The Only Thing | |
---|---|
Directed by | Jack Conway |
Written by | Elinor Glyn |
Based on | The Only Thing by Elinor Glyn |
Produced by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
Starring | Eleanor Boardman Conrad Nagel Edward Connelly |
Cinematography | Chester A. Lyons |
Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
Release date |
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Running time | 6 reels |
Country | United States |
Language | Silent (English intertitles) |
The Only Thing (also known under its working title Four Flaming Days) is a 1925 American silent romantic drama film starring Eleanor Boardman. The film's scenario was written by author Elinor Glyn (who also oversaw the film's production), and was based on a story adapted from Glyn's novel of the same name. [1]
It was the first film Jack Conway directed for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer where he remained for until his retirement in 1948. [2] The film is also notable for featuring a young Joan Crawford in her eighth film role playing a minor part as a lady in waiting. [3]
As described in a review in a film magazine, [4] a handsome and titled Englishman visits a Balkan kingdom and falls madly in love with a young princess who has come to marry the elderly, grouchy, and ugly king. He determines to save her even against her will and so daring and ardent is his lovemaking that she is about to consent when she determines that duty to the state comes first. A revolution occurs and the hero, when he finds that death has been decreed for all aristocrats, who are tied in pairs and send out to drown in leaky barges, contrives to be paired with her. A warship sent by her country saves them and they find happiness together.
A complete print of The Only Thing is held in the George Eastman Museum Motion Picture Collection. [5]
The Divorcee is a 1930 American pre-Code drama film written by Nick Grindé, John Meehan, and Zelda Sears, based on the 1929 novel Ex-Wife by Ursula Parrott. It was directed by Robert Z. Leonard, who was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director. The film was also nominated for Best Picture, and won Best Actress for its star Norma Shearer.
John Gilbert was an American actor, screenwriter and director. He rose to fame during the silent era and became a popular leading man known as "The Great Lover". His breakthrough came in 1925 with his starring roles in The Merry Widow and The Big Parade. At the height of his career, Gilbert rivaled Rudolph Valentino as a box office draw.
Elinor Glyn was a British novelist and scriptwriter who specialised in romantic fiction, which was considered scandalous for its time, although her works are relatively tame by modern standards. She popularized the concept of the it-girl, and had tremendous influence on early 20th-century popular culture and, possibly, on the careers of notable Hollywood stars such as Rudolph Valentino, Gloria Swanson and, especially, Clara Bow.
John Conrad Nagel was an American film, stage, television and radio actor. He was considered a famous matinée idol and leading man of the 1920s and 1930s. He was given an Honorary Academy Award in 1940, and three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960.
Show People is a 1928 American synchronized sound comedy film directed by King Vidor. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects using both the sound-on-disc and sound-on-film process. The film was a starring vehicle for actress Marion Davies and actor William Haines and included notable cameo appearances by many of the film personalities of the day, including stars Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, William S. Hart and John Gilbert, and writer Elinor Glyn. Vidor also appears in a cameo as himself, as does Davies.
Aileen Pringle was an American stage and film actress during the silent film era.
Snitz Edwards was a stage and character actor of the early years of the silent film era into the 1930s. He acted alongside popular screen actors including Rudolph Valentino, Clara Kimball Young, Douglas Fairbanks, and many others.
The Volga Boatman is a 1926 American silent drama film directed by Cecil B. DeMille, who reportedly said the film was, "his greatest achievement in picture making". The film's budget was $479,000 and it grossed $1.27 million. The film was highly successful, turning William Boyd into matinee idol overnight.
Pretty Ladies is a 1925 American silent comedy drama film starring ZaSu Pitts and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The film is a fictional recreation of the famed Ziegfeld Follies. Directed by Monta Bell, the film was written by Alice D. G. Miller and featured intertitles by Joseph Farnham. Pretty Ladies originally featured musical color sequences, some in two-color Technicolor. However, the color sequences are now considered lost.
His Hour is a 1924 American silent drama film directed by King Vidor. This film was the follow-up to Samuel Goldwyn's Three Weeks, written by Elinor Glyn, and starring Aileen Pringle, one of the biggest moneymakers at the time of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer amalgamation.
Proud Flesh is a 1925 American silent comedy-drama film directed by King Vidor and starring Eleanor Boardman, Pat O'Malley, and Harrison Ford in a romantic triangle.
Three Weeks is a 1924 American drama film directed by Alan Crosland. The movie is based on the 1907 novel of the same name by Elinor Glyn, and the title refers to the length of an affair by the Queen of Sardalia. Formerly a lost film, the FIAF database indicates a print is preserved by Russia's Gosfilmofond. That print formed the basis of a restoration by La Cineteca del Friuli.
So This Is Marriage is a lost 1924 American silent drama film directed by Hobart Henley. The film was originally released with sequences filmed in the Technicolor 2-color process that depicted the story of David and Bathsheba from the Book of Samuel.
Tess of the d'Urbervilles is a 1924 American silent drama film starring Blanche Sweet and Conrad Nagel. It was directed by Sweet's husband, Marshall Neilan. The film is the second motion picture adaptation of the 1891 novel by Thomas Hardy, which had been turned into a very successful 1897 play starring Mrs. Fiske. In 1913, Adolph Zukor enticed Mrs. Fiske to reprise her role in a film version which is now considered lost. The 1924 version is also considered lost.
Sinners in Silk is a 1924 silent romantic drama film directed by Hobart Henley. The film stars Eleanor Boardman, Adolphe Menjou, Hedda Hopper, Conrad Nagel, and Jean Hersholt. It was written by Benjamin Glazer and Carey Wilson.
Lights of Old Broadway is a 1925 American silent drama film directed by Monta Bell, produced by William Randolph Hearst's Cosmopolitan Productions, and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The film stars Marion Davies in a dual role and Conrad Nagel, and is an adaptation of the play The Merry Wives of Gotham by Laurence Eyre (USA). The film has color sequences using tinting, Technicolor, and the Handschiegl color process.
The Circle is a 1925 American silent romantic comedy film directed by Frank Borzage. The film stars Eleanor Boardman, Malcolm McGregor, and Alec B. Francis. A young Joan Crawford appears in the film's opening scene and later in a photograph viewed by other characters. The screenplay, written by Kenneth B. Clarke, was based on the 1921 play of the same title by W. Somerset Maugham.
Redemption is a 1930 American pre-Code drama film directed by Fred Niblo, produced and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and starring John Gilbert. This production is Gilbert's first talking film, but it was not released until months after the premiere of His Glorious Night, his second "talkie". Redemption is based on the 1918 Broadway play of the same title by Arthur Hopkins, who in turn based his work on the play The Living Corpse by Leo Tolstoy and first staged in Moscow in 1911.
Three Weeks is a 1907 erotic romance novel by Elinor Glyn.
Memory Lane is a 1926 American silent romantic comedy film directed by John M. Stahl and starring Eleanor Boardman, Conrad Nagel, and William Haines.