Hansel |
Written by | Hall Caine (novel and play) Edfrid A. Bingham (scenario) Charles A. Taylor (scenario) |
Produced by | W.E. Shallenberger |
Starring | Derwent Hall Caine Marian Swayne |
Cinematography | Henry Cronjager |
Edited by | Henry A. Butterfield |
Production company | |
Distributed by | State Rights |
Release date |
|
Running time | 9 Reels |
Country | United States |
Languages | Silent film (English intertitles) |
The Deemster is a 1917 American drama silent film, released by Arrow Film Corporation, directed by Howell Hansel, starring Derwent Hall Caine and Marian Swayne. [1]
The plot description in the February 24, 1917 issue of Moving Picture World reads:
Daniel Mylrea is the son of the Bishop of Man, the baron of the Isle of Man, whose temporal power is higher even than that of the Deemster, or governor. The Bishop desires Dan to become a minister, but he prefers to be a fisherman. The Deemster of Man has a son and a daughter, Mona and Ewan. Dan and Mona are in love. She consents to marry him when he can obtain her father's consent. Ewan, her brother, decides to become a clergyman, even in the face of his father's insistence that he take up business as a vocation.
The Deemster opposes Dan's suit for Mona's hand because he has fallen from his high estate as the son of the Bishop by becoming a fisherman. His dislike turns to open hatred when Dan endeavors to borrow money from Ewan, whom he thought his friend, to pay off the crew of his boat. Dan had squandered his earnings of the season in drink. Ewan refuses Dan the loan, who makes him a bitter enemy by knocking him down on his taunt that spending money in drink is as bad as theft. Dan is now opposed in his love for Mona by both her father and brother. The Deemster forbids Dan to come to his house to visit her. Despite this, he sees her at night. Though this meeting is innocent in intent, the Deemster uses it to inflame the mind of Ewan against Dan, whom he supposes has dishonored his sister.
Arming himself with a knife, Ewan seeks Dan and comes upon him at his cabin while he is mending his nets. They quarrel and Ewan falls backward over a cliff and is killed. Dan's crew of fishermen throw the body into the sea, hoping to hide his death, but the tide sweeps it ashore. It is discovered and suspicion of murder falls on Dan. He is arrested by the Deemster's constables and committed to jail, where he is visited at night by his father, the Bishop, who gives him an opportunity to escape. Dan refuses to go, feeling that he must atone for Ewan's death. Dan is tried on Tynwald Hill, the ancient law mount. The Deemster insists that the Bishop shall exercise his legal prerogative as the highest civil power on the isle and sit at this trial. He aims to force the Bishop to sentence his own son on the gallows. Dan is convicted. The Deemster insists on the death sentence being passed by the Bishop, who, instead of condemning Dan to be hanged, decrees that his son shall be cut off from the people, no tongue to speak to him, no hand to touch him, and. in death, no hand to bury him.
Dan is driven away, and for seven years lives alone in a hut by the sea. Then a plague strikes the people of Man. The Bishop has learned of a monk in Ireland who has discovered an antidote for the pestilence and sends for him. The monk comes to the isle on a vessel which is wrecked on the shore near Dan's desolate hut. He dies in Dan's arms, who then dons the monk's garb and carries the antidote to the people, as he had been commanded by the dying cleric. When there is but one powder of the antidote left Dan learns that the Deemster is a victim of the plague. When he faces his enemy to minister to him. he finds himself stricken. Either he or the Deemster must die. Revealing himself to the Deemster he chooses to die himself, hopeless under his father's irrevocable sentence to a living death. Giving the Deemster the healing powder he staggers away to his hut. There he is followed by Mona and dies in her arms. [2]
Originally entitled The Bishop’s Son the film was announced by the Arrow Film Company as the first of their series of special seven and eight reel productions. It is based on Hall Caine’s 1887 novel The Deemster and his 1910 stage adaptation of the novel The Bishop’s Son in which his son Derwent Hall Caine produced and played the same role as in the film.
The costumes are identical with those used in the London stage production. They were brought from England by Derwent Hall Caine. [3]
Over 100,000 feet of negative was shot on location at Block Island, Rhode Island and at Arrow’s studio at Yonkers. [4]
Hall Caine remained in London, England during the First World War so when he granted exclusive film rights on his novel The Deemster negotiations were carried out by Derwent Hall Caine as W. E. Shallenberger had business commitments that prevented him from travelling to meet with Hall Caine. Arrow sent a representative to the Isle of Man to take many photos of the locations of the story under Hall Caine’s personal direction. Due to the war and English censorship the American Consul assisted in getting the photos and accompanying graphic plans and panoramic views to America. Prior to making the film the locations were photographed and sent to Hall Caine for his approval.
Carpenters and masons were sent to Block Island and built the replica of a Manx village, following the plans and specifications faithfully. Hall Caine had trained as an architect prior to becoming a writer. The houses built for the film were constructed of stone and concrete throughout, and were afterwards sold to the island’ [5]
Sir Thomas Henry Hall Caine, usually known as Hall Caine, was a British novelist, dramatist, short story writer, poet and critic of the late 19th and early 20th century. Caine's popularity during his lifetime was unprecedented. He wrote 15 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.
The Manxman is a 1929 British silent romance film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Anny Ondra, Carl Brisson and Malcolm Keen. The film is based on a popular 1894 romantic novel The Manxman by Hall Caine, which had previously been made into a film 13 years earlier. It was the last fully silent production that Hitchcock directed before he made the transition to sound film with his next film Blackmail (1929).
