The Innocence of Lizette | |
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Directed by | James Kirkwood |
Written by | Arthur Henry Gooden (Scenario) |
Story by | Bessie Boniel |
Starring | Mary Miles Minter |
Distributed by | Mutual Film Pathe Freres(Europe release) |
Release date |
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Running time | 5 reels |
Country | United States |
Languages | Silent English intertitles |
The Innocence of Lizette is a 1916 American silent comedy-drama film directed by James Kirkwood and starring Mary Miles Minter. It is one of approximately a dozen of Minter's films which are known to have survived. [1] The film was restored in the Netherlands in 2004 and was shown at several European film festivals along with A Dream or Two Ago , another Minter feature from 1916. [2] [3]
As described in film magazines, [4] [5] [6] Lizette (Minter), is a young girl who is left without money or family when her grandfather dies. She is taken in by her grandfather's old landlady, Granny Page, whose nephew Paul runs a news-stand where Lizette sometimes helps out.
While working at the news-stand, Lizette catches the attention of two men; Dan Nye, a handsome but dishonest young man, and Henry Faure, an elderly man still mourning the loss of his wife and daughter. Faure adopts Lizette as she reminds him of his lost daughter, and Lizette goes to live with him in his mansion.
One day Faure is called away on business, and Lizette takes the opportunity to visit Granny Page and Paul for a while. On her return to Faure's mansion, she finds a baby on the doorstep, abandoned by its mother who could not afford to keep it. Being very innocent, Lizette believes that babies are gifts sent from Heaven by God, and thus, when Faure's housekeeper and butler enquire as to where she found the baby, Lizette earnestly insists that it is her own.
When Faure returns, he is shocked, and angrily demands to know the identity of the father. Lizette does not understand the implications of the question, but she supposes that babies must have fathers as well as mothers, and so names the first man that comes into her head: Dan Nye. Faure storms into Nye's office and demands that he marry Lizette. Nye is initially puzzled, but soon seizes the opportunity to demand a significant payment from Faure if he is to wed.
When Faure returns to his mansion with Nye, Lizette refuses to marry him, and runs away with the baby. At the same time, the baby's real mother arrives, seeking her child, along with Paul, who is furious with Nye for what he believes he has done to Lizette. When Lizette is compelled to return by a policeman, all is revealed; Nye is thrown out of the house and mother and baby are reunited.
Mary Miles Minter was an American actress, and one of the leading ladies who established the early Hollywood star system. She appeared in 53 silent films from 1912 to 1923.
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Eugenie Forde was an American silent film actress.
Irene is a 1940 American musical film produced and directed by Herbert Wilcox. The screenplay by Alice Duer Miller is based on the libretto of the 1919 stage musical Irene by James Montgomery, who had adapted it from his play Irene O'Dare. The score features songs with music by Harry Tierney and lyrics by Joseph McCarthy.
Rose of the Alley is a 1916 silent crime drama film directed by Charles Horan and starring Mary Miles Minter.
Faith is a 1916 American silent drama film directed by James Kirkwood and starring Mary Miles Minter. It was the first of Minter's films to also feature her older sister Margaret Shelby. The film survives and is preserved at George Eastman House, Rochester.
A Dream or Two Ago is a 1916 American silent drama film directed by James Kirkwood and starring Mary Miles Minter. It is one of approximately a dozen of Minter's films known to have survived. The film was restored in 2004 and was shown along with The Innocence of Lizette (1916) at a Dutch film festival.
The Gentle Intruder is a 1917 American silent drama film directed by James Kirkwood and starring Mary Miles Minter. The film was Minter's sixth production with Mutual Film. It is one of approximately a dozen of Minter's films known to have survived; a copy is held by the Dutch Filmmuseum.
Annie-for-Spite is a 1917 silent film directed by James Kirkwood and starring Mary Miles Minter. The film is based upon the 1916 short story Annie for Spite by Frederick J. Jackson. As with many of Minter's features, it is thought to be a lost film.
Charity Castle is a 1917 American silent comedy-drama film directed by Lloyd Ingraham and starring Mary Miles Minter. As is the case with many of Minter's features, it is thought to be a lost film.
Her Country's Call is a 1917 American silent drama film directed by Lloyd Ingraham and starring Mary Miles Minter, along with George Periolat and Allan Forrest. The film is the final instalment in a series a films written by Abraham Lincoln impersonator Benjamin Chapin, who also appeared in the film as Lincoln. It was one of many films of the time that catered to the vogue for patriotic pictures after America joined World War I, with ample shots of soldiers and the American flag. As with many of Minter's features, it is thought to be a lost film.
The Mate of the Sally Ann is a 1917 American silent comedy-drama film directed by Henry King and starring Mary Miles Minter. As with many of Minter's features, it is thought to be a lost film.
Beauty and the Rogue is a 1918 American silent comedy crime drama film directed by Henry King and starring Mary Miles Minter. It was filmed under the working title of "Mademoiselle Tiptoe," based on a story by Arthur Berthelet and adapted for the screen by Elizabeth Mahoney, who was the screenwriter for many of Minter's Mutual Film features. As with many of Minter's features, it is thought to be a lost film.
When a Man Sees Red is a 1917 American silent drama film produced and distributed by the Fox Film Corporation and directed by Frank Lloyd. William Farnum stars in this now lost film. It was remade in 1934 as Pursued.
The Heiress at Coffee Dan's is a 1916 American silent comedy-drama film produced by the Fine Arts Film Company and distributed by Triangle Film Corporation. It starred Bessie Love and was directed by Edward Dillon.
Lena Rivers is a 1910 American silent short drama produced by the Thanhouser Company. The film follows a young woman who leaves home to search for employment and becoming married to a wealthy man, but the marriage is kept secret. The husband is arrested by mistake and by the time he is freed, his wife and child depart and he believes them dead. The young woman entrusts her baby, Lena, to her mother before her death. At age 16, Lena goes to the city is visited by her father, but the relationship is only known when he sees a picture of her mother in her locket. The film was an adaptation of Mary Jane Holmes' 1856 novel Lena Rivers and was released on August 12, 1910. It had a wide national release and received positive reviews from critics.
Eternal Love is a 1917 American silent drama film produced by Butterfly Pictures and released by Universal Pictures.
Jenny Be Good is a 1920 American silent romance drama film directed by William Desmond Taylor and starring Mary Miles Minter, based on a novel by Wilbur Finley Fauley and adapted for the screen by Julia Crawford Ivers. It is the last of Minter's films to also feature her older sister Margaret Shelby in a supporting role. As with many of Minter's features, it is believed to be a lost film.
The Little Clown is a 1921 American silent comedy film directed by Thomas N. Heffron and starring Mary Miles Minter, adapted by Eugene B. Lewis from a comedy play by Avery Hopwood. It is one of approximately a dozen of Minter's films which still survive today. A copy of the film was found in the Dawson Film Find in 1978 - although other copies survived in various holdings - and a few brief frames from this copy can be seen in 2016 documentary Dawson City: Frozen Time.
A Bachelor's Wife is a 1919 silent drama film directed by Emmett J. Flynn and starring Mary Miles Minter. As with many of Minter's films, the film is thought to be a lost film. In the weeks before its release, some film magazines listed the feature under its working title “Mary O’Rourke.”