The Love Flower | |
---|---|
Directed by | D. W. Griffith |
Written by | D. W. Griffith |
Based on | “Black Beach” (story) by Ralph Stock |
Produced by | D. W. Griffith |
Starring | Carol Dempster Richard Barthelmess |
Cinematography | G. W. Bitzer Paul H. Allen |
Edited by | James Smith |
Distributed by | United Artists |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 7 reels |
Country | United States |
Language | Silent (English intertitles) |
Budget | $300,000 [1] or $91,000 [2] |
Box office | $900,000 [2] |
The Love Flower is a 1920 American silent drama film produced by D. W. Griffith and released through the then nascent United Artist company of which Griffith was a founding partner. [3] [4]
As described in a film magazine, [5] Thomas Bevan (MacQuarrie) has served an undeserved term in prison. He marries again, but his new wife is unsympathetic towards his daughter Stella (Dempster) because of the father's great great love for and comradeship with his daughter. Matthew Crane (Randolf) of the Secret Service, who sent Bevan to prison, comes to the town where Bevan is now living. Bevan's wife is unfaithful, and a loyal servant (Lestina) goes after Bevan, who had been leaving on a business trip, and tells him of the treachery. Bevan goes back to verify the statement, and in a fight the man (Kent) is accidentally killed. Crane hears of the murder and intercepts Stella, who had been on her way to the motorboat Bevan had purchased for his getaway. Bevan comes up from the rear and makes a captive of Crane until he and his daughter leave. They eventually land on a South Sea island and happily live there with one servant. Visiting a nearby island to trade with a native, Stella meets Bruce Sanders (Barthelmess), a wealthy plantation owner out for excitement. She wants to be friends with him, but fears he may be a federal officer looking for her father. Sanders is puzzled by her cold manner. Sanders returns to the mainland where he meets Crane who is hot on the trail. Crane persuades Sanders to take him to the island where Stella and Bevan live, which he, unsuspecting, gladly does. On their arrival Crane arrests Bevan and Stella, believing Sanders deliberately brought Crane there, will have nothing to do with him. Stella sinks Sanders's boat, marooning all four on the island. When the boat is washed ashore, Sanders to show his good faith sinks it again, and Stella confesses that she loves him. Crane's comrades send help to him on the island, and Bevan refuses to get on the boat. After a dramatic fight, Crane believes Bevan has drowned. Stella and Sanders return and wed on the mainland and make plans to rescue her father.
Griffith filmed The Love Flower simultaneously with The Idol Dancer (1920) in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Nassau, Bahamas, in December 1919 to fulfill a contract with First National Pictures, [6] but after previewing the film on April 2, 1920, before the American Newspaper Publishers Association in New York, he purchased the rights to The Love Flower for $400,000. [3] Additional underwater footage of Dempster was shot in Florida along with scenes of her and MacQuarrie against a black background. The reedited film was then released by United Artists.
Richard Semler Barthelmess was an American film actor, principally of the Hollywood silent era. He starred opposite Lillian Gish in D. W. Griffith's Broken Blossoms (1919) and Way Down East (1920) and was among the founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1927. The following year, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for two films: The Patent Leather Kid and The Noose.
Tol'able David is a 1921 American silent film based on the 1917 Joseph Hergesheimer short story of the same name. It was adapted to the screen by Edmund Goulding and directed by Henry King for Inspiration Pictures. A rustic tale of violence set in the Allegheny Mountains of eastern West Virginia, it was filmed in Blue Grass, Virginia, with some locals featured in minor roles.
Carol Dempster was an American film actress of the silent film era. She appeared in films from 1916 to 1926, working with D. W. Griffith extensively.
Anders Randolf was a Danish American actor in American films from 1913 to 1930.
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George MacQuarrie, was an American actor of the silent era.
That Royle Girl is a 1925 American silent comedy film directed by D. W. Griffith and released by Paramount Pictures. The film was based on the novel of the same name by Edwin Balmer, and starred Carol Dempster, W. C. Fields and Harrison Ford. It is now considered lost.
Remodeling Her Husband is a 1920 American silent comedy film that marked the only time Lillian Gish directed a film.
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Scarlet Days is a 1919 American silent Western film produced and directed by D. W. Griffith and released through Paramount/Artcraft Pictures, Artcraft being an affiliate of Paramount. Richard Barthelmess stars in a role for which Griffith had screentested Rudolph Valentino. In today's time, this film is considered by many to be one of Griffith's worst films though it might have worked better as a short film. This film was unlike others created by D.W. Griffith. According to an article written for The Cincinnati Enquirer, written on the 16 of November 1919: "Unlike other recent Griffith production, Scarlet Days is a story of the old West, of the gold rush days of 49- Bret Harte transferred to the screen!" The Western film genre was expanding at this time and Scarlet Days fits into this category. Western films were popular for this time.
The Girl Who Stayed at Home is a 1919 American silent drama film produced and directed by D. W. Griffith and released by Paramount Pictures. Prints of the film exist.
The Idol Dancer is a 1920 American silent South Seas drama film produced and directed by D. W. Griffith. It stars Richard Barthelmess and Clarine Seymour in her final film role. Seymour was a young actress Griffith was grooming for stardom. She died of pneumonia shortly after emergency surgery for an intestinal blockage on April 24, 1920, less than a month after the film premiered.
I'll Get Him Yet is a lost 1919 American silent comedy film starring Dorothy Gish and directed by Elmer Clifton. It was produced by D. W. Griffith under his production unit New Art Film. Paramount Pictures distributed the film.
The Seventh Day is a 1922 American silent drama film directed by Henry King and starring Richard Barthelmess, Louise Huff, Frank Losee and Anne Cornwall. A group of high society New Yorkers on a yachting vacation put into a small New England fishing village for repairs. While there they strike up relationships with locals that threaten the harmony of their party.
The Flaming Hour is a 1922 American drama film directed by Edward Sedgwick and written by George Randolph Chester. The film stars Frank Mayo, Helen Ferguson, Melbourne MacDowell, Charles Clary, Albert MacQuarrie and Tom Kennedy. The film was released on December 12, 1922, by Universal Film Manufacturing Company.
Adolph Lestina was an American stage and film actor who was a member of D. W. Griffith's stock company of film actors.