Illiam Dhone or Illiam Dhône, also known as William Christian, was a Manx politician and depending on viewpoint, patriot, rebel or traitor. He was a son of Ewan Christian, a deemster. In Manx, Illiam Dhone literally translates to Brown William—an epithet he received due to his dark hair—and in English he was called Brown-haired William. Dhone was a significant figure in the Isle of Man during the English Civil War and the Manx Rebellion of 1651. He was executed for high treason in 1663. In the centuries after his death he has become a "martyr and folk-hero, a symbol of the Island's cherished freedoms and traditional rights".
A Deemster is a judge in the Isle of Man. The High Court of Justice of the Isle of Man is presided over by a deemster or, in the case of the appeal division of that court, a deemster and the Judge of Appeal. The deemsters also promulgate the Laws on Tynwald Day by reading out brief summaries of them in English and Manx.
Hall Caine Airport, also referred to as Close Lake Airfield, was an airfield on the Isle of Man located near the town of Ramsey. It was named after the author Sir Thomas Henry Hall Caine CH, KBE by his sons Gordon Hall Caine and Derwent Hall Caine, who initiated the project, and was the first airport in the British Isles to be named after a person.
John McHutchin, was a Manx lawyer who successively became High Bailiff of Douglas, Second Deemster and Clerk of the Rolls in the Isle of Man.
Sir Derwent Hall Caine, 1st Baronet was a British actor, publisher and Labour then National Labour politician.
Gordon Ralph Hall Caine CBE was a British publisher and Conservative politician who served as the Member of Parliament for Dorset East between 1922 and 1929, and again between 1931 and 1945.
The Manxman is a novel by Hall Caine, first appearing as a serial in The Queen, The Lady's Newspaper and Court Chronicle between January and July 1894. Published as one volume in August 1894 by Heinemann, The Manxman ended the system of three-volume novels. A highly popular novel of its period, it was set in the Isle of Man and concerned a romantic triangle. The novel has as its central themes, the mounting consequences of sin and the saving grace of simple human goodness.
The Master of Man: The Story of a Sin was a best-selling 1921 novel by Hall Caine. The fictional story is set on the Isle of Man and is concerned with Victor Stowell, the Deemster's son, who commits a romantic indiscretion and then gives up on all of his principles in order to keep it a secret. However, in the face of the mounting consequences, Victor confesses publicly to his crime and is punished, but redemption comes through a woman's love. The penultimate of Caine's novels, it is romantic and moralistic, returning to his regular themes of sin, justice and atonement, whilst also addressing "the woman question." It was adapted for a film entitled Name the Man in 1924 by Victor Sjöström.
The Woman of Knockaloe: A Parable is a melodramatic novel by Hall Caine first published in 1923. Set on the Isle of Man during the First World War, a young woman finds herself drawn to one of the nearby German internees. They begin a romance in the face of the fierce hostility of the local community which eventually drives them to commit suicide. The story has been described as a "minor masterpiece".
The Deemster is a novel by Hall Caine published in 1887, considered to be the first 'Manx novel'. It was Caine's third novel, the second to be set in the Isle of Man and it was his first great success. The plot revolves around the reckless actions of Dan Mylrea and the exile and atonement that follow.
The Bondman is an 1890 best-selling novel by Hall Caine set in the Isle of Man and Iceland. It was the first novel to be released by the newly established Heinemann publishing company. It was a phenomenal success and was later adapted into a successful play and two silent films.
John Quine was a Manx clergyman, scholar, novelist, and playwright. He is perhaps best remembered for his 1897 novel, The Captain of the Parish.
Edward Faragher (1831–1908), also known in Manx as Ned Beg Hom Ruy, was a Manx language poet, folklorist and cultural guardian. He is considered to be the last important native writer of Manx and perhaps the most important guardian of Manx culture during a time when it was most under threat. The folklorist, Charles Roeder, wrote that Faragher had "done great services to Manx folklore, and it is due to him that at this late period an immense amount of valuable Manx legends have been preserved, for which indeed the Isle of Man must ever be under gratitude to him."
She's All The World To Me is a short early novel by Hall Caine published in 1885 by Harper & Brothers. The novel was the first of Caine's works to be set on the Isle of Man and it centered on themes that would become integral to his later novels: a love triangle, secret mounting sins and eventual redemption. It was published only in America due to copyright problems, but Caine was subsequently able to reuse a great deal of its material in later novels, notably in The Deemster.
Name the Man is a surviving 1924 American silent drama film directed by Victor Sjöström and starring Mae Busch. It was produced and distributed by Goldwyn Pictures in association with Cosmopolitan Productions.
The Crusher (1917) is a silent film, starring Derwent Hall Caine and Valda Valkyrien. Produced by the F. W. Stewart Co., at The Wharton Studio, under the directorship of J. K. Holbrook.
Huns within our gates (1918) is a silent World War I propaganda film, starring Derwent Hall Caine and Valda Valkyrien. Produced by the Arrow Film Corporation, the cast, characters and plot were used in The Crusher (1917). After being re-edited the film was re-released as Commercial Pirates in March 1919. Also known as The Hearts of Men.
Ewan Christian was a Manx politician and landowner on the Isle of Man. He held the position of deemster for 51 years from 1605 until his death. He also held the position of Deputy-Governor of the Isle of Man 1634 to 1637. He was the father of controversial Manx political revolutionary and folk-hero Illiam Dhone.
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